Tools that have great alternative uses?

[JasonB1989]

I was changing front wheel bearings on a Toyota Land Cruiser the other day and when I removed the free wheeling hubs I removed the axle snap ring with a large set of snap ring pliers. Fast forward ten minutes and I had the brake caliper off. I just picked up the snap ring pliers and used them to push back the two brake pads on the pistons. I was surprised how well it worked and got me thinking how many tools have loads of multiple uses. I'm aware that anything is a hammer when you're desperate before someone chimes in and a micrometer is certainly not a g clamp.

Let's here your time saving money saving multi tools.

 

[amalik]

*hear


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TT54l32v]

I pay so much for the right tool that I get excited about finally using it instead of multi purposing out of necessity.

Edit: The other day a guy in the shop borrowed my slide hammer to pull a dowel pin out of a ****** bell housing. Its a matco puller and it has an adapter that screws on with a big stud, that stud screwed right in to his vise grip pliers and he pulled it right out. Not sure if that is what it is made for or not.

 

[bsg1]

Snap-on A-175 Differential Adjustment Wrench/backscratcher

 

[firworks]

The handle on the inside of my garage door broke off and there's just a square shaped nub sticking out to lock / unlock it. My Knipex Pliers Wrench lives on my table saw right by the door because it is the new key to open / close it.

 

[smittyjones]

I pay so much for the right tool that I get excited about finally using it instead of multi purposing out of necessity.

Edit: The other day a guy in the shop borrowed my slide hammer to pull a dowel pin out of a ****** bell housing. Its a matco puller and it has an adapter that screws on with a big stud, that stud screwed right in to his vise grip pliers and he pulled it right out. Not sure if that is what it is made for or not.

I'm pretty sure that's what it's made for. I have the cornwell set, and there's a picture on the front of the box of that stud in a pair of vise grips. But I'm in the same boat as you, it's a little party and we all get super excited when we get to use that new tool!

 

[engineer2]

I had to open up my basement floor to trench in a toilet line to a nearby sewage sump. Took my electric chop saw off its base and used it as a concrete saw. It worked great and wasn't too scary.

 

[moron88]

i've used the open end of a 10mm combo wrench to install some springs on a pair of benches that the back folds flat to become a bench. worked surprisingly well.

not quite the same, but i have used my cordless drill to raise and lower the factory scissor jack when i used it to change from winter tires to the all seasons on my mother's minivan on my gravel driveway. more control than my impact and faster than a ratchet.

then there is the age-old alternate, flat head as a prybar. also the far less common, prybar as a flat head.

 

[leg17]

My screwdrivers are used as hammers.
My wrenches are used as hammers.
My knives are used as hammers.

I learned all these tricks from my wife.

 

[toolenthusiast]

I'm pretty sure I read on here about a tool guy who started referring to flatheads as chisels and phillips as punches

 

[Motorman55]

The small pry bar from the HF 4 pry bar set makes a great drum brake adjusting tool. Used it all the time while working on forklifts.

 

[tesla's ennui]

All my tools are hammers,
Except my screw drivers , they are chisels,
and my chisels ,they are pry bars.

 

[jeeper46]

I pay so much for the right tool that I get excited about finally using it instead of multi purposing out of necessity.

Edit: The other day a guy in the shop borrowed my slide hammer to pull a dowel pin out of a ****** bell housing. Its a matco puller and it has an adapter that screws on with a big stud, that stud screwed right in to his vise grip pliers and he pulled it right out. Not sure if that is what it is made for or not.

The first thing all us Diemaker apprentices made for ourselves was a dowel puller-a slide hammer with a bunch of adaptors with different screw sizes to pull dowels out of die sections.

 

[PhysicsDude]

Had to undercut some door frames to install new hardwood flooring...

4" grinder with segmented diamond blade (that I already had) did the trick, just gets a little smokey.

Is the "2 wrench trick" common knowledge here to get more leverage with combination wrenches? A mechanic taught me the trick a long time ago and it has really come in handy for me on several occasions.

I keep a bowl full of sawdust in the garage. When your hands have glue/adhesive all over them, rubbing some sawdust on your hands does a nice job getting most of the glue off. I also rub sawdust on my shoes so I don't track glue or gunk into the house.

 

[CNGsaves]

Just saw video on YouTube that with . . .
. . . . 2 open end wrenches . . . you can break most any padlock !!

 

[MushCreek]

I mentioned it in another thread, but I use a 1/2" drill with a cut off extension and socket as an electric starter for my old Gravely Model L. It runs OK, but has always been a bear to start.

 

[earlthegoat2]

When you need a hammer and don't have a proper one around, the thing in your hand immediately becomes one.....even if that thing in your hand is nothing.

 

[Ign]

Someone else here pointed out that the Milwaukee PVC/oil filter wrench is also great for grabbing lids on jars to open them. I keep one in the kitchen as a result. Strap wrenches too.

Skil makes a cordless screwdriver kit with a corkscrew adapter for wine corks. That keeps the wife happy as a drunk wife is a happy wife.

And of course end nippers or even tile nippers can be used to squeeze the boot clamps on CV's - a little bit of grinding/clearancing makes them work even better.

 

[Biomed]

In a previous life I used these welding tip cleaners to clean out stainless steel probes on immunochemistry analyzers.

 

[Rico.]

The humble socket makes a great multi purpose tool...

As well as removing and installing nuts & bolts they can be used as...

Seal Drivers
Add a long bolt and some washers, they make a great receiving cup for removing bushes
A small one used with a hammer on a valve spring makes super quick work of removing keepers
A whole bunch of them neatly laid out in a drawer makes a spectacular work of art

...and I'm sure there are many other uses

 

[L.Cheapo]

In a previous life I used these welding tip cleaners to clean out stainless steel probes on immunochemistry analyzers.

The smallest sizes are great for cleaning out tiny orifices of small engine carbs too.

 

[derosa]

Bicycle mechanics have a tool called a frame alignment gauge which is really just a big handle with a large, barely padded, hook that can be moved along half its length and a padded semicircle at the end. It lets it slip on to any section of a frame or fork and bend it. It also fits beautifully onto breaker bars, wrenches, and a number of other tools for exceptional leverage.

 

[gungatim]

Snap-on A-175 Differential Adjustment Wrench/backscratcher

speaking of backscratchers, I used two of the Chinese bamboo dollar store ones cut down to cook Mongolian barbecue on my homemade wok. does that count as a multi-use tool?

 

[bsg1]

speaking of backscratchers, I used two of the Chinese bamboo dollar store ones cut down to cook Mongolian barbecue on my homemade wok. does that count as a multi-use tool?

culinary genius.

 

[gungatim]

culinary genius.

and the wok is made from a tractor disc!

 

[engineer2]

An appropriately-sized 12 point socket makes a good roadside substitute for a U-joint bearing cap that has departed to unknown regions.

 

[steveo3002]

large flat blade screwdriver-

paint can opener
paint stirrer
pry bar
chisel
drift
rust scraper
lawn dart

 

[Sled Driver]

A whole bunch of them neatly laid out in a drawer makes a spectacular work of art

I once used my air compressor and blow-off gun to fill a bunch of balloons for my nephew's birthday party.
I also used an old fire extinguisher and rolling/swiveling shop stool to teach my nephew about Newton's third law of motion.

Can you tell I am the "cool uncle"?

 

[Gogo300]

12" mitutoyo calipers make great back scratchers

 

[bigredjeepone]

I routinely use large sockets to press in seals as well as press out ball joints off the car. My 3/4" Cornwell set sees more press duty than anything as I don't touch big trucks. Other than that I use them for axle nuts on FWD work.

 

[cool_as_crap]

I use a gas torch to light my charcoal bbq when I lose all of my stick lighters and don't feel like burning the tips of my fingers with bic lighers.
It turns out the torch is a lot harder to lose.

 

[1982fxr]

I have several hundred hammers. All the different styles. Of course, these marketing people try to fool me by calling them other stuff like ratchets, wrenches, screwdrivers, steel rules, cordless drills, bottle jacks, floor jacks, tape measurers, etc. but I outsmart them every time!

 

[pcmeiners]

Medical alternatives.....

Sawzall, with metal blade to remove my plaster cast on my lower leg; what a relief it was.

Wiha Snap ring plier to remove 12 surgical staples from my medical port surgery.

Dremel with carbide disk to modify my wrist casts for looser fit ; damn, I hate plaster casts.

 

[Farmall 1066]

The 7LW doesn't get much use from me, but it's a great cotter pin puller, with built in rolling-head!

 

[nbpt100]

I got one of those.....I will have to try it as cotter pin puller....thanks.

 

[like2wheel]

The 7LW doesn't get much use from me, but it's a great cotter pin puller, with built in rolling-head!

Great idea.

I also found them extremely helpful in installing a fuel pump lock ring on my GM truck.
Worked better than an actual tool designed for the job.

 

[gungatim]

I use a gas torch to light my charcoal bbq when I lose all of my stick lighters and don't feel like burning the tips of my fingers with bic lighers.
It turns out the torch is a lot harder to lose.

same here, just started my charcoal grill last night with my weed burner torch...of course then you just wander around looking for things to burn while it heats up, LOL...

 

[davethorik]

I have a Klein 650DD demolition scratch awl. I've found all sorts of uses for it...temporary hanging hook, scribe, alignment tool (drilled holes in steel panels), caulk tube foil seal poking device, cutoff remover for removing stubborn cutoffs when trimming door jambs with oscillating multitool, punch, etc

 

[MushCreek]

I bought a set of scraper blades for my SawZall- sort of an alternate use, as most people just use them to cut stuff. They work like crazy. I also use a vibrating sander (with no sandpaper) to get air out of stuff you mix, like powdered glue.

 

[BikerDad]

Microplane Woodworking Rasp.

VERY handy in the kitchen. Need lemon rind? The MicroPlane is your friend.