Tools to have in order to avoid abusing other tools

[Beerhippie]

I’ve heard them called that too, but he always called them an engineer’s hammer. One thing I’ve learned working in farm store retail is that everything has 5 names. It just depends on where you are at in the country as to what an item is called. A lot of times even in the same state the same item is called by a different name because of the regional differences.

Tell me about it... fifty-odd years of trying to explain to the kid behind the counter.....

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

Tell me about it... fifty-odd years of trying to explain to the kid behind the counter.....

Sometimes what it’s called in a certain region is totally normal to them and they don’t realize that it’s only called that in a certain area. Had a potato farmer in da UP ask for shovels for his quacker. When I asked what a quacker was he called me a f’n college educated idiot who didn’t know anything about farming. Finally figured out that a quack machine is a field cultivator used for removing quack grass from the rows. Called my then 84 year old dad who had farmed for most of his life and asked him if he knew what a quack machine was, he was clueless. I have a picture of him from a Mobile Oil ad from 1974, leaning against his quack machine or field cultivator as we (and probably most of the country’s farmers) called them. Actually most younger corn farmers wouldn’t know what they are because nobody cultivates corn anymore with Roundup ready corn.

 

[Wubicon]

Already has been said once but I’ll say it again:
Pullers

The last few years I’ve been spending the money on getting the proper pullers for the job I’m doing and it makes the job so much more enjoyable. I’ve been comparing the cost to buy the puller to the cost of what it would have cost to have a shop do the job to help me justify buying it if not already owned usually just one use will be cheaper and then you have it for next time.

I've been cheapo versions of pullers because I'm a diyer not a pro. However, I do sometimes find myself in a situatio that a diyer should not be doing and I do wish I had a better _____ or a hotter torch...

I keep some crappy screwdrivers around just to modify and abuse. By the time I'm done modifying them, I no longer consider them to be screwdrivers.

I have good screwdrivers and **** screwdrivers. Same with wrenches and some sockets that I know I'll end up cutting or abusing or think I might leave on the side of the road or on some trail...

I’ve heard them called that too, but he always called them an engineer’s hammer. One thing I’ve learned working in farm store retail is that everything has 5 names. It just depends on where you are at in the country as to what an item is called. A lot of times even in the same state the same item is called by a different name because of the regional differences.

I see this a lot at the plant I work at. I hate to say it, but I think it's because some people don't actually know what the thing is. Case in point:

Sometimes what it’s called in a certain region is totally normal to them and they don’t realize that it’s only called that in a certain area. Had a potato farmer in da UP ask for shovels for his quacker. When I asked what a quacker was he called me a f’n college educated idiot who didn’t know anything about farming. Finally figured out that a quack machine is a field cultivator used for removing quack grass from the rows. Called my then 84 year old dad who had farmed for most of his life and asked him if he knew what a quack machine was, he was clueless. I have a picture of him from a Mobile Oil ad from 1974, leaning against his quack machine or field cultivator as we (and probably most of the country’s farmers) called them. Actually most younger corn farmers wouldn’t know what they are because nobody cultivates corn anymore with Roundup ready corn.

 

[ecotec]

Sometimes what it’s called in a certain region is totally normal to them and they don’t realize that it’s only called that in a certain area. Had a potato farmer in da UP ask for shovels for his quacker. When I asked what a quacker was he called me a f’n college educated idiot who didn’t know anything about farming. Finally figured out that a quack machine is a field cultivator used for removing quack grass from the rows. Called my then 84 year old dad who had farmed for most of his life and asked him if he knew what a quack machine was, he was clueless. I have a picture of him from a Mobile Oil ad from 1974, leaning against his quack machine or field cultivator as we (and probably most of the country’s farmers) called them. Actually most younger corn farmers wouldn’t know what they are because nobody cultivates corn anymore with Roundup ready corn.

“Sometimes when you tell somebody something, it depends what part of the United States you are standing in as to just how dumb you are”. -Bandit Darville

 

[Banjorear]

This thing:

100%. After buying this tool, my oxy/acetylene torches are only used for cutting and bending steel. Highly recommend it.

 

[MOS3522]

100%. After buying this tool, my oxy/acetylene torches are only used for cutting and bending steel. Highly recommend it.

Not wanting to use oxy/acetylene in the shop due to fire risk is the main reason I bought the inductive bolt heater.

 

[Banjorear]

Not wanting to use oxy/acetylene in the shop due to fire risk is the main reason I bought the inductive bolt heater.

So true. For me, it was after being careless and burning a hole in a CV joint while rushing to get a job done at 11:00 PM at night, I broke down and bought one.

 

[M635_Guy]

I have a demo set of screwdrivers (Doyle Heavy Duty) that I consider sacrificial, though they're holding up great (Doyle heavy duty). The flat head sits in a sorta-holster I made for it on my tool bench since I found myself grabbing it a lot.

(I did the same thing for the shop shears shortly after...)

I definitely have some locking pliers I consider sacrificial, a deadblow hammer and maybe a couple other things. I don't tend to kill tools.

I do have a bunch of spares I call "family tools" which anyone in the house can take/use/whatever so they stay the hell away from my tools.

 

[MOS3522]

So true. For me, it was after being careless and burning a hole in a CV joint while rushing to get a job done at 11:00 PM at night, I broke down and bought one.

Hah! For me the come-to-J moment was with a stuck tie rod nut. Same thing.

 

[dscheidt]

I have a demo set of screwdrivers (Doyle Heavy Duty) that I consider sacrificial, though they're holding up great (Doyle heavy duty). The flat head sits in a sorta-holster I made for it on my tool bench since I found myself grabbing it a lot.

(I did the same thing for the shop shears shortly after...)

Sticking commonly used tools under the bench is just amazingly handly. My main bench has a piece of webbing wrapped around and screwed to one of the legs. I clip a cordless drill on one side, and a cordless screwdriver to the other, the front has a belt pouch with a two pairs of small pliers. there's a magnet strip below that has a few bits stuck to it.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

I've been cheapo versions of pullers because I'm a diyer not a pro. However, I do sometimes find myself in a situatio that a diyer should not be doing and I do wish I had a better _____ or a hotter torch...

I have good screwdrivers and **** screwdrivers. Same with wrenches and some sockets that I know I'll end up cutting or abusing or think I might leave on the side of the road or on some trail...

I see this a lot at the plant I work at. I hate to say it, but I think it's because some people don't actually know what the thing is. Case in point:

It’s not that they don’t know what it is (I think you mean technical name?) but that everybody in that region calls it that. Everybody in the UP called them quacker or quack machines. I’ve heard a bunch of different names for flat link chain, manure spreader chain and apron chain. Same as some people Coke or Pepsi soda and lookb at me funny when I called it pop. In IL and MO we call automatic waterers out in the pasture just that, in Southwestern WI/Northeastern IA dairy country they are drinkers.

 

[four.cycle]

RE: Pullers

I've been cheapo versions of pullers because I'm a diyer not a pro.

I most certainly do not consider myself any sort of "pro".
The Posi-Lock model 104 is one of the best tool purchasing decisions I have made in my life. Well worth the money. It has saved me all kinds of grief, and I buy fewer Band-Aids now.

If you need some pullers, I can sell you a box full for $50 bucks. (Half of that is freight.)

 

[four.cycle]

That "Bolt Buster" gizmo looks rather intriguing. Rather stiff ticket - $400 bucks.
Anybody tried out any of the $135 Chinese knock-offs?

 

[Beerhippie]

RE: Pullers

I most certainly do not consider myself any sort of "pro".
The Posi-Lock model 104 is one of the best tool purchasing decisions I have made in my life. Well worth the money. It has saved me all kinds of grief, and I buy fewer Band-Aids now.

If you need some pullers, I can sell you a box full for $50 bucks. (Half of that is freight.)

I want one!

I've been getting by by putting a large hose clamp around the three-leg puller. It works... after a fashion.

 

[4xdog]

I’m willing to beat the hell out of one of these and save my good tools for what they do best.

Painters multi-tools cost notalot and are pretty durable.

 

[four.cycle]

I want one!

I've been getting by by putting a large hose clamp around the three-leg puller. It works... after a fashion.

^ I bought it to pull drive hubs off the bottom end of mower crankshafts, which are usually rusted on to the point where they may as well have been welded.
I was screwing around with a ball-pein hammer and a two-jaw puller, which usually resulted in some sort of injury or damage to something. (Not to mention hammering on the end of a crankshaft is generally not a good idea.)

First time I used it - was like an epiphany - "Why didn't I have this thing a long time ago?"

 

[zendriver]

That "Bolt Buster" gizmo looks rather intriguing. Rather stiff ticket - $400 bucks.
Anybody tried out any of the $135 Chinese knock-offs?

Yes, works ducky.

 

[Beerhippie]

Yes, works ducky.

Is that the good ducky or the bad one?

I've never seen them as low as $135. Cheapest I've seen are still over $200, which is steep for my limited needs.

 

[four.cycle]

Yes, works ducky.

I just ran a Google search for "Bolt Buster" and I got a whole page full of those things - lowest price was about $132 and change.
If that thing does what you're saying it does, my buddy needs one, and for $135 I'll pony up for it so he can stop injuring himself.
Link/brand/part number for the one you got?

 

[zendriver]

Is that the good ducky or the bad one?

I've never seen them as low as $135. Cheapest I've seen are still over $200, which is steep for my limited needs.

I was responding to the “cheap Chinese knock off” portion of it.

If you’ve never seen one at a lower price, you should look on the Internet.


Besides, it’s not a flux capacitor. It’s an inductive coil. Not a lot to them I think There’s some dyi kits on the Internet for $27. Will they work? probably they just look a little scary.

 

[mreisner]

Sometimes what it’s called in a certain region is totally normal to them and they don’t realize that it’s only called that in a certain area. Had a potato farmer in da UP ask for shovels for his quacker. When I asked what a quacker was he called me a f’n college educated idiot who didn’t know anything about farming. Finally figured out that a quack machine is a field cultivator used for removing quack grass from the rows. Called my then 84 year old dad who had farmed for most of his life and asked him if he knew what a quack machine was, he was clueless. I have a picture of him from a Mobile Oil ad from 1974, leaning against his quack machine or field cultivator as we (and probably most of the country’s farmers) called them. Actually most younger corn farmers wouldn’t know what they are because nobody cultivates corn anymore with Roundup ready corn.

Actually, that would be a row cultivator, a field cultivator tills a solid path, doesn't leave space for the rows. And yes, I do not miss cultivating corn nor beans either! Slow boring and monotonous.

 

[MOS3522]

I just ran a Google search for "Bolt Buster" and I got a whole page full of those things - lowest price was about $132 and change.
If that thing does what you're saying it does, my buddy needs one, and for $135 I'll pony up for it so he can stop injuring himself.
Link/brand/part number for the one you got?

If you don't have a commercial shop I wouldn't pay the money for the brand name either, but we use the Bolt Buster a few times a week so a better quality one is worth it.

 

[ching0n]

I tried a Portaband. Ruined a blade. I tried an abrasive cut-off saw. Ruined a blade and magic smoke issued from the motor. Rebuilt the saw.

I then gave up. It has rough ends--torch-cut.

Here's where I gave up trying to true up one end:

unless paying scrap prices, some chicom anvil shaped object may be more cost effective. You can get cast steel w/hardened faces & a horn for very cheap now a days.

I abuse the shix out of these things and am sure it's saved a bunch of tiny screwdrivers as a result:

 

[finn]

I keep some crappy screwdrivers around just to modify and abuse. By the time I'm done modifying them, I no longer consider them to be screwdrivers.

In my case it’s some of those cheap no name hardware store screwdrivers usually with the twisted rib yellow acetate handles that are so thin they dig into your hands, from the 1950s that my dad had and my mom often used to open paint cans.

How I ended up with them, I’ll never know, but they just won’t go away.

Every time I use one for a non-screwdriver appropriate job, I inwardly hope it will lead to the final demise of one of those cheap pos screwdrivers, but they keep coming back for more abuse.

Sometimes it seems like I have a dozen of them, but in reality there’s maybe one or two.

 

[finn]

I have a demo set of screwdrivers (Doyle Heavy Duty) that I consider sacrificial, though they're holding up great (Doyle heavy duty). The flat head sits in a sorta-holster I made for it on my tool bench since I found myself grabbing it a lot.

(I did the same thing for the shop shears shortly after...)

I definitely have some locking pliers I consider sacrificial, a deadblow hammer and maybe a couple other things. I don't tend to kill tools.

I do have a bunch of spares I call "family tools" which anyone in the house can take/use/whatever so they stay the hell away from my tools.

After one too many springtime roundup of the sockets , wrenches, hammers and pliers the kids left in the lawn next to the driveway and later got covered with snow for the duration of winter, I started outfitting the kids with their own tools.

When they left home, though, I ended up with a lot of tools of Benchtop and the ilk grade that have stuck around, as they had upgraded by the time they left.

That grade of tools occasionally gets used for some unpleasant task, or relegated to a remote site.

After being married for thirty years, I also started buying tools for my wife to cover little projects she has so she can get them done without me putting her stuff on the “when I get around to it” list. After 54 years, she has hammers, pliers, a few wrenches, screwdrivers, her own torx construction screw assortment, a nice compact Bosch hex driver including torx bits and drill bits, Milwaukee combo kit with trimmer, pole saw attachment, paddle broom, and a blower. She also has her own Stihl mini chainsaw, and knows where the bar oil is.

The Milwaukee stuff is the best birthday present I ever got her other than a Honda powered push mower.

The other thing I learned over the years is that as I have become more organized, I can tell her where a certain tool is and she can find it without me going on a hunt, or doing it myself.

Tuesday it was a stainless wire brush. She even put it back, something she’s pretty good at, unlike the kids when they were around.

 

[bwringer]

A short length of train rail on your workbench to use for hammering on things instead of using the tail end of your vise for an anvil.

I have a similar short segment of rail I recovered from the piles of rubble in and around my Dad's garage after he died. Mine hasn't been ground flat on top like that one, but it's been extremely handy in many situations. It's also been very useful in the hydraulic press to support one end of something.

Where it came from is a complete mystery. For many years, Grandpa was a welder in auto factories in northern Indiana, and the garage had many items scavenged or otherwise liberated from WWII-era factories or auto plants.

...One thing I’ve learned working in farm store retail is that everything has 5 names. It just depends on where you are at in the country as to what an item is called. A lot of times even in the same state the same item is called by a different name because of the regional differences.

I've heard people ask for or refer to a tool or item they called a "donkey ****" in at least three completely different professional contexts. None had any idea what the formal name for the thing was, it was a different item with a different function in each case, and I never saw or figured out what the hell they were talking about. To this day I still have absolutely no idea what a "donkey ****" could be in any non-veterinary context.

 

[zendriver]

I just ran a Google search for "Bolt Buster" and I got a whole page full of those things - lowest price was about $132 and change.
If that thing does what you're saying it does, my buddy needs one, and for $135 I'll pony up for it so he can stop injuring himself.
Link/brand/part number for the one you got?

“Hot rod” it even sounds macho

They’re literally everywhere on the Internet brand name, no name they’re probably all the same

There seems to be two camps on these tools

People that have one use it and like it people who don’t have one or skeptical about them

Maybe people like busting off rusted fasteners. I don’t.

 

[Fixr]

A good set of sharpening stones--diamond plates these days--and/or a good sharpening system--because dull blades are abused tools.

I have the slow speed Makita waterstone power sharpener, but really only comes out of the box every few years for plane, chisel, planer and jointer blades. Most of the rest of the time it's diamond plates and various oil or waterstones.

 

[Fixr]

I’ve heard them called that too, but he always called them an engineer’s hammer. One thing I’ve learned working in farm store retail is that everything has 5 names. It just depends on where you are at in the country as to what an item is called. A lot of times even in the same state the same item is called by a different name because of the regional differences.

4lb drilling hammer on the left, 3lb cross-pein engineer's hammer on the right.

 

[Jgaz]

^This.
I’ve always thought a drilling hammer had a shorter handle and maybe a heavier head while the engineer’s hammer had a longer handle and the cross-pein head as shown above

 

[ecotec]

After one too many springtime roundup of the sockets , wrenches, hammers and pliers the kids left in the lawn next to the driveway and later got covered with snow for the duration of winter, I started outfitting the kids with their own tools.

When they left home, though, I ended up with a lot of tools of Benchtop and the ilk grade that have stuck around, as they had upgraded by the time they left.

That grade of tools occasionally gets used for some unpleasant task, or relegated to a remote site.

After being married for thirty years, I also started buying tools for my wife to cover little projects she has so she can get them done without me putting her stuff on the “when I get around to it” list. After 54 years, she has hammers, pliers, a few wrenches, screwdrivers, her own torx construction screw assortment, a nice compact Bosch hex driver including torx bits and drill bits, Milwaukee combo kit with trimmer, pole saw attachment, paddle broom, and a blower. She also has her own Stihl mini chainsaw, and knows where the bar oil is.

The Milwaukee stuff is the best birthday present I ever got her other than a Honda powered push mower.

The other thing I learned over the years is that as I have become more organized, I can tell her where a certain tool is and she can find it without me going on a hunt, or doing it myself.

Tuesday it was a stainless wire brush. She even put it back, something she’s pretty good at, unlike the kids when they were around.

You gave your wife a lawnmower for her birthday… and you are still married… tell us all your secrets…

 

[finn]

You gave your wife a lawnmower for her birthday… and you are still married… tell us all your secrets…

The guys at the OPE store where she went to pick up the mower had the same reaction.

It replaced a like new self propelled mower that had smaller wheels. She wanted a pusher with big wheels in the back, and her birthday was coming up….so… the rest is history.

I’m a real romantic, right?

54 years now.

She’s got her eye on one of those robot mowers now.

I suspect it would end up swimming in the lake, though.

 

[dscheidt]

I've heard people ask for or refer to a tool or item they called a "donkey ****" in at least three completely different professional contexts. None had any idea what the formal name for the thing was, it was a different item with a different function in each case, and I never saw or figured out what the hell they were talking about. To this day I still have absolutely no idea what a "donkey ****" could be in any non-veterinary context.

If you asked me for one, I'd give you a spout for a jerry can.

 

[whateg01]

- this was not the post I wanted to quote -

We used to show off a donkey **** to customers. It was a big, multiband antenna, but we knew what it was called - a multiband antenna.

 

[M635_Guy]

I have a similar short segment of rail I recovered from the piles of rubble in and around my Dad's garage after he died. Mine hasn't been ground flat on top like that one, but it's been extremely handy in many situations. It's also been very useful in the hydraulic press to support one end of something.

Where it came from is a complete mystery. For many years, Grandpa was a welder in auto factories in northern Indiana, and the garage had many items scavenged or otherwise liberated from WWII-era factories or auto plants.

I have one too:

I'm not sure how old it is, but it seems taller than "regular" track to me. I linda like the idea of getting maybe half of it milled flat, but to say it is work-hardened is an understatement...

 

[four.cycle]

People that have one use it and like it people who don’t have one or skeptical about them

Not skepticism at all - I am genuinely curious about that thing. As I said, if the low-end made-in-China model works, I'm game - $135 is reasonable. Would just like to know if anyone here has used one and has any recommendations.

I have one too:

I have a short chunk of railroad track I was given as partial payment on a moving gig. Comes in real handy when I have to bash on something. I keep thinking I should shine it up, but it works just fine as it is.

 

[William Payne]

A lathe so you can make proper bearing and seal drivers.
Real rigging chains.

I learned the hard way that once you have had professional machine shop at your disposal it spoils you haha. I miss having a lathe/mill.

 

[whateg01]

I learned the hard way that once you have had professional machine shop at your disposal it spoils you haha. I miss having a lathe/mill.

I didn't like not having a mill and a lathe, so I bought a couple of each.

 

[M635_Guy]

Not skepticism at all - I am genuinely curious about that thing. As I said, if the low-end made-in-China model works, I'm game - $135 is reasonable. Would just like to know if anyone here has used one and has any recommendations.


I have a short chunk of railroad track I was given as partial payment on a moving gig. Comes in real handy when I have to bash on something. I keep thinking I should shine it up, but it works just fine as it is.

I'm just thrilled that mine doesn't rust

Mine has been a bash-platform too. Calling it an anvil is kind of an insult to anvils, but all I need...

 

[dscheidt]

I'm not sure how old it is, but it seems taller than "regular" track to me. I linda like the idea of getting maybe half of it milled flat, but to say it is work-hardened is an understatement...

Rail is made in a surprising (at least to me) range of sizes, with overall heights ranging from ~3 to ~8 inches. the smaller stuff is used for low speed applications, and as speeds and loads go up, the rails get bigger. Weights range from about 25 lbs a yard to 150 lbs a yard. If you add in rail used for non railroad use (narrow gauge, cranes, steel mill, foundries, ...), there's stuff on either side of that.