Author Topic: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...  (Read 9693 times)

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Offline jerryk

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #50 on: October 15, 2018, 03:38:09 am »
I recently had to recover the tail of my airplane after a moose tried to mate with it.  I used my hot air rework station set at it's lowest setting to lay down some pinked tape edges that had lifted and smooth out bubbles that occurred in the tapes.  I did this after I applied silver which is normally a near impossible task with any type of iron.  I also assisted smoothing the bubbles out with a paint brush handle covered in Kapton Tape.  These are now essential tools in any of my aircraft recovering adventures.

Jerry

 
 
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Offline KL27x

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #51 on: October 15, 2018, 04:00:58 am »
Quote
Spinning a drill bit on a drill press, then encouraging sandpaper to wrap around it to lightly clean the inside of a metal shaft
Better if you can lay hands on a wood dowel or a small metal tube or rod. Cut a slot in the end to start the strip of sandpaper, wrap it tight so it grips in the slot, and use tape to affix the other end. Or an O ring, if you're going to wear out a lot of sandpaper.
 

Offline Johnboy

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #52 on: October 15, 2018, 12:57:49 pm »
I have had some surprising luck with removing stripped screws (and "security"-type screws for which I don't have the right screwdriver head at hand) by using a Phillips head screwdriver slightly smaller than the head that would be normally used. What I have often done is cut a rubber band to the approximate size of the slot (only if the screw is recessed, otherwise I don't cut it at all) and then applied a lot of force with the Phillips head on top of it to get the rubber to 'fill' and grip the screw slot tightly enough to turn it counterclockwise. There is probably a better way, but this has worked for me in some situations that would have otherwise been supremely aggravating.
 

Offline sokoloff

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #53 on: October 15, 2018, 01:41:13 pm »
Another tip is to use valve grinding compound (find it at a legitimate auto parts store, not one that sells neon lights and 16" subwoofers) to give additional grip for partially stripped screws.
 

Offline GreyWoolfe

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #54 on: October 15, 2018, 05:26:16 pm »
Another favorite of mine is using a very normal C-clamp to install PEM nuts and other press-in fittings. I don't have a hydraulic press but you can impart a LOT of force with a C-clamp, and using sockets or other devices (even custom-shaped ones if necessary) you can focus that force down to very small, or even custom-shaped, areas.

I do that frequently too, also for pushing the piston(s) back into a brake caliper so I can install new pads.

I have done that for years.  Not long after I bought my retired company van, I needed rear brakes.  Found out they had the ratcheting pistons.  Not wanting to bug Mrs GreyWoolfe for her car as I didn't want to put the tires back on the van, I came up with an alternative.  They were rotated back in with a rubber mallet and a big honking slotted tip screwdriver.  I didn't even damage the screwdriver. :-+
"Heaven has been described as the place that once you get there all the dogs you ever loved run up to greet you."
 

Offline jose347

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #55 on: October 15, 2018, 06:29:34 pm »
Back in the day when I work as an automotive technician, we used to pull out the a-arms bushing by using a Pry bar instead of the specialized dealer tool, it turns out that the process for the tool took about 6 paid hours while our unsafe way was done in 45 min.
 

Offline AndyC_772

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #56 on: October 15, 2018, 07:07:53 pm »
You've reminded me that a few months back I pulled the crankcase cover off a Ducati engine, using a brake piston retractor with a couple of additional bolt holes drilled in it at the right spacing to match the special factory tool. Worked a treat  :-+

Offline KL27x

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #57 on: October 15, 2018, 07:58:11 pm »
I have a Harbor Freight trim router I've only ever used for grinding metal and plastic using carbide burrs. It is a bit of a handful, ergonomically, but it has less vibration than my cheap die grinder and the same power and rpm's.

I used a hatchet the other day for pulling weeds in rocky soil. I should probably buy a pick axe, but w/e. I have a belt sander to take the dings out, after.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2018, 07:59:50 pm by KL27x »
 

Offline PointyOintment

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #58 on: October 15, 2018, 08:07:11 pm »
I have had some surprising luck with removing stripped screws (and "security"-type screws for which I don't have the right screwdriver head at hand) by using a Phillips head screwdriver slightly smaller than the head that would be normally used. What I have often done is cut a rubber band to the approximate size of the slot (only if the screw is recessed, otherwise I don't cut it at all) and then applied a lot of force with the Phillips head on top of it to get the rubber to 'fill' and grip the screw slot tightly enough to turn it counterclockwise. There is probably a better way, but this has worked for me in some situations that would have otherwise been supremely aggravating.

I have tried the rubber band method several times over the years and finally given up on it. It never got a screw to turn for me. I only ended up with a rubber band with little holes cut in it by the edges of the screwdriver & screw heads.
I refuse to use AD's LTspice or any other "free" software whose license agreement prohibits benchmarking it (which implies it's really bad) or publicly disclosing the existence of the agreement. Fortunately, I haven't agreed to that one, and those terms are public already.
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #59 on: October 15, 2018, 09:04:48 pm »
Using side cutters to grip the head of a completely stripped screws, from the side.
Works as not only are you gripping the head, but slightly underneath it at well.

Downside is not only due to damage/chip the cutting surface, but on one cheap set of side cutters, I managed to break one cutting part off entirely.

I've been doing this since the early '90s when I was taught this as an apprentice. Great for cheese/pan heads made of Chinesium, not so good for flat head/countersunk screws.
 

Offline IDEngineer

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #60 on: October 15, 2018, 09:53:23 pm »
Using side cutters to grip the head of a completely stripped screws, from the side.
Works as not only are you gripping the head, but slightly underneath it at well.

Downside is not only due to damage/chip the cutting surface, but on one cheap set of side cutters, I managed to break one cutting part off entirely.

I've been doing this since the early '90s when I was taught this as an apprentice. Great for cheese/pan heads made of Chinesium, not so good for flat head/countersunk screws.
I do the same basic thing, except I use ViceGrips. The real trick here is that you have to COMMIT. You generally get only one shot at a given screw head before it's rounded so badly you can't grip it anymore. When you're locking down those ViceGrips you're trying to actually deform the screw head a bit. Don't be shy, the screw is already destroyed.

The other thing I learned a long time ago, after painful experience, is that an impact driver is far better at loosening stuck screws with intact heads than hand tools. All the latter do is put you into the situation where you need the ViceGrips.  >:(  But a small impact driver, with the appropriate driver bit, is remarkable at gently loosening screws and preserving them for another use. Just go gentle on the trigger and let the driver do the work. This approach works on countersunk screw heads too. Not really a MISuse of a tool, just a good application of one.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #61 on: October 16, 2018, 12:44:58 am »
Back in the day when I work as an automotive technician, we used to pull out the a-arms bushing by using a Pry bar instead of the specialized dealer tool, it turns out that the process for the tool took about 6 paid hours while our unsafe way was done in 45 min.

I'm reminded of one of the reasons I've always done all my own car maintenance.
 

Offline coppercone2

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #62 on: October 16, 2018, 01:06:05 am »
what is he describing?

I assume the problem with the lever is that your putting a non even force on something that causes torque/sheer?
 

Offline Johnboy

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #63 on: October 16, 2018, 02:40:16 pm »
I have had some surprising luck with removing stripped screws (and "security"-type screws for which I don't have the right screwdriver head at hand) by using a Phillips head screwdriver slightly smaller than the head that would be normally used. What I have often done is cut a rubber band to the approximate size of the slot (only if the screw is recessed, otherwise I don't cut it at all) and then applied a lot of force with the Phillips head on top of it to get the rubber to 'fill' and grip the screw slot tightly enough to turn it counterclockwise. There is probably a better way, but this has worked for me in some situations that would have otherwise been supremely aggravating.

I have tried the rubber band method several times over the years and finally given up on it. It never got a screw to turn for me. I only ended up with a rubber band with little holes cut in it by the edges of the screwdriver & screw heads.

I agree that the method doesn't always work. I have found that the rubber band used must be both wide and relatively thick to do the job of completely filling the slot to make maximum contact, and a great deal of external pressure is required to give the rubber enough traction to actually turn. The advantage of this method is that the rubber will generally rip before there is any actual metal on metal contact from the screwdriver that might damage the screwheads, and if it turns at all, in the case of a rusted screw or cross-threaded one, there may be enough clearance that something like sewing machine oil or WD-40 can be applied to the threads under the screwhead to make the process easier.

Patience is really key with this technique. My most "spectacular" success with it was removing eyeglasses-size screws from the PVC cursor of a K+E Deci-Lon. Those screws had not only been embedded in the plastic for forty-five years, but had been subjected to gassing from the rotten green case the rule came in. The screws were oxidized and sealed in with dust and detritus, and I couldn't apply much pressure to them without breaking the fragile cursor or chipping the screwheads themselves, so it was a long and gradual process of applying lubricant to the top of the threads, letting it soak in, and giving it another twist using the smallest band I could find that wouldn't simply snap under the screwdriver. The four screws took a week of nightly wrestling sessions to remove.

 
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #64 on: October 16, 2018, 06:30:03 pm »
Been removing labels from steel shelving at work. Label Off 50 from Kontact Chemie in a spray can of course, and I needed a scraper. Not steel, too much damage to the paint, so now on the second PVC ruler as scraper, as they, for some reason, keep breaking after being used that way and exposed to the label remover. As a bonus the Label Off 50 is really good at removing old marker residue and also removing double sided tape.
 

Offline IDEngineer

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #65 on: October 16, 2018, 08:14:17 pm »
As a bonus the Label Off 50 is really good at removing old marker residue and also removing double sided tape.
FYI, I've found mineral spirits to be a remarkable label adhesive remover. Even on that incredibly nasty stuff they use on those metalized license place annual stickers and watercraft registration stickers. Put a little on a paper towel and it just wipes the adhesive away. I've yet to find a substrate that is damaged by it, including gelcoat over fiberglass (e.g. boat hulls). Cheap and very effective.
 
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Offline nali

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Re: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools...
« Reply #66 on: October 16, 2018, 08:23:06 pm »
Been removing labels from steel shelving at work. Label Off 50 from Kontact Chemie in a spray can of course, and I needed a scraper. Not steel, too much damage to the paint, so now on the second PVC ruler as scraper, as they, for some reason, keep breaking after being used that way and exposed to the label remover. As a bonus the Label Off 50 is really good at removing old marker residue and also removing double sided tape.

PC100 DIMMs make excellent scrapers. Long edge for general scraping, short edge for those stubborn jobs. They're also pretty good for removing silicone.
 


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