"Must Have" Tools for Christmas

Eric Miller wrote:
A GE Minigun. :^) Well, it IS a tool...


It dimples at the same time as it drills... 8 holes per sec!

And if you make a mistake while fabricating a part, I can't think of a
better way of venting frustration.

If only it shot clecoes and deburred at the same time.
Finding correct rivets is tough though... and hand squeezing them is out of
the question :-)

Ah, but the proverbial glass is actually half-full. You could yet
corner a niche market--right now nobody makes 7.62mm rivets or clecoes!

Ah, but the proverbial glass is actually half-full. You could yet
corner a niche market--right now nobody makes 7.62mm rivets or clecoes!

I always respect a thinking man :^)

"Eric Miller" wrote

It dimples at the same time as it drills... 8 holes per sec!
If only it shot clecoes and deburred at the same time.
Finding correct rivets is tough though... and hand squeezing them is out
of
the question :-)

You are missing the point of operating it correctly.

The trick is to get the rivet in the hole before the second shot, and
getting the bucking bar in place. The second shot will start driving the
rivet! g
--
Jim in NC

Add a sheet metal break that helps you find where the cracks are in the bend
of the last piece of aluminum available. They are also called
"Grain Finders".

--
Stu Fields


"Eric Miller" wrote in message
...
"Must Have" Tools for Christmas

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat
metal
bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings
your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted
airplane part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the
workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and
hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say,
"Ouch...."

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes
until you die of old age.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion,
and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your
future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available,
they
can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your
hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside
the
wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and
motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2
socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after
you have installed your new disk brake pads, trapping the jack handle
firmly
under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward
off
a hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbor to see if he has another hydraulic
floor jack.

SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for
spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog poop off your boot.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known
drill bit that snaps off in bolt holes you couldn't use anyway.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the tensile strength on
everything
you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large pry bar that inexplicably has
an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a
drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin,"
which
is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, it's
main
purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that
105-mm
howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the
Battle
of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style
paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; but can also be used,
as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning
power
plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by
hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts
last over-tightened 58 years ago by someone at Ford, and neatly rounds off
their heads.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket
you needed to remove in order to replace a 50-cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is
used
as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts not far from
the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard
cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents
such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector
magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.

On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 23:54:28 -0500, "Eric Miller"
wrote:
What? No Floor mill and Lathe? Those are the two most essential
tools you can have. A Bridgeport with about a 4' bed and about a 10"
Clausing (sp?) Of course I would need the acessories.

That's all I ask. Just two tools, unlike some of the more selfish who
have a big long lists. :-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com.

Roger wrote:
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 23:54:28 -0500, "Eric Miller"
wrote:
What? No Floor mill and Lathe? Those are the two most essential
tools you can have. A Bridgeport with about a 4' bed and about a 10"
Clausing (sp?) Of course I would need the acessories.

That's all I ask. Just two tools, unlike some of the more selfish who
have a big long lists. :-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com.


Gotta source for 660V 3 phase?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005 01:45:44 -0600, "Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired"
wrote:

Roger wrote:
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 23:54:28 -0500, "Eric Miller"
wrote:
What? No Floor mill and Lathe? Those are the two most essential
tools you can have. A Bridgeport with about a 4' bed and about a 10"
Clausing (sp?) Of course I would need the acessories.

That's all I ask. Just two tools, unlike some of the more selfish who
have a big long lists. :-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com.


Gotta source for 660V 3 phase?

660? Where on earth are you seeing 660 three phase motors? We didn't
use motors that big to run 15 X 15 compressors. Those were three
phase 440 "Y" I think. The drive wheels were something like 7 or 8
feet in diameter while the ones on the motors were less than a foot
across. (8" I think) I think they used about a dozen V-belts.

I don't think I could afford the 660 VAC motor to build a phase
converter:-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Gotta source for 660V 3 phase?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Don't need it.
Mine are run from 240 3 phase.
It wouldn't be hard to swap out the motor for single phase either.

LCT Paintball wrote:
Gotta source for 660V 3 phase?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


Don't need it.
Mine are run from 240 3 phase.
It wouldn't be hard to swap out the motor for single phase either.


I was poking fun, there are machines that require 660 VAC 3 phase,
but unless you are turning barrels for gunboats you aren't likely to
need one.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired" wrote

I was poking fun, there are machines that require 660 VAC 3 phase,
but unless you are turning barrels for gunboats you aren't likely to
need one.

There would be an advantage to using 660 3 phase, for machines of the size
we would use. Wires would be easy to run. You could run a piece of 22
gauge wire, and get all of the power you needed! g
--
Jim in NC