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Tools: The real uses...

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any Stihl KombiSystem owners here?

Just got this fwd and couldnt stop crying. :-laf :-laf :-laf Perfect for the shop forum. I'm guilty as charged on many counts. Enjoy Fellas.







Following is a list of tools that most men are familiar with especially those of us that grew up as "hot rodders", "bikers" and "Diesel Heads". This list is especially useful if your a beginner mechanic.





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 body 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 brake shoes, 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**** 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 50 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.



DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.



EXPLETIVE: A balm, usually applied verbally in hindsight, which somehow eases those pains and indignities following our every deficiency in foresight



THREAD LOCK: Used to quickly and firmly lock a bolt in place just before you realize you have to take it back off because you forgot to put something else on.
 
Amish Elegance said:
DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.



EXPLETIVE: A balm, usually applied verbally in hindsight, which somehow eases those pains and indignities following our every deficiency in foresight



THREAD LOCK: Used to quickly and firmly lock a bolt in place just before you realize you have to take it back off because you forgot to put something else on.





FORESIGHT: A Rare, and often unused tool. Because of the complexity of this tool, the government has banned its use in official buildings.





Merrick
 
Addition to Trouble Light

I would also like to add the inherent properties of the typical trouble light. First, its uncanny ability to inflict severe burns on operators face when working under dashboards. Second, the mystical gravitation of the light emitting side of the lamp to slowly turn towards your eyes and away from the thing you are trying to see. Third and final ability of most lights, is the "sproing". This occurs when you finally get your body crammed beneath the dash and the drivers seat, the light moves from the position in which you last left it into the path between your back and the floorboard.
 
Sorry if this is a re-post, or if you've seen it before. Guess it was a little slow gettin to me. :eek: Even so, I actually laughed so hard I cried at a couple of those.



I can remember searching for what seemed an eternity for those bolts/nuts that the wire wheel flung to the far reaches of my HS auto mech. shop. We actually got good enough to bean eachother with it.



I've inflicted intense collateral damage from the Dammit Tool, as well. Somehow it does make one feel a little better, though. :-laf



As for the engine hoist... its amazing how strong those little ground straps on the back of the block can be. Almost "clearanced" a fire wall a little when one finally let loose. :-laf :p
 
i spent some quality time beating a light against the wall after the bulb exploded when a drop of water came out of nowhere (ac had not been run for days) covering the side of my face and arm pit with hot glass, i was already annoyed at the transmission that didn't want to fit back into it's hole and that didn't help my temperament



MXTMOPR said:
I would also like to add the inherent properties of the typical trouble light. First, its uncanny ability to inflict severe burns on operators face when working under dashboards. Second, the mystical gravitation of the light emitting side of the lamp to slowly turn towards your eyes and away from the thing you are trying to see. Third and final ability of most lights, is the "sproing". This occurs when you finally get your body crammed beneath the dash and the drivers seat, the light moves from the position in which you last left it into the path between your back and the floorboard.
 
Dammit tool

Yup, I threw my dammit tool across the shop floor. My pitch was so keen and accurate the wrench went exactly through the floor drain grate. Into the sump. Mired in 8" of sludge. Below 10" of oily brake fluidy antifreeze infested tide smellin' like water. I'm older now.
 
Man! As much TROUBLE as yalls "trouble lights" give, yall need to get a fluorescent one! Those little "twister" type bulbs (available made in China from the big box stores) work great on the old fashion lights and new ones are available exclusively fluorescent. They are drop and vibration proof, don't get any more than warm to the touch and won't explode if a drop of liquid hits them. I dropped mine at work in a 5 gallon bucket of oil with it on. It still works to this day. Another plus to my particular one is it has the ballast at the plug so it does not have the electrocuting 120 volts at the actual light and wires...

Have had a taste of the "dammit tool" too!
 
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