That's a pain in the ass thing some genius came up with just to piss us off and make us buy a boat load of new tools
I don’t let my metric and sae wrenches and sockets commingle. They might create something like British standard. My Philip and standard screwdrivers don’t commingle either, they might create something like the four point hi torque bits that airbus loves to use. No I allow my Allen wrenches to commingle, because I already have some Bristol wrenches. My vice grip pliers are like so many here, closed with tension. Electric cords when all cooled up, do not have any twists or loops. Not all industry has gone metric. Aircraft are primarily sae. Occasionally on the airbus, we need a metric wrench, socket, or Allen wrench. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Consistency and accuracy. Those are the secrets to measurements and using them. Whatever system you start with for a particular project, stick with it.
Yeah, I have a problem looking at a metric fastener and knowing what size it is. Because of this (or maybe advancing age and weakening eyesight) I sometimes have trouble telling the difference between 7/16 and 1/2 inch now. [/QUOTE] The difference between European and Asian metrics can be maddening as Europeans tend to use odd numbered sizes for bolt heads and nuts like 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25 and Asians use even numbers like 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 etc. Not that either one won't throw something else in there. from time to tine
Now that someone brought up "standard" (slot) screwdrivers; does anyone EVER replace a slotted screw with a new slotted screw????? For the life of me, I still don't understand why slotted screws are still being mfg, I hate those things. The day Phillips screws were invented, production of slotted screws should have CEASED. I respect my tools and actually have a couple of nice slot screwdrivers just in case I need to remove one but most of my old ones are just kept to use as pry bars.
Nope I am a wipe and not clean/wash guy. I always close my micrometer on a piece of cigarette paper (no idea why?) and always open it and wipe it with my finger before I use it. Actually before using a machine (mill or lather) I wipe it with my finger too. I loosen my torque wrench all the way before I put it away. I got a couple of wrenches that I am superstitious about. They are my lucky wrenches, they are seldom loaned even if they are not going to leave my site.
The guys at work were always "borrowing" my tape measures so I started buying engineers tape measures that have both Metric and Imperial measurements but the Imperial are in 10ths and 100ths of a foot. It was always easy to find them as I would hear "What the F is this?".
I don't mind slotted screws as such, but the typical screwdriver from the usual suspects are usually not made correctly. Not sure why that is. They will bugger up the slot. Hollow ground blades, like Gunsmiths use, fit the slot perfectly. A #17 iirc fits Holley jets perfectly. When brass jets get buggered it messes up the flow. Quirk: My bench vise must be closed or nearly so, with the handle pointing straight down at "close of business."
Back when everybody smoked, in a group or work setting of any size there was always some dickhead who would bum smokes on a near constant basis. Once in a while, OK, but then as now, shit costs money and this ain't a charity. Buy your own goddamn smokes. So smart guys kept a spare pack of Taryton Ultra-Lights or some shit like that, just awful and a cigarette in name only, burns like firecracker fuse and smells worse. Start bitchin', too bad. Here ya go.
I am with the in crowd of closing up vise grips and pliers. Open pliers seem to get tangled with other tools Murphy's law works in my garage.
[/QUOTE] The difference between European and Asian metrics can be maddening as Europeans tend to use odd numbered sizes for bolt heads and nuts like 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25 and Asians use even numbers like 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 etc. Not that either one won't throw something else in there. from time to tine[/QUOTE] Hopefully adding a bit without hi jacking here. Not all metric thread pitches are standard, some older (pre early '60's) motorcycles had different thread pitches between European and Japanese manufacturers . Even old American machinery has some odd ball stuff like 11 1/2 TPI. After mucking up too many projects using too much haste I've found it best to keep truly odd ball tooling well labeled and well separated from the everyday use stuff. Ed
These dam things are made backwards for left handed people. I put my tools in my tool box the opposite of everybody else. I still gotta think before tighten and loosening a bolt. Always go the wrong way. Same with window cranks. I still wanna put my extensions in the tray the opposite way they are suppose to go(pre selected slots).
The difference between European and Asian metrics can be maddening as Europeans tend to use odd numbered sizes for bolt heads and nuts like 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25 and Asians use even numbers like 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 etc. Not that either one won't throw something else in there. from time to tine[/QUOTE] Hopefully adding a bit without hi jacking here. Not all metric thread pitches are standard, some older (pre early '60's) motorcycles had different thread pitches between European and Japanese manufacturers . Even old American machinery has some odd ball stuff like 11 1/2 TPI. After mucking up too many projects using too much haste I've found it best to keep truly odd ball tooling well labeled and well separated from the everyday use stuff. Ed[/QUOTE] I raced a Honda 2 stroke powered shifterkart and the CR-125 used a different thread pitch on the case and barrel studs, 73/74 then 75-78 IIRC. Had to make sure to keep matching hardware and hardparts together as it was common to "stick" a piston/barrel.
First question; Do you know the difference between a wrench and a hammer? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I am so using this quote on my wife. I love her dearly, but she says I'm anal. So I ask her: Am I anal, or are you a slob?
As my old preacher would say..."Amen, brother!" I just spent a day replacing all the old slotted screws with Phillips under the dash because you can't start a slotted screw too good when you can't see where it goes, just feel. So Phillips to the rescue, next time it will be easier. I think Henry Ford loved the awful things.
Yeh Don, I never liked those things under the best conditions, between arthritis and eyes gone to hell I hate slotted screws when they are right in front of me.
I closed all my vice grips after reading this thread...wow something so simple made a difference in my plier drawer,thanks !
Death to metric, reminds me of all the off shore horribleness.. the worst is when you have to run to HF to get a throw away tool for a throw away job.. On the pro side I have an affinity to vtg. Snap On
I've always had the suspicion that the reason for the major difference in elevation of bridges and roadways is that the highway and bridge engineers use the Engineers "feet and 10ths" rulers and the guys actually doing the construction use feet and inches. That might account for my squashed spinal system after more than three million miles of truck driving.
I don't agree. Look at the picture of the tape measure. That is supposed to be a right handed tape measure but if I were using it, the body would be in my left hand and I would be looking at the measurements upside down. I bought my left handed daughter a left hand tape measure and I could use it with no problem because I was reading the measurements right side up.
My shop is fairly organized. Tools are put in their proper location at the end of the day, or at the end of a job. Sometimes jobs go for 2-3 days, and sometimes there are 10 jobs in a day. I don't loose many tools. Hoses and cords are picked up and put on the hooks. When my son started working on cars, he was always upset when I made him put the tools and stuff back where it belonged when he was finished with them. I'm dealing with my grandson about the same stuff now, I think he is better then my son was at his age. They will get it, or they can't work in my shop. Recently my son was working on his car at a friend's body shop. They are not so good at putting things away and cleaning up after a job. My son has come to the conclusion that its much better working someplace where the tools are put away, and things are cleaned up. He says he now understands why I do things the way I do. I'm just passing along what my dad instilled on me. Metric tools or inch tools? I really don't care which we use, I just wish we would go completely one way or the other. Having stuff put together with both sets of measurement is tiring. I find myself going under car with a hand full of wrenches in hopes of having the one tool I need. As far as precision goes, I cut stuff with a Sawzall and a hand held plasma cutter and I weld stuff back together here. The precision only needs to be as close as the thickness of a fine point marker and that Sawzall blade or the cut of the plasma cutter. I'm OK with that. Gene
The anvils can rust together even though they are carbide. They pick up traces of steel and other metals from general use. I leave mine open a little. The micrometers and calipers go back into the wooden boxes after I use them.
The Jalopy Journal
