Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

“Man card” pulled for being knowledgeable?

 

Way back eye protection was mentioned. I'm a one eyed guy. Already used my visual spare. Though I do well lots of things are a challenge like drilling a hole where it looks like I'm drilling it. Turning of an old gas engine compressor with the spark plug ground lever. Ouch! All lathe and mill work require the use of centers. Welding is an extra challenge. At least welding the part I'm trying to weld.Take care of your sight. Also lose clothing and any power tool that is stronger than you is a bad mix. Jewelry and power tools aren meant to be used together. Loose long hair and beards can cause extra excitement too.
On the bright side: It takes twice as long to look at a pretty girl and only half as long to look at an ugly one. I can't see all of a fat girl at once. It only takes half as much beer to get blind drunk. My world is smaller but it's full of surprises. If I need a cornea transplant I can be my own donor. I no longer have the urge to close one eye when I shoot.
Thanks for all the good tips!

 

Good tip on the vise grips on the overhead door track!

 

The other very important thing in this picture is the good sized fire extinguisher located by the door.

Mart.

 

Well, you haven't lost your sense of humor.

 

If you can't laugh at yourself you have no friggin' business laughing at anyone else.

 

Six ball tells it like it is...
Came a millimeter from joining him, speared in the left eye playing high school hockey, blew out the orbital floor, pushed my eye into my sinus...
where the stick hit ruptured the fibers in the iris...
so bad it created a hole, now I have 2 pupils in that eye, would love to give six ball one of 'em….
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Please use eye protection, ear protection, good gloves, dark sun glasses to heat up or braze, welding hood even just to tack weld...
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I cut the legs off worn out sweat pants and run them upside down on my left arm when grinding in the dog days of summer ...

 

When I built my garage I anchored in several sets of D-Rings into the concrete along the back wall. One in the middle of the wall and one in front of each car location. This way If I am working on a non runner I can push it out, work on it, then pull it back into place using my winch by connecting the winch to the D ring. Works great and keeps me from pushing on the paint or trim.


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I did that also, in my 40x70 shop, but I just put a lenth of chain in the concrete with a bar welded to the bottom. I placed them every eight ft. around the perimeter of my shop. I use them for everything. Straighten frames , just pulling something, spreading things. Works great, except I need long chains and usually stuff is in the way! But if really needed.... they are outstanding!






Bones

 

I laugh at myself just so I can justify laughing at other people!

 

If you need to renew rubber that has gotten rock hard from age (yeah, I can hear a few jokes already) use some Xylene from Ace Hardware and some wintergreen oil. Don't soak too long, but the oil will get into the pores the Xylene opens up. I use this on old motorcycle parts with great success. They will harden again, but at least they will be in place when they shrink and turn to rock again.

 

I'm guessing this might work to reuse window or windshield rubber if you have an orphan car that no one reproduces parts for.

 

^^^^Heh heh, you just said "orphan" in reference to the "old hard rubber" post.

 

A magnet on the headstock to hold the key is safer than any cord or chain. And you need one of those 90 degree magnets nearby anyway.

 

I also have 2 pupils in one eye, from a BB gun long time ago... haha

 

I just finished watching Christmas Story! I came close to losing the eye I have left trying to make a muzzle loader out of my 22 back in the 50s. Davey Crockett stuff. I'd be totally blind now if some of those pieces had hit just fractions of and inch from where they did. I'd have to be a lot better guitar player than I am to make a living on the street corner.

 

Baby oil is your friend. Its the best for removing grime from your hands and making old vinyl shine..

 

Paint a line in the middle of your shop ladder at it's balance point. Makes it way easier to grab and carrie it when in a hurry.

 

Ralphy??

 

In a hurry? Like going to the fire? I keep a fire nozzle on a drained 3/4" garden hose on the frost free faucet right outside the shop door. just incase the extinguisher fails to do the job. It'll reach all around the shop.

 

A pretty simple one for you fishing aficionados out there....save one of your empty line spools....drill a few holes in the rim.....makes a great pen pencil and small tool holder.....never have to scrounge for something to write with again and its just a throw away otherwise.

 

I’m fortunate to have a third bay on my shop that houses parts, tools, work bench etc. So in the main shop I have a single rolling tool box that has about 90% of what I need as far as basics go. It has small side trays that I believe I found on epay you could easily make your own. I found it in the junk yard for $5 then added better casters, I’m constantly refining it. It saves room in the working side and cuts down on walking/time.

 

One of the things I have picked up from this thread is that I need to make some big changes of how my shop is laid out and how I store tools. I don't need everything in tool boxes and shoved into drawers. This is not a mobile unit. Some of it will never, not in my lifetime, leave the shop. Much of it should be where I can see it and reach it. But in order to have a lot out I also need to be better about putting things away each day and cleaning more often. I also need covers for big machines/tools to keep them clean between uses. Thanks for showing me the errors of my ways!

 

Some things I don't recall seeing:

I have 4 of those magnetic strips about 1" x 24". Three screwed to the front of my bench and one on the wall over the bench. A 4' power strip on the front of the bench. And a half dozen or so of the magnetic bowls that hold nuts and bolts etc on the bench.

I use the magnetic strips to hold tools I'm using rather than laying them on the bench in my way.

The magnetic bowls are self explanatory.

It's nice to plug tools into the front of the bench and not have cords running across the bench.

Nothing earth shattering but makes working easier for me.

 

An old locksmith taught me this trick/tool for removing broken off keys from a lock. Take a "jig saw" blade (the long skinny kind used in a hoop style carpenter hand jig saw and cut the end off. Slide into lock next to broken key. As you pull it out the teeth will grab key and pull broken key out with it.

1 more car I promise, Rex Winter
Dry n windy Lubbock TX

 

Don’t turn the drill press on with the key in the chuck and you’re all good. Why would you need a 90 degree magnet near a drill press “anyway”? Are you talking about one of those 90 degree welding magnets? Don’t tell me you trust the strength of one of those up against the torque of your drill press.


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Newly learned... the cross braces under the roof of a '36 truck cab flipped upside down and trimmed to fix a coupe and roadster tulip or quarter panel...
the brace ;
.curved section patched the quarter to tulip edge... the smaller piece was split and run across the top.

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used a 6" flat section to fix the very tender bead on the left side...

chunk of '36 roof support as a patch...

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Could help fix about any make coupe and roadster from about 1928 to 1932...

 

I don't have a garage, but I was lying on my back in the leaves this morning trying to figure out how to put my new lifters in my Model A motor while it was still in the car, came up with this idea. Worked better than I could have ever hoped.

 

I have an old impact wrench set, you know, the ones where you hit it with a hammer.
Anyhoo, the torx drivers that came with it make good broken bolt extractors. They are not brittle like eezi-outs, and tend not to spread the bolt as much. just used one tonight.
Mart.