COMMON TOOLS DEFINED

This was sent to us by a user.  We had such a kick out of it, we wanted to share it with everyone. 

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, denting the freshly-painted vertical
stabilizer which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could
get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and
hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say,
“Oh ….”

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of
blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

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: Generally used after pliers to completely 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.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction
of 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 out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known
drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any
possible future use.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to
cut good aluminium sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into
the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the
outside edge.

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

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that
inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end
opposite the handle.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids
or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on
your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out
Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT or FLAT BLADE SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to
convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

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 make 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
adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

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, most
often, the next tool that you will need.

Nicholson 10″ Mill File and File Information

Files are used for a variety of applications.  For both wood and metal and many other materials.  Tylertool.com sent us this file to show us how their new engraving will look on wood products.  So since we have this, we will talk a little bit about files, and specifically the Nicholson file. 

As noted above, files are used for a variety of applications.  This is a flat file, but other files are round, half round, triangular and many other shapes.  The 10″ Nicholson file teeth are bastard (Meaning intermediate).  An intermediate is used for filling that doesn’t require precision.   There is also second-cut, smooth and dead smooth.  This file is a mill file or single cut.  A mill or single cut means the file has one set of parrallel teeth.  There are also cross cut or double cut.  All this means is there is a second set of teeth set to an angle from the first teeth.

On some files you will see a number 1, 2, and up.  All this means is 1 is more coarse than a number 2, and so on.  The file we have happens to be a number 5. 

As we said, a file can be designed for any use.  This Nicholson file is designed for sharpening mill or circular saws , but can also be used for draw-filing and finishing metals. 

Buck Knife Review

Tyler Tool sent us this knife to show off their new engraving tool that will engrave your name, company name or anything else you may want.   Since we had the knife we decided to run it through a couple of tests and review the knife.  I own a couple of Gerber knives and always heard our friend Billy talk about his Buck knives and how much he loves them, so we decided to give this a try.  There are a lot of different knife manufactures to chose from such as Buck, Gerber, Leatherman and more.  Before we get started we do want to note this is a mini Buck knife, but as far as we are concerned, anything you put your name on should be quality whether it is a $10 knife or a $500 knife.  The only difference should be what the item is used for.

A mini knife is not intended to carve up your fresh deer catch.  A mini knife is a smaller utility knife.  Considering the blade is only 2″ long, I think you get the point as what you can and can not do with this knife.  This is a nice little knife you can keep in your pocket, your car, tool box or on your key chain.  This Buck knife only weights .7 oz., so it is very light.  The blade is made from 154CM Steel and the handle is made of high-tech thermoplastic.  This is a folding knife and to our surprise it also locks.  The handle is 3″ long, so for someone like me, even with my big hands it fits nicely in my hand and I still have control. 

For this test we only did two items.  The first item we did was throw it agaisnt a concrete wall at a pretty good speed just to see how it held up.  After picking it up, it had a couple of scratches, but still worked fine.  The next test we performed was locking the blade in a vice and putting some pressure on the handle to see if we could get the lock to fail.  We put a fair amount of pressure on the handle and it did hold in place.  Actually when we took the blade out of the vice, there were only a couple scratches, but it was still very sharp. 

Now don’t get us wrong, we are not acting like this is the strongest knife we have ever used.  If we wanted to  break this knife, we could.  But again this is a mini knife and we wanted to put more pressure and abuse then this type of knife should see.  Now we are pretty sure if we put a lot of pressure on the handle we could get it to fail.  If we hit it with a sledge hammer, we could break the handle.  As far as we are concerned, this is a very nice and strong knife for being under $10 and a small knife.

Buck Knife at Tylertool.com

Thermostats - What You Need to Know

 

Each year millions of people throw away money trying to heat or cool their homes.  There are a lot of great ideas and articles about making a home more energy efficient.   One idea that is rarely talked about is the Thermostat. This should be the first step in energy efficiency, since this is the tool that tells the A/C or heating unit to kick on and off. 

We met Tim from Greenspoint temp controls at a jobsite.  He saw us testing some power tools and we started talking.  Tim works mainly on commercial properties, but he says the same information he told us applies to homeowners as well.  We bought Tim a cup of coffee from the jobsite canteen truck and picked his brain a little.  Below are a couple good ideas he told us.

Occasionally, test your thermostat by using a thermometer to test the accuracy of the thermostat.  Put the thermometer next to the thermostat for about 10 minutes and compare the two readings.  If they are within 5 degrees, you thermostat is working fine.  If they are over 5 degrees apart, either the thermostat needs to be changed if electronic. If It is Mercury based, it needs to be recalibrated. 

Most people make the mistake of lowering their thermostat too much at night.  If the temp is more than a 10 degree swing, this can actually cost more money than you think you are saving.  In the morning the furnace now has to work hard in order to get the heat back up past the 10 degree mark.  Also, if the temperature outside will be close to zero or below, don’t lower the thermostat that night as this will really cause inefficiency.

Check you thermostat’s position in the room.  Even it it has been there for a while.  Maybe the installer made a mistake and didn’t install it in the correct location, or maybe something was added later that might give a false reading.  Check by your thermostat to make sure there is not a draft from somewhere.  Also, make sure there is nothing hot around the thermostat, like a TV or radio. These items can give false readings.

If you do find out that the thermostat needs to be replaced or you need to change locations, this can be done very easily.  If you need to relocate the thermostat, make sure you check the owner’s specifications on each unit.  All you will have to do is run some new wiring to the location of your choice.  This will take some time and work, but it can be done.  If you are replacing your old thermostat, this to is easy.  Most thermostats have two pieces, the head (Body) and the base.  The head is the actual unit you see on the wall with controls.  The base is the part that is screwed onto the wall.  Remember to turn off the power to that thermostat first. 

• First remove the thermostat head which is usually just snapped onto a base. 
• Second, remove the screws from the base that are attaching the base to the wall.  Now you should see four wires, Red, White, Green and Yellow, but this can vary.  Mark each wire if they are not color coded. 
• Before you remove the wires, place a piece of tape over the core of the wires to hold them against the wall, so they do not fall back behind the wall. 
• After this is secure, you can remove the wires from the base. 
• Next, place the new base in place where you want it.  Make sure it is level.  Now with a pencil, mark the spots where the screws will go.  You can drill holes for the new screws.  If you are going through drywall, just remember to use anchors when you screw the new base in place.
• Once the base is in place and the wires are attached, you can now snap the head back into place
• You can now program the new unit for your home.

Tip

If you are going to have people over, lower the thermostat temp by 5 degrees.  Bodies give off heat, so a lot of bodies around will create  good heat build up. 

Dewalt’s New TrackSaw

Dewalt is launching their new TrackSaw that will be released this November.  We haven’t tested this new saw, but it looks like Dewalt is going after Festool’s Guide Rail system and dust collection.  As the name suggests, the TrackSaw follows a track to help you make a perfectly straight cut every time.  According to Dewalt the cut will produce splinter free cuts which makes sense once you see how the track lays right by the cuts. 

With this saw you can make beveled cuts, cut on inclines and more.  The tracks come in a variety of sizes and you can always join them together.  The saw is a 12 amp 1300 watt motor, variable speed (Corded) and has an anti-kick back mechanism.  The saw is avaliable in a corded or cordless version.  Both have a plunge system in place, so you can start your cut from any point.  This system weights in at 12lbs.  On the bottom of the track there are two friction slips which means you do not have to clamp the track down and damage your project.  Again we haven’t tested this TrackSaw, so we are not sure how well it holds especially if it is cold out side or a little damp.  You can replace the top or bottom strips if they wear out.  Again we do not know how long the strips last before they need replacement and at what cost. 

As we get more information from users, we will update this post about the Dewalt TrackSaw

 You can see Dewalt Video and other Information at Dewalt TrackSaw

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