Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

My wife introduced me to those Mr Clean pads, I don't know what makes them clean so good but they really work. I visit the dollar store and buy oven cleaner, Dawn, and awesome by the jug.

 

I use the Me Clean Magic Eraser pads to clean my white walls.
With cords, my 25 or 50 foot ones, I wind them in a circle and plug the ends together. I have a plastic garden hose holder on the wall to hold them.
My hundred foot cords I make a figure eight on the floor until wound up. The figure eight pattern helps to keep them from tangling when I use them.

Phil

 

Spray can of Scrubbing Bubbles in the garage for quick hand cleaner. Cuts through some serious grease. Then wash off in the sink when I go in.

 

Dollar store food storage!! plastic food containers for carp parts, another for electrical parts, and they stack. Snack size and quart size ziplock bags. Taking something apart that isn't going right back together? all the bolts, nuts and washers go in a bag. you can't knock them over and if you get freezer bags you can label them with a sharpy.

 

Use SOS pads to clean white walls and lettering. Goop hand cleaner will make rubber hoses look like new.

 

The main work area in my shop let's me work efficiently. All the basics are hanging at my fingertips. Steel top, I can clamp the welder ground to the bench and weld parts held by the vise. Trash can slides out so I can scrape the bench off into it, yet dropped parts miss it when slid in. Usually I can work on something without walking off to get anything. Least used tools are furthest from the center of the work area. Cleaners and wire brushes handy and the lit magnifier gets used more often the older I get.

 

^^^Excellent^^

 

Way cool


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Old bowling lanes make great bench tops. Bowling alleys are replacing the hard rock maple with synthetics. Keep your eye on the CL materials section. I have seen them as cheap as $1.50/ lineal foot. VERY heavy !

 

I don't get it...............do I?

 

A little bit if valve grinding compound on the tip of a phillips screwdriver will help remove those damaged screws.

Phil

 

Lacquer thinner works great on white walls/letters also.

 

We like to hit up estate sales and I have found they want to sell off everything so I started making offers on all of the towels to use for my shop I have purchased 4 trash bags full of towels for $2 a bag and they are happy to get rid of them, now I don’t try to save them just use for oil clean up or drying the car and no more laundry just toss them away when done. I cut the large ones with preening shears to avoid them from frayed ends.


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1. Change out old fluorescent and traditional bulbs for LEDs. You'll be amazed at the difference. Good light is key to a great working environment.
2. I keep a small plastic bin under the workbench to gather all scrap steel and bring to the recycler when full. This includes old deck screws, nails from skids, bottle/beer caps, etc.
3. Buy, find or make a folding scissors stand. Keep a scrap piece of plywood handy. Makes for a great impromptu working surface for painting parts, etc.
4. For those living in colder climates, install some cheap ceiling mounted radiant heaters. Makes a world of difference if strategically located.
5. On hotter days use a fan to help keep you cool. Helps also to clear out fumes when welding etc.

 

Many years ago when I was young and dumb, I started cleaning a white convertible top with lacquer thinner. Did you know that lacquer thinner will melt vinyl? Ya do now.

 

LOL....I did a similar deal in my young and dumb days....cleaned my convertible top with Wesley's Bleach White. Worked great and I had a super white top...for a while until the top dried out and cracked to bits after a summer. LOL

 

I sealed one end of a thick plastic drainpipe and filled it full of cleaning vinegar to clean two NOS Fiat Topolino runningboards that were covered in surface rust. Now i have model A ford tudor window garnish mouldings hanging in there. Just leave it for a few days and wash with water and brush. Use an old hubcap as lid.

 

If you have a premonition that a bad thing is going to happen, put on gloves or move the thing that's going to fall or do whatever it takes before it's too late.

 

How true that is.

 

Solid-core doors (generally found in institutional, medical and commercial buildings) also make great bench tops. Cut off the side with the door handle hole and what's left is the perfect width for a bench. You can find these in recycle yards, or if you see a job in progress stop and ask; many times they'll be glad to have somebody haul them off.

You might ask whoever you talk to what they like to drink... LOL

 

The Government(Fed, State, &/or Local) seems to prefer all steel office desks that they replace periodically. About 30 cyrs ago there were a couple at a local scrap yard. I bought one of them for $10. It had drawers on both ends(great for high-use small tools & supplies) & a formica top. I've built everything from engines to ornamental iron on that thing(used a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" ply for bigger projects laid on top), & still using it, even though it sits outside the shop. they're almost indestructible, even with all the abuse I've given it(& who knows how old it was when I got it??) Another point : when I need to for a precision project, I can check it for level because it has threaded feet on the legs. For most work it sure beats rolling around on the ground or kneeling to work on (or weld) on a part that's so much easier to work on from the desk-top height. Someday I may even spill some paint on it to protect it from the weather, but it seems to be OK for now(after 30yrs) LOL!

 

When trying to install a bolt or nut in a hard to reach place and the socket is a bit loose and your bolt or nut keeps falling out as you try to get it in whatever you are trying to reach, use a small ,thin piece of cardboard or tape placed in your socket just tight enough to hold the bolt or nut in the socket until it starts to thread into or onto what ever.

 

Just to get a glimpse of what your body work is looking like , after a coat of primer, take some 3m 3000 grit and sand the area and it will shine sorta like a semi gloss finish and you can see how wavy or not wavy your handy work is. After this just sand with what ever grit you are about to , 320,400 whatever.

 

I use a similar method. I buy 5 gallons of liquid molasses from a feed store and mix it about 1:8 with water in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Toss the parts for a week or 2 then rinse off to shiny metal. Really good for moving parts like window regulators. Dry immediately and coat with something to prevent flash rust. I have the same bucket going for years and it still works.

 

Dollar store oven cleaner works better than the store bought engine cleaner, washes off with water, and doesn't stink when its done. When selling a car a few quick sprays with Simple Green in the engine compartment and a quick rinse with water is a big improvement.

 

I know its impossible to inventory every tool but the picture thing works great. Had a break in, so I know. Now, don't procrastinate guys.......go take dated pictures of at least your most expensive tools and the receipts if you still have them. I live in a rural area and never had a problem for 30 years. Then one day a guy off Craigs list decided to return late at night and got me for about $6k in welding equipment. Having proof of what I lost got me most of my money back. Its also time to install a camera system and noisemakers.......just lights don't work.

 

Anybody who has had any success with the electrolisis method of rust removal? Tried it once in a big wooden crate with a plastic tarp for a liner. Didn't get much of a result. Wonder if I needed more current or something ?

 

Well lit areas just means the crooks don't trip over the sprinkler in the yard, they don't deter anybody. What they do, is allow YOU to see THEM from inside the house, but if you're asleep, or not at home, it's a moot point. One of the best "security systems" is a good dog or two. Countless interviews with crooks, they always say they don't like messing with homes or businesses with dogs at all, and will move on.

 

We were just talking about this at breakfast yesterday. More current amd perhaps a longer period of time. One of the guys did a flathead v8 block in his big barrel!

 

some real good tips here. All useful.