Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

If the boot is clean (rag and carb cleaner) a black pen will show up enough to read. If you want a highly visible mark, you could use something bolder.
If you really want to go crazy, there is shrink wrap with numbers or something like this.
https://www.rbssuperchargers.com/Products/Spark_Plug_Wire_Number_Kit--2500-0107
I'm of the less flash, more subdued look camp. Plus that's 8-10 bucks to spend elsewhere.
I also know where #1 is on the cap and the plug and have them routed so they fall into place.

 

@Dubonet Garage , that's good for little skinnies, but it takes up as much space as stacking (provided they are wide enough to stack) and is just as movable (not). I'd add some casters so it wasn't just a big island on the floor.

 

Just came in from the shop. I tried silver, red, blue, and black sharpies on a spare black plug boot.

• silver showed up bright
• black virtually disappeared, as did the blue
• red was visible although VERY faint.

Conclusion:

• if you want to be able to read it but no one else see it unless they are looking extremely hard; use red.
• same scenario but even fainter/harder to read; use blue or black
• if you're old like me and/or you want to be able to see it from a long way away; use silver

So any sharpie will work. Use the one that suits your desires.

Also note that if you mark the "inside" of the 90° bend of the boot no one will ever be able to see it after installation. Obviously that doesn't apply if you're using straight on boots.

I only had blue and black ink pens so didn't even try those.

 

A long time garage counter top workspace protector...

Hello,

Before the Granite countertop explosion, we used a new surface material in 1985. Left over Corian countertop material cut and shaved to create a nice workspace for model building or modifications. Out in the garage, it was used as a sturdy base for all work, including drilling on a smooth, level surface.

In the kitchen, the makeover was wide spread as a counter/bar on one end and the sink opening under the window and a short counter top on the far wall to the refrigerator. But, I noticed that the installers had some left over and I was able to secure it and make my small counter protector surface workspace.

Today, it is still one of the first things I get out when I need to work on the new cabinet counter. It allows me to solder, drill, paint, cut using a jig saw, use a file and other uses, while protecting the actual counter top. A 40 year old kitchen counter surface remnant still in use. But, not for hammering...

Jnaki
After many years of getting a granite countertop in one of my wife’s kitchen remodels, that little piece was also used to act as a hot plate, a pipe cutting surface and a sturdy base when drilling materials. Now, that granite piece is out in the garden as a plant pot base. (No, no that kind of pot.)

So, many years later, my wife was also into the latest remodel of the kitchen as she wanted it lighter and brighter. The new counter surface was a virtual non destructive natural counter top material similar to granite, as it is dug out from a mountain location. Quartzite is a sturdy mother nature’s “hard as rock” material that is dug out similar to the granite excavations.

This time, the tile installation company specifically made us a rounded corner machined cut surfaces with a sturdy protector legs to use as a pot/counter protective plate. And for under heavy pots used on counters while the ingredients are transferred to other bowls/plates, etc. not that the new counter needs any protection, but as a gift, it was a nice thing.

Rounded corners, thicker Quartzite material and sturdy protective feet makes for a sturdy countertop workspace/protector.

Do not get Quartzite confused with Quartz, as that surface is man made and prone to lots of damage from kitchen mishaps and cracking/staining. So, why is it used in many kitchen remodels? It is less expensive and readily available in all sorts of patterns since it is man made in a factory. Not made in the ground by mother nature. There are so many choice of colors and patterns that makes that artificial surface popular.

But, beware, one must take care of the heat from pots and pans on the surface, the hot coffee maker bottoms and anything resembling a product that gives off heat could damage the "Quartz" surface. Plus, it cracks and chips with ease from dropped tools, utensils and pots/pans.

Note:
Here is a 6 x 6 inch sample given to us by a huge stone yard, near Disneyland, in a thicker Quartzite. With the sharp edges, it is dangerous. Now, if I want a smaller section for my current garage countertop work, I would have to smooth the corners and edges. It is so sharp, that I have to wear gloves, so as not to cut me when I handle the mini-slab of material. Currently, it sits in a drawer ready for any heavier duty action.

It is 1 inch thick and heavy. It is in the preliminary stage for us. The sales guy was trying to sell us a thicker counter of Quartzite. The thicker version was more expensive and not needed. So, we still have the small 6 x 6 inch piece, which will be whittled away with rounded corners for another hot portable workspace for garage tools, later on... YRMV

 

If the boots are black I use a silver sharpie, otherwise a black one. I write the number on the plug too.

 

I like the idea of writing on the actual plug. Here's what I use when removing plugs from an engine. I made this about 30 years ago. Sure is ugly but works well. That was back in the day when my handwriting was actually legible.

 

I have something very similar. I use a piece of 2X4 or 2X6 depending. I do the same thing for lifters that I take out of an engine. I can write which cam went with the lifters on it and that way the lifters go back on the same lobe even if installed in a different engine. Drill the hole snug for the plugs or lifters and they won't easily fall out.

 

@snoc653 , me too. I have 2 for different diameter lifters. Snug fit keeps them in place.

 

Sign In Picture For Guests Passing Thru..

 

Same here, and they're handy for a lot of things. Used them to hang Old Glory in the garage after I inquired to a Korean War Veteran how to properly go about it without disrespected the flag by doing it improperly...He told me to paint them matching red so they don't stick out first.

 

I discovered I was ambidextrous when I realized I used both hands when eating a hamburger..........



Then I tried welding with each hand......................they looked equally bad.

 

James Garfield was ambidextrous and could write ln Latin & Greek at the same time. Probably could color worth a damn.

 

I trained myself to be fairly good left handed by using the first grade method. They started you out with a big fat pencil and wide lined paper to develop gross muscle control. Then they refined it down to fine muscle control with a regular sized pencil and paper. After that came cursive.

 

I always felt bad for the left-handed kids trying to sharpen their pencils and using those crappy scissors. Seems like the pencil shapener should have been on a stand like a buffing wheel so you could approach it from either direction.

 

Atch, my father had a huge nail, think bridge timber size, drove into the wall above his tool box, in the old shop! He hung his set of Crescent wrenches on that nail according to size ending with the six inch wrench! It just seemed natural to me!
One day two brothers, John and Tom Bebee , friends of my dad’s came into the shop and just marveled at those hanging wrenches. John mentioned to Tom” That’s what those holes in the end of those wrenches are for!”
We moved into the “ new” shop , some thirty years ago, but that nail is still in the old shop, we use for storage, now.
I smile everytime I see that huge nail!




Bones

 

When I taught high school auto shop, the Crescent wrenches were stored in the back of my bottom desk drawer.

 

I use one of those magnetic license plate holders that the dealers use for dealer plates, for the screwdrivers that I use the most on my bench.

 

Excellent. I highly recommend these for everyone on here. Counting all of them on various benches I have 7 of those 18" magnetic strips that HF sells. No matter what bench or tool you're using for a particular task you can keep many tools handy without cluttering up the bench top.

 

Why? It is a tool just like the combo wrench!




Bones

 

Bones,

What the H... E... double hockey sticks are you doing up at 2:03 am? You trying to emulate my lifestyle?

b-t-w; I'm assuming you were responding to X-cpe's post about Crescent wrenches.

 

My high school auto shop teacher wouldn't let us use adjustable wrenches. He wanted us to get used to using wrenches that fit the hardware, not those big loose clubs that round over hex heads and won't fit in a lot of places. I agree with him.
They are however good for a lot of things and I have quite a few in my possession. Mostly I use them on pipe fittings which often have oddball hex sizes. A handy one that I use occasionally is a 10" Stanley with a locking device like Vise Grip pliers.

 

Yep, now a days I can sleep! I stay up to all hours of the night, but sleep in, in the morning! Good to be retired!
But last night I was having trouble getting a huge log started in my fireplace, my fire place is ducted to all the rooms in my house! Last night it was 14 degrees! Saves a bunch on the electric bill!
So it was me against the log for a couple of hours! But beer and I….won out! Woke up to a toasty house!





Bones

 

They are a tool just like every other one, they have their place. In my shop, I rarely use one, as the right size wrench is readily available. But as I get older, getting up and down is harder, so the old crescent wrench is becoming my friend! It was alway a friend in my mobile tool box! And in the pickup!





Bones

 

A good quality adjustable wrench is better than most of the crap in the stores today. I always put 2 sizes in the car toolbox with the other wrenches. The tractor tool box has a medium size crescent, pliers, a screw driver, vise grips, a hammer and a box of 45 ACP.

 

Fabber pretty much nailed it. Out of sight, out of mind. But they were there when needed. The next tool after a crescent wrench is vice-grips. A big part of damage control is prevention.

 

Hole Saw washers............

I found that when I use different hole saws on thicker metal, the cut out washer that results often come in handy when you want to back a plate or whatever so you can tap a hole. I weld them where I need them and tap them to size. Doesn't cost anything to throw them in the drawer with the other washers.

 

^^^^^^ Exactly. A couple of thick ones can be threaded for seat belt anchors, too, especially the ones cut from frame steel. Thin ones cut from engine-turned stainless steel will become bezels for my light and ignition switches.

 

Thick, thin, large or small, I keep them all.

 

Just hole swed four of em.. didn't deburr them yet though ,,save4d them for future use..almost threw them away..