Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

Used to tell my students, "One on one the tools are undefeated".

 

I picked up a hot horseshoe one time…put it right back down! My friend asked me if it was hot? I said “ no, just doesn’t take me long to look at a horseshoe!”






Bones

 

I was making some cuts with a torch one day, guy comes up picks up one piece immediately drops it.
with a smirk "I say whats wrong was it hot"
naw says he just didnt take me long to look at it.

 

Bones you were first but mines better cause it was the other guy got burned. I like it though.

 

Do not wear lace up boots when pipeline welding . Had a contractor welder not cover up the manly parts with leather when laying on his back welding 26 in pipe . That was a strange ER Room trip to get the burns inspected .

 

Or just don't be directly under the weld.

 

A tip: when grinding with a faceshield or safety glasses, make sure you fluff your hair up (if you have any) before removing the faceshield.

I was under the avatar, grinding away with a faceshield on. Finished the job, crawled out, and took off the faceshield. A steel sliver fell our of my hair, and into my eye. Not just a small one either. Went inside and looked in the bathroom mirror. Could feel it... it felt like something the size of a panhead engine was in my eye... but could not see the sliver to pick it out.

The only one home was my ten-year old daughter. Got her to look while I moved my eye. The sliver had lodged on the lower side of the eyeball. Looking normally, it was hidden under the eyelid. If I rolled my eye up, she could see it (though I could see nothing).

Got a Q-tip, and wet the end. Told her that while I rolled my eye up I wanted her to touch the sliver very, very gently with the Q-tip and hope it stuck. One of the most frightening things in my life was watching a 10-year old come at me with a damp Q-tip. She got it out though.

She recently graduated as a nurse, after a lifetimes apprenticeship of patching me up from work in the shop.

Cheers,
Harv

 

It's a bit hard to fluff your hair up if all your hair has slipped down to the bottom of your face! I wear a beanie on my scone under my faceshield , especially when working under a car, so the bits of swarf get caught in the fibers, not my eyes. My daughter has pulled bits out of my eye over the years, now she has all grown up and is an optometrist. After hearing of the injuries she has treated, it makes me double cautious about my eyes! Even old sunglasses are better than "safety squints" (nothing).

 

No more safety glasses for me with a grinder or cutoff wheel. About 50 years ago I was wearing my GM issued prescription safety glasses while using a cut off wheel and the wheel grenaded as soon as I hit the switch. Most likely it had a flaw from setting it down on the bench. A friend was in the garage with me and got me to the ER where I received ten stitches under my right eye. Lesson learned, full face shield only for me.
I see guys on TV using only glasses with the wheel close to their face and I cringe.

 

I've had some luck in the past with a magnet.

One of the weirdest things in my life was seeing my eye moving on its own while a doctor worked a piece of steel out of it.

Pro tip - in the ER my wife the RN told them I had a head injury to get me to the front of the line. Technically she wasn't lying.

 

Only problem with that is the head injury would apply to most of us!
Heck, I've been to ER, it would apply to most of the customers!

 

I have used a magnet at times also! Sometimes with success….some times not!

It is imperative to try to get something out of your eye as soon as possible! The eye begins a process to cover that “ thing” in your eye, to protect itself! When I had to have a piece of steel drilled out of my eye, my optometrist said there were other pieces of steel in my eye, but elected to just leave them there, as my eye had built a layer of….what ever…..over them !




Bones

 

One thing I learned many moons ago....... Always keep a pack of matches in your tool box.......This was from an old timer...... Metal in your eye? Pull a match, lick it, and dab it out. 99% success rate. For the other 1%, well, like me at a time, your' F'ed. Drilling,crazy drops,Stevie Wonder glasses, and NO light......
Then, if you ever have to get an MRI, hopefully they asked you prior if you've ever had metal in your eyes......... For those in the know, you know what could be.........Don't be stupid with eye protection!
Once, with all my gear on, and shielded, I was safe....... Until I hit the shower, and a spec of metal came out of my hair into my eye........Talk about painful, and a cluster F! Lucky I have my sight! Not as great as when I was younger, but still avoided going blind............. If you've never gotten shit in your eyes from a car, then you aren't a car guy..........

 

I figured out the magnet on the bottom of my little craftsman bolt tray is stout enough to pull a sliver out of my eye. It had a bunch of crap on it so my buddy put a walmart bag over everything to keep it clean. Smart guy. Luckily I haven't had to do that again...

 

A buddy of mine was using a grinder, got crap in his eye... went to the doctor who, using a magnetic probe could
not get the piece out.... Buddy said that is because I was grinding fiberglass....

LynnW

 

nhra rule for lug nut studs is 1/2 the diameter of the fastener sticks out 1/2 inch stud 1/4 inch sticking out ( is or was the rule last i looked )

 

Be careful when using a face shield and grinding in anything somewhat enclosed, like up inside frame rails, floor pans etc.

Once I was grinding up inside a frame rail when the sparks hit the floor pan just right and the sparks went between the face shield and my head, I ended up with 7 slivers in the right eye and 3 in my left eye. They bounced off of the floor pan with enough force the doc had to what amounted to a super small ice cream scoop looking tool and digging them out of both eyes.

Talk about misery ! One eye is bad enough with just 1 or 2 but both eyes and a total of 10 slivers at the same time and having to have them dug out was total misery....

So now I always pay attention to which way the wind blows, where the sparks are going to fly and what they might hit...

Also I never start any grinder, cutting wheel etc without pointing it away from me and pulling the trigger for a second or 2 before putting it to use. Saved me several times thru the years...

...

 

My old boss used to say "never touch the black part, because the black part used to be the red part and the red part's always hot"

-rick

 

My old pop was a Tool-N-Die man for half his working life and a Mold Maker for the other half. I distinctly recall him telling me, "The drill press is the most dangerous tool in the shop".
I never forgot that...... but I did ignore it a few times too many which caused me to hear an echo of it again, clear as day, like he was still right at my shoulder.
Like Atch said, clamp it!
At the very least, screw in a stud or a bolt in the deck to act as a 'stop'.
I've occasionally held something small under the drill bit with a crescent wrench. Don't think..... "the wrench is big. I'll be able to hold the handle without clamping. You won't. It's been scientifically proven, many times.

 

Yes; I practice what I preach. Here you can see clamps and studs. Those other holes are threaded also and I have studs for them. Oh, yeah; the chuck key is at the end of that chain hanging down by the post . It's ALWAYS there when needed. I've never misplaced a chuck key. The second pic shows one of the two drill press vises. You clamp something in that vise and swing the vise around to where it rests against one of those studs and you'll never hurt yourself.

 

While discussing drill presses; I've broken dozens of very small drill bits in my lifetime. Even with a good center punch on your workpiece it's easy to break a 1/8" or 1/16" bit. Since I started using center drill bits to start holes with I haven't broken a bit yet.

 

Hello,

When my wife and I moved to an older house built for a growing family, a yard, nice sidewalks and a real two car garage, we found out it was built in 1963. It was still in the coastal hills and as the area was growing fast, new tract homes were already springing up all over the place. We could not afford a new tract home so, we liked the old established neighborhood. Well this one was a built just after I graduated from high school…

The first weekend was left open for household fix it projects. Besides painting the whole outside of a green house to a more calm light tan color did wonders. But I looked like the color of the house after the project was completed. over spray does its normal coating finish on everything... Then as the garage was now a work place, the access to the kitchen door needed a screen. Since there were normal screen doors and mounts, opening into the kitchen was a no-go for lack of space. Because of two small cars in the garage, the screen would not swing open normally. So, I was stuck.

Then in looking at our closet sliding doors, it gave me an idea that could work on the garage door opening without hurting or taking up valuable space near our two cars. A sliding screen door… but how to mount them across the wall between the kitchen and garage?

Jnaki

It took me several days of pondering how to get a "no space taking sliding screen door" across our opening kitchen door to the garage. There was room behind a work table cabinet we had sitting there and not affect the water heater in the corner. So, the ideas started.

Finally, I decided to get some aluminum channel rods to enclose rolling wheels I had attached to the custom screen door on top. Now, the flat screen could slide to the side, behind the cabinet along the wall. But…

I found out the hard way that Romex Wire should not be placed on top of a 2x4 wall stud. As I was searching for a good support hole for the brackets to the sliding screen, I punched a nail through the drywall into a measured stud location. Now, I was lining up the next hole and punched through the same line and I found my self on the floor of the garage, 5 feet away from the wall. Luckily, I had moved my wife’s car and the concrete floor was roomy.

What had happened was the original installer of the wiring in the garage back in 1963 had stapled the Romex Wire on top of the 2x4 wall stud. The stud was lined up with all of the other 2x4s and the drywall was able to flatten out when finally nailed to the whole wall of the garage. So, my stud finder found the 2x4, but it told me how wide the wood plank was and I was ready to screw in a mounting fastener.

But, when I put in a nail to center of the 2x4 location, I flew away from the wall and found my self on the concrete floor. What the $%#@!!! My nail starter hole found the electrical wire and I got the biggest shock of my life. My wife came running into the garage to find me trying to get up. Now, I found where the idiot placed the wire incorrectly and did not continue the installation until I opened up the drywall to actually see what was behind it and where everything was located.

I finished installing the brackets to hold up the top and bottom rail for the rolling wheels attached to the flat screen. It was a great looking custom installation and kept all flying bugs out of the kitchen when the garage door was up and air was circulating inside. The sliding screen moved out of the way and when moved back, sealed itself against the door opening frame. Our toddler son could easily slide the screen back as he stepped into the garage and there was even a lower handle that cleared the door jam and slid sideways well at any level of grip.

No flying bugs could enter the kitchen with the door open and screen closed. If I was now working at my garage counter workspace, I could converse with my wife sitting in the kitchen or standing at the sink area. All, bug free and cooling winds coming through the garage opening and kitchen.

Many years later those types of installations are now called “barn door sliders.” With using sliding real door panels to close off bathrooms or bedrooms and not have a wide swinging door opening in a small space. The lightweight custom, screen panel I installed allowed our toddler son to go in and out of the kitchen to the garage and not hear a slam of a normal swinging out door or screen. YRMV

The custom screen neatly slid behind the wooden storage cabinet for part of his play toys, while dad worked on cars or built skateboard scooters on his workbench. The steering wheels were mounted and the acceleration or sound of motors was “kid” provided. Through the gears, of course.

 

A cheap plastic 2gal watering can makes the perfect container for mixing 1gal of distilled water with 1gal coolant and the spout makes pouring super easy.

 

The thread on torqueflites and crossover passages reminded me of this. I will mention that this process is full of possible danger, so think before you do. I might have posted it before, too.
If you have a manifold passage that is clogged up with junk, first make sure nothing is going to ignite.
Then, fire up the torch and get the gunk glowing. Once it's burning, turn off the gas and keep the oxygen going. It will continue to burn out, even around tight bends and deep into the casting without harming the metal.

 

never drill a hole without one.

 

Heres a little trick for using electrical tape. Seems as though half the time when wrapping the end of something with electrical tape, it wants to unravel or not stick that last little bit. Yep, not a problem with better tape, but I have a lifetime supply of the stuff that doesn't stick well. So I got out my Super Glue and put a little on that last inch or so while putting a new ground on my welder. Hopefully it will last a long time without the continual unwrapping flag on the end.





Now if I can just get my thumb and fore finger unstuck...............

 

Acetone