TOOLS

[williamlayton]

Are there any here who are like me ?
Do you ever make modifications to your tools ?
Do you ever use tools--especially, power tools, to do work they were not designed to do.
Sometimes I think I am a genius and sometimes I think I am a fool.
More often the latter than the former.
Blessings

 

[chief38]

I am a big power tool aficionado but can't (off the top of my head)
think of when I've used them for unintended purposes. I have made slight modifications on rare instances but only if necessary to do a specific job - then restored back to original condition.

Just when I thought I have every single tool a man can have, I find an excuse o buy another one. Guess I am a tool addict

example: I must have (no exaggeration either) 35 - 40 hammers of all different types and last night I bought a Shooboy Midnight Pro. Just in G Smithing hammers alone, I have at least 7, but found a need for a Shooboy anyway.

I recently upgraded 4 different power tools by selling my older cheaper ones and replacing them with Milwaukee Electric Tools.
Left Bladed Circular Saw, Rotary Hammer Drill, Orbital Jig Saw, Angle Drill.

Added: I do remember one tool I did permanently modify........ I took and old cordless Screwdriver that had dead batteries and converted it to run on my DC voltage converter. I use it at my workbench when driving lots of long Machine Screws. It had endless power now and since it's a Bench Tool, I do not mind the cord.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When my oldest was a toddler, his record player needed an internal adjustment. I sawed off a chewed up Phillips head screwdriver and used a tri corner file to cut a inverted 3 sided screwdriver. keep the tool in the wife's household tools until 3 months ago and pitched it in the "Great Move of 14". If I ever need another, I'll have to make it. Ivan

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I once had a very nice SxS shotgun missing a screw that was engraved as a flower's center. I got a screw from my gunsmith and ground it to length. Then used a 1/4" wood chisel to "cut" in the lines for the peddles. Had to sharpen the chisel twice and it was worthless after that, but engraved screws were about $75 each and a six month wait. That was all I did and made $300 on the gun in about 2 weeks. Ivan

 

[walkin jack]

Tools. Ah the memories this title dredges up. I've never been much of a mechanic but I did build furniture for a few years and I have always tried to handle most of the home repair stuff like plumbing, garage doors etc.

I never modified any power tool but I did straighten out a garden hoe and grind it to a point at one time. My employer pounded us with a lot of sayings line DIRTFT (do it right the first time) and my favorite, The Right Tool For The Job.

but soon after I retired I began to grow weary of any activity that required any more complex skill than and hammer or screwdriver. I sold all my tools except a few basics. I had a couple of those red and gray tool chests on casters. Got rid of all that.

I now view a tool as a threat. If there is a tool in my vicinity then that implies that I may do some work. That kind of thing can upset me and put me off my afternoon nap.

My life just keeps getting better and better.

 

[StrawHat]

When I wore a tool belt, I would use a battery drill with a whisk to mix drywall mud. It got a few looks at first but then a lot of whisks started showing up.

Kevin

 

[4011]

I use my battery drill to run the bore brush. My old 686 used to get really dirty shooting the city reloads.

 

[snowman]

The rule is to use the correct tool for the job, but at times the correct tool is unavailable, and the job must be done -now. Then comes into play the famous dictum by my high school English teacher: "Where there's a will there's a way." The "way" is usually a creative use of a tool, or a tool modification. Sometimes it's the last time that tool will ever be used for anything.

Andy

 

[DeadAye]

I've used an M16A1 to shoot pieces of paper
I've even used a telephone to take pictures

 

[msinc]

Funny how things change according to what we need or the best way to do something...it's not just with hand or small power tools either. 30 years ago if you were going to get into the excavating business you would have at least had a backhoe and a track loader. Probably a dump truck and trailer to haul the equipment around with. The truck and trailer haven't changed as needs go but now you would get an excavator and a bull dozer.
As gunsmithing goes, these days the bigger stuff includes the always needed lathe, but a vertical mill is nice to have and a TIG welder. My next purchase will probably be a small powder coating set up.

 

[Step N. Mud]

had a bad habit of cutting the handles shorter on large crescent wrenches to work on things like hydraulic lines on my old skid loader. Ain't got the bobcat anymore, but still have the shorty crescent.

 

[Big Cholla]

In my small one man gunsmithing shop, I frequently had to make or remake tools, gigs, spuds or holding devices for the lathe or mill. The best power tool modification I made was to take a small Dremel bench sander with the 1"x18" belt and rebuild it into a lathe carrier mounted barrel sander/polisher. It rides on the tool post mounting "T" slot and is adjustable as to weight on the belt. I took off the original bench base and substituted a huge barn door hinge. The arm is long enough that I can get full travel while sanding any rifle barrel with no interference between the rotating chuck and the drive motor for the sander. By switching belts I can get any number of finishes. And by reversing a worn belt and using polishing compound I get a really nice final polish. The original Dremel was only about $60 and everything else I needed was laying around the shop. ............ Big Cholla

 

[zzzippper]

Aircraft mechanics do it all the time. It is a hazard because uncontrolled tools can too easily end up in planes when they take off.

 

[snubbyfan]

I remember back when I was making custom furniture, I was lusting after a variable speed, soft start router that had an extra base to convert it from a plunge router to a fixed base router.
My wife said, "You've already got 2 routers and a router table, how any power tools do you need?"
"All of them," was my reply.

One Christmas, my wife was baking and using a cordless hand mixer to fluff up the filling for her cheesecake cookies when the battery died. "I'll be right back," said I. I came back with my Black and Decker 18volt cordless drill, chucked up the whisk and fluffed the living daylights out of that filling.

By the way, I did get the router and it's sweet.

 

[BlackAgnes]

I don't know if this qualifies, but a friend once asked me to cut down an old fruit tree whose trunk was about 5" diameter, and all I had with me was Colt SAA in .45 Colt.

Took 18 shots...

 

[NYlakesider]

Back in the 60s I made up a bunch of "specialty wrenches" to work on spark plugs in the muscle cars of the area. Most had headers and getting to the plugs on some was a total nightmare, even flex sockets /extensions were difficult if not impossible. I worked part time at my buddies speed shop/ garage + I had my own highly modded street racer!

Those were the old plugs whose caliber was much bigger then than the plugs of now. I used to buy the ultra cheap Globmaster wrenches in spark plug size and cut, bend & weld on to make a one of to fit. Sometimes it only did one plug in one car/motor combination but it was worth it when needed. Saved pulling motor mounts, jacking engine or removing parts for access!

Working construction I modded tools as needed, a common one was to weld a gas key on a crescent wrench, or cut down a big crescent wrench to a shorter handle so you ended up with a big jaw/short handle tool that fit easy in your back pocket. Now today companies have learned to make factory tools that way.

 

[M E Morrison]

Are there any here who are like me ?
Do you ever make modifications to your tools ?
Do you ever use tools--especially, power tools, to do work they were not designed to do.
Sometimes I think I am a genius and sometimes I think I am a fool.
More often the latter than the former.
Blessings

Long as you don't hurt yourself (or anyone else) I'd lean toward genius - especially if your mods actually worked...

 

[30-30remchester]

Forty years in the heavy equipment business and 2 roll-away tool boxes full of custom made tools for specific jobs are in just one of our shops. Combination wrenches bent and ground to fit a specific. Our trucks have been used for so many different things it is hard to count. Chains used to clean chimneys, forklifts used as counter weights, axes used as dogs, torches used as heaters, vises used as clamps, welders used to thaw frozen lines, power grinders used to trim fingernails, rifles used to break scale from well casings, 22 handguns used to drill 1/4" holes, trailer hitches used as anvils, hydraulic jacks used to pull stuck casing, garden hoses used as siphon hoses, bathroom plungers used to pull dents, air compressor used to unclog kitchen sinks, dynamite used to break frozen tires free of ice, mounted hydraulic jacks on heavy equipment uses as log splitters, pocket knives used for everything except cutting, engine exhausts used as clothes driers, engine exhaust manifolds used to cook food, to name just a few. And this happened on a daily basis for decades. One of the best was when we were stopped at a port of entry, and had equipment impounded for having an overhand without a red flag. Our driver had his wife with him. At this point she remembers she had red panties on. In the middle of the office of the port, she removed her pants, then panties, redressed and hung her panties on the overhand, and we were cleared to proceed.

 

[NYlakesider]

Forty years in the heavy equipment business and 2 roll-away tool boxes full of custom made tools for specific jobs are in just one of our shops. Combination wrenches bent and ground to fit a specific. Our trucks have been used for so many different things it is hard to count. Chains used to clean chimneys, forklifts used as counter weights, axes used as dogs, torches used as heaters, vises used as clamps, welders used to thaw frozen lines, power grinders used to trim fingernails, rifles used to break scale from well casings, 22 handguns used to drill 1/4" holes, trailer hitches used as anvils, hydraulic jacks used to pull stuck casing, garden hoses used as siphon hoses, bathroom plungers used to pull dents, air compressor used to unclog kitchen sinks, dynamite used to break frozen tires free of ice, mounted hydraulic jacks on heavy equipment uses as log splitters, pocket knives used for everything except cutting, engine exhausts used as clothes driers, engine exhaust manifolds used to cook food, to name just a few. And this happened on a daily basis for decades. One of the best was when we were stopped at a port of entry, and had equipment impounded for having an overhand without a red flag. Our driver had his wife with him. At this point she remembers she had red panties on. In the middle of the office of the port, she removed her pants, then panties, redressed and hung her panties on the overhand, and we were cleared to proceed.

Well that easily trumps using your girl friends panty hose for a temporary fan belt.

 

[30-30remchester]

This thread has me remembering old times. My mind keeps recounting different experiences. Some more examples. Using a hard hat as a snow shovel, barbed wire as battery jumping cables, vise grips as everything, everything has been used as a hammer, weed burner used to start fire in household fireplace, carb cleaner and starting fluid as hand cleaner, a 30/06 as a lock pick, beer cans filled with cement as cannon balls, fountain pen body as a straw, bic lighter used to thaw padlock, socks used as toilet paper, gasoline and diesel as weed killer, 55 gallon drums as septic tanks along with car bodies, water used as hydraulic fluid, bailing wire used to repair about anything, tire chains used as tow chains, leather belt as temporary alternator bracket, trees used as a drilling rig mast, bucket with holes used as a sieve, waders used as a bucket, pickup as a fence stretcher, a rock as an emergency brake, a drill bit as a boat anchor, used dynamite to blow a stuck septic tank lid off, carbide cement drill bits used to drill class 8 steel, outboard motors to mix bentonite slurry, kerosene as wound healer, starting fluid used to detect vacuum leak, weed burner as wasp nest eliminator, a horse as bear bait, a truck tire as a driveway drag, a horse trough as a cement reservoir, a candle as a pipe plug, bread as a water plug while soldering copper pipe, a small screwdriver to clean the wax out of my ears (don't try this one), used a fishing rod case as a water vessel, bent tin as a funnel, an army ammo can as a lunch box, a pickup hood as an office and the tailgate as a workbench, and these are just what I can think of off the top of my head. I have done all of these except for four, and these 4 were done by family or employees. These examples from the last 2 replies are but a small portion. Just our way of life I guess.