Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

[Egon]

It's a definite, anyone requiring a snipe on an adjustable wrench is a Spanner!

 

[Skyco]

Ok Egon- you keep driving home the point about someone being a spanner
Never heard the term myself. Must be a Canadian thing, eh?
So...looked it up here- Urban Dictionary: spanner
if anyone else is as unenlightened as me.

 

[woodchuckie]

I too am unenlightened but worse than that we've lost one of the best threads we've ever had. Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

 

[BobRip]

When repairing something it is usually best to fix it back to its original design rather than completely redesigning it. It worked fine before you broke it, why do you have to redesign it.

When redesigning something, make the minimum necessary design change. You may not fully understand why things were designed a certain way. If you make a major, but not totally necessary change, you risk finding unintended consequences.

 

[patrick_g]

Bob, Where were you when I needed you!!!!

N O W you reveal your words of wisdom after I have already become a scarred veteran before getting on the path you describe.

I will say though that in my experience (perhaps not typical) that often things break because of a weak point or bad design aspect and change IS NEEDED to correct it. Sure, this is often when the THING is stressed beyond its intended use or when cost cutting may have reared its ugly head a tad too high.

With mechanical things I find that if I don't buy too cheap I don't have to do so much repairing and redesign. Still, I find a lot of things that JUST NEED IMPROVIN'.

Unfortunately I sometimes make changes that fall under the heading of "Bob coulda told me that was a bad idea" and I have to try to UNFIX it.

I still need to UNFIX my PhD (Posthole Digger) that I fixed because it couldn't be atteched to my 3PH (at least the way I was trying to do it.) I had never used one or seen one used before and I tried to use the top lift which is supposed to be removed for PhD application. I was blissfully ignorant and cut the attachment on the PhD off and rewelded it to fit the top lift (which it was never intended to mate with.) It kinda sorta fits on the tractor where the top lift attaches and operates just fine but needs to be cut apart and returned to stock dimensions. A classic example of IMPROVING something that was already right but I was too ignorant to know.

Oh well, it still works and every time I see it I am reminded to be more careful before attacking what looks to be a dead simple easily understood item.

Pat

 

[BobRip]

Bob, Where were you when I needed you!!!!

N O W you reveal your words of wisdom after I have already become a scarred veteran before getting on the path you describe.

I will say though that in my experience (perhaps not typical) that often things break because of a weak point or bad design aspect and change IS NEEDED to correct it. Sure, this is often when the THING is stressed beyond its intended use or when cost cutting may have reared its ugly head a tad too high.

With mechanical things I find that if I don't buy too cheap I don't have to do so much repairing and redesign. Still, I find a lot of things that JUST NEED IMPROVIN'.

Unfortunately I sometimes make changes that fall under the heading of "Bob coulda told me that was a bad idea" and I have to try to UNFIX it.

I still need to UNFIX my PhD (Posthole Digger) that I fixed because it couldn't be atteched to my 3PH (at least the way I was trying to do it.) I had never used one or seen one used before and I tried to use the top lift which is supposed to be removed for PhD application. I was blissfully ignorant and cut the attachment on the PhD off and rewelded it to fit the top lift (which it was never intended to mate with.) It kinda sorta fits on the tractor where the top lift attaches and operates just fine but needs to be cut apart and returned to stock dimensions. A classic example of IMPROVING something that was already right but I was too ignorant to know.

Oh well, it still works and every time I see it I am reminded to be more careful before attacking what looks to be a dead simple easily understood item.

Pat

Pat, yes many things need improving, no doubt about it. However, many people jump into the redesign without enough thought. Don't let that discourage you from trying, just be willing to change things several times before you get it right.

 

[BTDT]

Suggested by dbdartman

Egon, believe it or not, that's a trick that I've been used with drag racing slicks for a couple decades now. "Unsprung weight" (that is weight that's not resting on the springs, IE: tires, wheels, brakes) is a big concern with racers. The less a tire/wheel assembly weight, the faster/easier it can be put into motion. Tubes for a 14"-17" wide, 32" tall tire are really heavy (around 10-15lbs each!).

What we do, before mounting new tires, is pour dish wash liquid (Dawn, Joy, whatever) in the tire & coat the whole inside, spreading it with paper towels. After the tire is mounted & aired up, it may blow bubbles for a few seconds, usually out of the side walls (they are surprisingly thin in a slick). Then, a tire that may have only held air for 3-5 days (yes, we've done it on used tires) will hold air for weeks, or months. It's a good, cheap, trick & I'm surprised I haven't thought to bring it up here before.

Thanx for jogging the old memory!

 

[AlanB]

I loved the Crescent wrench debate,

So I asked Crescent for their answer.

Alan,

All Crescent branded adjustable wrenches have an arrow indicating the proper direction for use. The proper direction would be; as the wrench is held in front of the user, the moveable jaw would be on the under side. The wrench is used in a downward manner toward the moveable jaw.
This puts the load on the fixed jaw. When used away from the moveable jaw or opposite direction the load is then put on the moveable jaw (weakest part).

No adjustable wrench should be used as the tool for final torque of a bolt/nut.

If you have further technical questions, please feel free to contact Ronnie Holland at Ronnie.Holland@cooperhandtools.com or call 919-387-2650.

Best Regards,


Elaine Perry
Customer Service/ North-South Group
Cooper Hand Tools Div.
voice: 919-362-7540
fax: 800-854-5137
elaine.perry@cooperindustries.com

For more information, please visit us at Welcome to Cooper Hand Tools

-----Original Message-----
From:Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 8:57 AM
To: HTAP-CSRNorth-South
Subject: Crescent(r) Web Mail

Submitted on: 03-Oct-07 at 08:57 AM
Message: Technical Support Question
Brand: Crescent(r)

Company:
Name: Alan Bechard

Comments:
What is the proper direction to turn a crescent wrench.

Or said another way, which way should the moveable jaw face, towards the rotation or away from the rotation.

I deleted some of my contact info.

 

[Skyco]

No adjustable wrench should be used as the tool for final torque of a bolt/nut.

Wonder what he meant by that? Obviously it isn't a torque wrench but why can't you tighten a fastener to final torque with it? If you had another tool handy to do that you wouldn't have needed the crescent wrench in the first place

 

[diyDave]

That's probably just to keep their lawyers happy! This coming from a company responsible for more busted knuckles than a bar full of rednecks!