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View Full Version : What Tools Are REALLY For


jimbo74
01-25-2003, 01:49 AM
PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing leather goods.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads and transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETELENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar callouses in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouc...."

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the fender.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbor to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.

SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup.

TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have forgotten to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle.

BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under motorcycles at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round out Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 60 years ago by someone in Springfield, and rounds them off.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short.

Crankcase
01-25-2003, 02:35 AM
ROTFLMAO

What is a "Whitworth" socket though? I have never heard of them....

jimbo74
01-25-2003, 02:55 AM
you know what? when i read that, i didn't even notice that.... so i looked it up.... it appears that they were used to work on old cars like that says. anyways, i found that on a goped site, and thought it was funny, so i posted it here :).i guess they are setup special for clearance issues... those whitworth sockets look like this:

dogfriend
01-25-2003, 05:08 AM
Whitworth is an old bolt and nut sizing standard that was used by the UK (England) at one time. It is the same concept as the SAE standard that we use in the US. I don't know when they stopped using it.

I found a tap and die set for Whitworth at www.mcmaster.com but couldn't find any bolts or nuts. If you have a Machinists Handbook, it will define all of the thread pitch, bolt sizes, etc for the British Standard Whitworth thread.

MrShorty
01-25-2003, 11:45 AM
That's funny. I like reading that one when I see it.

jimbo74
02-04-2003, 01:06 AM
so, i think that was the real reason for tools... what does everyone else think?

dogfriend
02-04-2003, 01:14 AM
I think tools are so men have something to collect. Women collect shoes, men collect tools :D

Crankcase
02-04-2003, 02:30 AM
Originally posted by dogfriend
I think tools are so men have something to collect. Women collect shoes, men collect tools :D

So very true....but when shoes wear out, you are S.O.L., when Craftsman sockets crack, you get brand new ones LOL.

We have the better collectable:)

dogfriend
02-04-2003, 09:45 AM
When I'm at Home Depot with the GF, if I pick up a cordless drill my GF says "Don't you already have a drill?" and I reply "Not like this one"

When I am trying to get her thru Macy's in the least time possible and she starts looking at a pair of white shoes, she will say "Should I get these?" I reply "Don't you already have a bunch of white shoes already?" Her reply "Only a couple, but they are a different shade of white" or "Theyre getting old, I need some I can wear to work"

Tools last forever, shoes only last till the next paycheck.

rokke17
02-04-2003, 09:47 AM
Originally posted by dogfriend

Tools last forever, shoes only last till the next paycheck.

How true it is.

Maranda
02-04-2003, 03:57 PM
They forgot one--all tools can be used for anger managment therapy.

How many times have I heard "*&%$!" and then the CLAANNNGGG of a tool being thrown in the garage. Or maybe that's just Ryan. LOL

BTW, shoes ARE all different! At least the inventory changes. :) With tools, we have to browse theSAME section at Home Depot or Sears, every time, they have the SAME power tools as last time we were there, and we have to spend the SAME long amount of time looking at all of them, every single time we are there.

dogfriend
02-04-2003, 04:27 PM
Originally posted by Maranda


BTW, shoes ARE all different! At least the inventory changes. :) With tools, we have to browse theSAME section at Home Depot or Sears, every time, they have the SAME power tools as last time we were there, and we have to spend the SAME long amount of time looking at all of them, every single time we are there.

Tools are different, too, they just don't really go out of style like shoes do.

I have about 8 hammers, but theyre all different, used for different things.

If I look at hammers in the store, the GF says "You already have a bunch of hammers" and I always say "But not like this one":D