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Home-made Tools and those you've adapted or modified. And also "tips and tricks".


Bfg

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21 minutes ago, RogerH said:

About five years ago I had a need to spray some 2K paint. Everybody warned me how bad it was and that I had to use an air fed mash otherwise I would die.

I didn;t have an air fed mask. But I did have  a Turbo Inflator for the camping airbeds, garden hose and a plastic bag.

The plastic bag went over my head:o    The hose was strapped around my neck and pointing upwards. The Turbo inflator was pushed into the far end of the pipe down the garden on the lawn. This was powered by a Car battery.

The effect was quiet impressive. The bag inflated and stayed clear with the vigorous breeze passing by 

I never did take a picture.

And I didn;t die from either toxic substances, Suffocation from the bag or strangulation for the pipe attachment around my neck

What next...................

 

Roger

😳👍😀

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1 hour ago, RogerH said:

About five years ago I had a need to spray some 2K paint. Everybody warned me how bad it was and that I had to use an air fed mash otherwise I would die.

I didn;t have an air fed mask. But I did have  a Turbo Inflator for the camping airbeds, garden hose and a plastic bag.

The plastic bag went over my head:o    The hose was strapped around my neck and pointing upwards. The Turbo inflator was pushed into the far end of the pipe down the garden on the lawn. This was powered by a Car battery.

The effect was quiet impressive. The bag inflated and stayed clear with the vigorous breeze passing by 

I never did take a picture.

And I didn;t die from either toxic substances, Suffocation from the bag or strangulation for the pipe attachment around my neck

What next...................

 

Roger

I followed 'Er Indoors into one of those small boutiquey-type nik-nak shops yesterday; you know the sort, Christmas ornaments with an impressive price tag. They had face masks by the door in some kind of soft material for £25 each... the box said: "These do not generate O2. Not to be used in any toxic gas environment." Thank goodness they spelt that out, but for that price I'd expect a complete haz-mat suit.

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Very well, using an electric drill to spin a disc which has an arm with a slot cut in it attached to the edge. Can is moved up and down also its base is moved side to side.

Brought about through tripping and hurting wrist, don't seem to heal like I used to.

Regards

Paul

 

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Here's a simple but surprisingly often useful mod..

P1380003s.jpg.35862885cf93d88f1141b6b581627a83.jpg

for reaching into places like this. . .

P1380006a.jpg.251db22dd5d160cc1445e5a4bc4ca100.jpg

^ the fastening (on this occasion a 5/16" Whitworth nut) is a couple of inches in from the edge of the electrical box on my old Sunbeam m/c, and the regulator is far too close for my fingers to get in there.  I used to use masking tape or Blu-tack to hold the nut into an open-ended spanner, but these pliers are very much quicker and convenient, and because they are very slim - there's better visibility around them. 

Many such situations occur where a skinny long nose pliers can reach into where fingers cannot - but the angle between the open jaws of the pliers are wrong to get a secure grip on a nut, so out with the grinder ...

P1380004a.thumb.jpg.5b962da33a1c5b25afb268263cd77be1.jpg

^ they now grip reliably.  And yes they do work across and assortment of different size of nut ..and washers too. 

I did this early in the year and, like many other tools, these pliers hang on a peg-board ready and convenient for use.  Quick n' handy, they've proved invaluable on so many occasions that I'd now be back to fumbling around without them.

Pete.

 

p.s. to avoid confusion.. I use these pliers to position the nut so the bolt's thread can be started ..but I do use a spanner to do it up.

..and yes,  a pinch of Blu-tack may still used when a washer needs to be held in place over the nut.

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9 hours ago, Chris A said:

Like it. I might buy a cheap pair and do the same

Decent quality old n' scruffy second-hand tools are often better than new but cheap imports made of monkey metal.  In my own case - I had worked in the US, and so I bought tools there.  When i came back I then had duplicates. And then when my mum died, I inherited tools that had been my dads. He was an electrical technician in the RAF for 25 years and so he had an assortment in shapes and sizes, and at least one (long-nose pliers) made in some sort of high-grade brass.  Of course they are all of professional grade. 

If I lived another lifetime I'd still not wear them out but I guess they'll be destined for the bin when I die .. so I'll leave a provision in my will that all my tools are to go to TWAM (tools with a mission < here  > ) or a similar charity which ships used but good tools and equipment out to developing countries so that local people can earn a livelihood.   I earnestly ask all you old-timers do the same.!   Perhaps TWAM might be a charitable initiative picked up by and publicised by the combined Triumph clubs ?  ( Triumphs with a mission ?? :rolleyes:)

Pete

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not a tool for a Triumph but after making some spacers to mount side screens on a Lagonda Rapier I thought best make a simple tool to aid fitting them. The internal door trim is 5mm thick so the spacers are 5mm from the flat surface to the top of the hat. The spacers will be fixed to the door inner and corresponding holes made in the trim panel. To ensure the spacers are mounted accurately I  threaded them so they screw into the nut already in the door and the hole in the middle of the spacer is 9.7mm so the mounting bolts have a bit a space to align. Hope that makes sense.

Turning the spacers 8 in total took the best part of a day with constant readjustment of the tools on the latheIMG_4079.thumb.jpg.f62d5104f912eba35e25cec0fb8251a2.jpgIMG_4080.thumb.jpg.3524a0adceb366c669481c4e9a466387.jpg. Rim is 1mm thick top hat is 5mm deep and 14.6mm dia with 9.7mm hole. Hardest part was cutting them off which I did with a hacksaw and the lathe spinning, naughty but easier than putting it in the vice and manually cutting.

 

Adrian

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10 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Nice job. Are they to brace the metalwork or prevent crushing when the bolts are tightened?

Prevent the door trim panels from being crushed and so the side curtains will always be at the same position. The door trim panels being soft will allow differences in where the SCs sit depending on how tight the fasteners are, this removes that vagary.

Adrian

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  • 2 months later...

Don't seem to be as strong as used to be and aching wrists after a fall, thought a spanner extender would be a good idea untill I saw the price. Already had the steel and an hour later ended up with these, the smaller one can also be used with a torque wrench for those hard to reach items.

Regards

Paul.

 

IMG_20210405_173432.jpg

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