The Cool Tools Thread

[Trex]

On 17/04/2022 at 9:13 PM, luke gtr said:

Yep, they basically have a double thickness star point.

 

I swear they purely make different fasteners so they can sell more tools.

You telling me there's no reason to have a 5 star head, and 6 point torx will suffice?

Or having different Phillips head screws other than JIS?

[luke gtr]

On 19/04/2022 at 8:00 AM, Trex said:

You telling me there's no reason to have a 5 star head, and 6 point torx will suffice?

Or having different Phillips head screws other than JIS?

Basically they call if for "security", so people dont work on cars that dont know how.

I just believe in a big conspiracy. 

[tridentt150v]

Ages ago I bought a 60 piece toolset that was supposed to do all these 'new' styles, triangle and 5 side 'allen head' types, torx pin and non pin, forked screwdriver blade etc etc...and I swear that as soon as I bought it, they just turned round and invented a whole new range of fasteners🤢

[Duncan]

I'm no wood elf, but I was stripping varnish off some old furniture the other day, initially with paint stripper then sanding it down. Varnish clogs sandpaper like crazy, long before the actual medium is blunted.

I discovered this stuff, which is basically just a softish rubber stick, as long as it is not too glazed it pulls the varnish off the paper and makes basically like new again

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/g183

[hardsteppa]

I bought one of these

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/332892255127?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=542005549749&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

and then went straight out and bought another one. VERY handy if you have adjustable suspension arms; they're perfect for getting in there for making adjustments, then just tightening up with a Big Boy spanner when you're done.

[Duncan]

I was reminded by another post to put this up.

I bought one these, haven't used it yet but should assist one person balancer and flywheel bolt do and undoing

https://boostdoc.com.au/products/crankshaft-lock-for-nissan-rb

 

[r32-25t]

I’ve got one and used it when I did the balancer up on my car, worth every cent 

[MBS206]

Have heard of people trying to undo balancer bolts, and not using one of the flywheel locks, instead, jamming the car in gear... Broken gears has been the outcome on some cars...

[r32-25t]

I normally use the starter motor to undo them 

[Ben C34]

On 4/10/2023 at 8:36 PM, r32-25t said:

I normally use the starter motor to undo them 

Undoing is easy like that!

[Ben C34]

On 4/10/2023 at 8:26 PM, MBS206 said:

Have heard of people trying to undo balancer bolts, and not using one of the flywheel locks, instead, jamming the car in gear... Broken gears has been the outcome on some cars...

I absolutely refuse to believe that.

 

Basically a static load. No way would it break a gear.

 

"Jamming the car in gear" or just, you know, putting it in gear.......

Very dramatic story.  Not believable.

[Neil]

On 10/04/2023 at 9:34 PM, Ben C34 said:

I absolutely refuse to believe that.

 

Basically a static load. No way would it break a gear.

 

"Jamming the car in gear" or just, you know, putting it in gear.......

Very dramatic story.  Not believable.

Ben, just keep in mind MSB also thinks hitting stuff with a hammer fixes everything.

I like Duncan bought the flywheel stopper and his engine lifting brackets.  I just bought boostdoc's engine stand adaptor, things great.

[No Crust Racing]

oh that's great

[tridentt150v]

Two things I like is my 1/2" Kincrome extendable ratchet...it almost becomes a mini breaker bar.

Like this: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=xkh%2fVHXE&id=953B2B7E8DE7A53457BCB5D26859A711B4C486F4&thid=OIP.xkh_VHXE92ssAk6-zhOLAQHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fcontent.speedwaymotors.com%2fProductImages%2f9102107_L1000_a337d49a-5c89-4e2a-8278-21a490fffeb7.jpg&exph=1000&expw=1000&q=1%2f2"+kincrome+extendable+ratchet+pics&simid=608044610952850556&FORM=IRPRST&ck=A2552FAB2C763E7580E19C0723DD33FA&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

And my 1/2" finger ratchet, really good for undoing tighter nuts after you break the first couple of turns.

like this one: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/finger-ratchet-9360576930.html

[The Bogan]

Small, but great for little jobs

100% easier than sanding 99% of car brackets

I test drove it on a little section of the alloy wheels on the Honda that I want to repaint, works surprisingly well for a little job thingie

If you capture the garnet, the amount you get in the 1kg pack that comes with it should last a while

For $60 bucks it shits on hand sanding like a peasant

Going of my little test area, it should take me no more than 10 minutes a rim, the last set of alloys I sanded by hand, like a peasant, took at least an hour or more for each rim just to get all the clear coat off

[MrStabby]

Any recommendations for what would be the easiest welding type to start on, for sheet metal rust repairs and maybe some exhaust piping too? Seems like MIG is the most common. Would gasless MIG be ok to learn on and do some simple jobs?

I have a stick welder which has a Lift TIG setting, but i'm more interested in getting whatever's easiest to do, and most suitable, rather than using what i have.

[GTSBoy]

Gasless MIG is not exactly suited to what I would call "delicate" or "attractive" welding. So I would rule it out for sheet metal rust repair type stuff, unless you're only doing it in hidden places.

I'm thinking about getting myself a gasless MIG for "hack together" type work. Noting that my welding experience is very very low, and quite a long time ago. So I'm also looking for "simple", but I'm not expecting "excellent".

I'm not even sure that proper MIG is the best for sheet metal work. I get the feeling that the degree of control and the minimisation of heat input that you get from TIG is probably what you really want. And then you have to get good at doing it before the welds won't look like a monkey flinging a handful of shit anyway.

You're probably SOL for an easy and cheap way to get from where you are to where you want to be. Much like myself.

[MrStabby]

I've watched some vids and the technique seems to be to butt the sheets up to one another and use MIG to spot weld and slowly fill in the spots until its eventually all sealed. No runs as you would normally do, as there's too much heat generated that way.

Yeah my stick welds are terrible these days because its been so long since i've done any of it. I expect to be spending many hours practicing

[MBS206]

Don't use "gasless MIG" (FCAW) you want to use proper MIG.

FCAW burns a few hundred degrees hotter than MIG will for mild steel. It is a true ball ache for sheet metal.

New MIG / TIG machines even have features like "Spot Weld" as well as "Automatic" settings.

Plenty of people say for DIY home hobby, the auto machines are pretty good for 95% of welding. I personally, I'm a sucker for punishment and wanting to dial it in, and be able to adjust the machine. Mainly because I used to MIG weld for a living, and being able to tweak and tune things ever so slightly was my preference.

Hence when I bought my ACDC TIG, it has all the adjustments for everything and no "easy" mode. Ha ha

I have stick, MIG, "gaslessMIG" and ACDC TIG at home.

Out of them, if you're doing mild steel sheet metal repair, and want to do mild steel exhausts, go MIG. If you're thinking you'll want to get into doing some aluminium stuff, or stainless steel, get an ACDC TIG with HF start. If you can, get one with a foot pedal too.

My MIG machine is a UniMIG, and my Stick/TIG is CigWeld.

If I were buying another machine, I'd buy another CIGWeld. Lots of people having issues with UniMIG, and them not wanting to cover warranty. Everything has to go back to UNIMig themselves. CIGWeld, I've had to use their warranty on my machine for a gas leak, they have repair centres everywhere, (contracted authorised repair centres). First repair place I used were hopeless, but the second place were amazing. Warranty process itself super easy, and second repair place was telling me CigWeld actually cover in their warranty, upto an hour of techs time to help you with your machine, and going through the settings and helping teach you the machine. UniMIG keep trying to get out of replacing motherboards on 12 month old machines.

 

TLDR, mild steel sheet welding, buy a MIG. my vote is CigWeld for brand.

[No Crust Racing]

2 hours ago, MrStabby said:

Any recommendations for what would be the easiest welding type to start on, for sheet metal rust repairs and maybe some exhaust piping too? Seems like MIG is the most common. Would gasless MIG be ok to learn on and do some simple jobs?

I have a stick welder which has a Lift TIG setting, but i'm more interested in getting whatever's easiest to do, and most suitable, rather than using what i have.

Gas MIG for learning, I was able to weld up some nice 1.6mm tubs so you can do thin stuff easily enough. Then moved on to thick caliper adaptor brackets with the same machine, all good. 

Arc/Stick is great for dirty garden work etc, but Gas MIG for starting on car stuff. 

Jump on the NCR FB page and search ATP Tubs or GKTech caliper adaptors for pics/info. I'm no pro but it wasn't hard to learn. Be willing to grind and go again though if it's cold etc.