Shop Tricks

[49tandc]

I found these on a Mopar board I frequent and though about the smart guys over here. Please all your little pearls of wisdom - usually found in the shop, to the bottom of this list. It may be a help to younger members:

Adhesive lead wheel weights (the kind for aluminum wheels) make nice soft inserts for your vise when working on items you don't want jaw-marked.

If you're not allowed to bake metal parts in the oven for better paint adhesion, heat them up with your propane torch. Not only will the paint bond better, but you'll actually burn off impurities.

Using a 20oz. plastic pop bottle with a hole in the top makes for a much-safer carb primer than holding an entire gas can (this was Stretch's but he didn't post it).

No air-hold fitting to replace valve seals or a broken spring? Feed a good bit of soft nylon braided rope into the cylinder through the spark-plug hole at BDC, then rotate the engine until the rope is compressed between the piston and the valves. The valves will stay put. Do your service - then rotate the engine back to the original point, and pull the rope out--make sure you left some hanging out! (Rick Ehrenberg trick)

Broken leaf spring pieces make great slapping spoons and dollies. Fantastic for adjusting door to fender gaps. When welded to a broken air chisel bit and ground to a cutting edge, they are perfect for chiseling thru factory spot welds on floors and frames.

Scratch a bar of soap to fill my fingernails with hard soap so when I'm working in dirty stuff nothing can get under my nails. Then washing is somewhat started.

If you only have a 110 volt welder and want to weld thicker steel use co2 as your shielding gas. Its cheep and it drives the weld deeper into the steel for better penetration. You don稚 want to use it if you are welding thin steel like body panels for the same reason. Use 75/25 or flux core wire.

If you are using flux core wire and don稚 like all the smoke and fumes, try using a SMALL fan near your work. The breeze will keep the smoke and fumes out of your face allowing you to see what you are doing better and best of all, No headache from the fumes.

Paint roller refills with low nap are great for block sanding where the flat boards won't do - like the curve where the quarter panel meets the roof, or the curves on a mid-seventies Chev 1/2 ton. Just wrap them with your chosen grit sandpaper and have at 'er.

Some bolts with washers welded to the head are great for hanging parts for paint. Stand the washer up on end, weld it to the bolt head, and screw the bolt into the part to be painted.

After welding, cutting or grinding, keep busy for at least an hour before leaving as a "fire watch". One hot chunk of slag on that stack of **** in the corner is all it takes.

If you have ever used a magnet in the shop for anything related to metal work you undoubtedly know how frustrating all those shavings that are stuck to it can be. Simply keep your magnet in a plastic baggy when you use it and when you are storing it. The shavings will stick to it but it is easily cleaned by removing the magnet from the baggy over a trash can.

I like to protect my paint when using a jack. I have a piece of roll bar padding on my jack handle incase I get a little careless and smack the valance panels while lifting my car. Pipe insulation will work for this too but the roll bar padding is denser and I had it lying around. I keep n old foam buffing pad around to set on the jack plate so I don稚 scratch any painted surface the jack pad will lift against.



To remove stubborn screw in oil galley plugs... heat it with a torch, and then hit it with penetrating oil when hot, then unscrew the plug. An old timer at a machine shop told me this trick, he's known to be able to extract any broken fastener.. I was worried about the cold on the warm/hot block but so far no cracks.

For rusty parts removal/freeing: 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF makes a great penetrating oil. Only mix what you need as it has a short shelf life, but work tons better then any penetrating oil you can buy.

Got grass, blood, chocolate or grease stains? Use Efferdent (denture cleaner) as a pre-treater. Simply drop two tabs in the bottom of a clean five gallon bucket - pour in enough water to cover whatever you are treating, and wait until the fizzing stops before adding clothes. Let sit overnight, wash the next day.


49T&C

 

[bx24]

Great tips ... Thanks for sharing

 

[workinallthetime]

dude thats an awsome post!!!

have an old heater core lying around? they make great blocks to go on your floor jack when using it to support and engine or trans. the material is soft and with the fins it will contour to what ever you push it aginst.
Ive used one several times when lining things up during and engine install.

 

[GE222]

Good Stuff!

 

[BearKiller]

Thanks for the shop tips; I always like reading/hearing other people's tips and techniques as sometimes they make my life easier.


I just finished a little trick that had needed taking care of years ago.

This will probably not apply to those fortunate enough to have inside space for everything; but, for those like myself that are barely fortunate to even have themselves under roof, here is what I do to keep things such as tractor/riding-mower seats dry.

I have acquired a number of those big plastic tubs that cow mineral-licks come in; people with a few hundred head of cattle accumulate these things like a housewife accumulates Walmart sacks.

For several years, I have been turning them bottom-up over the mower seats, tractor seats, saw-mill engine, etc., or anything outside that needs to be inside.

The aggravating problem is that the twelve-sided tubs that I use have about an inch deep reinforcing lip around the top, with twelve little "gussetts", thus making twelve pockets that each hold about one wet hind-ends worth of water.

No matter how careful, it never fails that the tub will snag on something on it's way up and off whatever seat it is protecting and dribble the contents of that water-holding lip onto the nice dry seat.


So.................., today, after that happening one time too many, I took the cordless drill with a 3/16 bit and poked two holes through each and every little water-pocket around the rims of the tubs, thus curing that problem for now and all time to come.


I hope that this little bit of information will be of use to someone else.

 

[6sunset6]

When a bolt head or a nut gets rounded and it is down a hole where you can only get to it with a 12 or 18 inch extention , like exhaust manifold to pipe connections, I heat the nut or bolt head red and pound on the next smalled 12 point socket on the end of the extension. Bronze hammer. It's like forging. The nut has been heated red so it is loose and the smaller socket is a perfect fit. watch out for fuel fires though.

 

[BearKiller]

When a bolt head or a nut gets rounded and it is down a hole where you can only get to it with a 12 or 18 inch extention , like exhaust manifold to pipe connections, I heat the nut or bolt head red and pound on the next smalled 12 point socket on the end of the extension. Bronze hammer. It's like forging. The nut has been heated red so it is loose and the smaller socket is a perfect fit. watch out for fuel fires though.

We use that 12-point socket trick on rounded lug-nuts and lost-key wheel-locks almost daily, except we don't use any heat.

You don't really want to use your favorite socket though, as sometimes driving the socket on the slightly too-big nut will split the socket.

 

[BearKiller]

Air tank and compressor tips :

This one was already posted before this thread started, but it definitely fits into the "tip" category, so here :

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/152446-always-ready-portable-air-tank.html


Another one that I finally got around to that I had been meaning to accomplish for probably twenty years; I got it done just this week :

Many is the night that, maybe 1:17 or 2:29 AM, I have been awakened by a noise that definitely ain't the refrigerator kicking on; then I realize I have forgot the compressor ON again and, after a couple weeks, it has bled down enough to kick itself ON.

It don't ever do this during normal hours; always in the middle of the night.

I tied a female plug cut from a Dollar General Store drop-cord to the COLD side of the air-compressor switch; not the pressure-switch, but the switch that powers the whole thing.

I hung a 100-watt bulb in an area that could use a little more light and routed it's cord to the female plug that I had just installed.

I could have used a tiny night-light, or a string of Christmas-tree lights, but lacking either, I opted to just hang the plain old bulb in an area that needed more light anyway.

Now, when the compressor switch is ON, this light is also ON.

When I turn out the shop lights, if there is still one lit, I know what to do, and no more surprises in the middle of the night.

 

[toy]

Bearkiller I have been using the light reminder tip for some time now, but as a reminder to turn off something else. During the winter months when I know I am not going to be in my shop but just for a short time instead of starting a fire in the coal furnace , I will turn my torpedo heater on to break the chill. The bad thing about doing that was that I would forget to turn it off when I left the shop. I use the light as a reminder to turn off the heater, that has saved me several tanks of fuel by not heating the garrage when I am not out there and at about $15 a tank it soon adds up.

 

[BearKiller]

Not my picture; thanks to whoever I borrowed it from.

This or something similar, with a couple old junk truck-tires roped on, could be employed to push dis-abled vehicles in and out of a shop, or just out of the way for mowing or whatever :

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...154298828-3-pt-pallet-forks-easy-img_0042.jpg

Someone would need be in said vehicle, steering and manning the brakes.

Or, it could be chained up real close, so it couldn't get away from you.

Or, on fairly level ground, one could do like the railroad does when shoving loose cars around, just set the park-brake and push it where you want; when you quit pushing, it will stop.

 

[bobodu]

I probably use wax melted into a heated bolt or pipe more than penetrating oil.
Muratic acid is great from removing aluminum from small engine cranks,cleaning up those tools left outside,rusty gas tanks and that bucket of ever-so-handy but frustrating odd nuts and bolts.
I hate power tool cords!!!! I made a couple of shelves that stand out from the wall about two inches. Put the tool on the shelf and drop the cord behind. They hang strait down and don't tangle.
Peg boards are neat,but often ( here anyway) get abandoned because the hook always seems to fall out when the tool is taken down. A glob of your favorite caulk smeared over the hooked has solved this problem for me.
Those cheap box wrenches can be bent after heating up with the torch to reach "those" nuts and bolts. I buy them wherever I find em cheap. Just toss em in a bucket since I don't have that much room....usually have one that'll work or just needs some tweaking. These are especially handy when replacing brake lines.

 

[BearKiller]

>>> SHOP LAUNDRY <<<

The washing-machine got to where, about one load out of three, it would leak about a quart of water onto the laundry-room floor.

Sometimes, it would go for a couple weeks and not lose a drop; then, it would make up for it and lose a gallon in one load.

Otherwise, it worked flawlessly; no strange noises; the clothes always came clean.

I replaced it with a new machine and moved the old leaky one into the shop.

I mounted it on a pallet and parked it where a little water wasn't going to hurt anything.

I put one of those Harbor Freight water-hose quik-couples on a short section of water-hose that is "Y"ed such that the one hose connects to both HOT and COLD on the back of the machine.

When I want to wash something, I simply snap the quik-couple to a water supply, load her up, and wash to a fare-thee-well.

I use it for dirty shop rags, horse blankets, old greasy coveralls, and my clothes when I get a bath of diesel-fuel or somesuch.

 

[BearKiller]

Muratic acid is great for cleaning up that bucket of ever-so-handy but frustrating odd nuts and bolts.

I have a ton of miscellaneous rusty nuts/bolts/etc.

What is the recipe/procedure for cleaning them up with the muriatic acid ??

How do I "neutralize" the acid, once the bolts are clean ??

Is this stuff gonna eat my hands off at the wrists ??

Thanks.

 

[bobodu]

I just use two plastic coffee cans (buckets would work better because of the spout) and fill it halfway or so with whatever. Cover with the acid and allow to sit a few minutes. Pour off the acid into another can of stuff. While the rule is never to add water to acid (supposed to add acid to water) if you drain it off pretty good, you can just rinse with a garden hose.

NEVER POUR UNDILUTED ACID DOWN A DRAIN!!!!
Do this only outside as the fumes are hazardous to your health. Eye protection and gloves are suggested but it's a pretty weak acid as far as acids go....

You can kill acid with baking soda but I just pour it on my weedy driveways and let the limestone do it's thing.

 

[BearKiller]

Cover with the acid and allow to sit a few minutes. Pour off the acid into another can of stuff.

So you are saying that, once the first can of bolts are clean, there is enough life in the acid to clean another can of bolts, right ??

How many minutes are "a few minutes" ??

How many cycles will the acid keep cleaning before it loses it's effectiveness ??

Will the bolts come out shiny with no rust ??

Where do I get this miracle acid stuff ??

While the rule is never to add water to acid (supposed to add acid to water)

What about adding distilled water to battery cells ??



Thanks.

 

[bobodu]

There's no real rule to any of this since rusty bolts and nuts don't sort themselves out into neat piles of a little rust or a lot...so you actually mileage will vary.
The no water to acid rule comes from science class. The acid in batteries is a really weak solution to start with on the horrible burn scale.

"
A large amount of heat is released when strong acids are mixed with water. Adding more acid releases more heat. If you add water to acid, you form an extremely concentrated solution of acid initially. So much heat is released that the solution may boil very violently, splashing concentrated acid out of the container! If you add acid to water, the solution that forms is very dilute and the small amount of heat released is not enough to vaporize and spatter it. So Always Add Acid to water, and never the reverse. "

 

[Taylortractornut]

Got a couple here. Working on heavy equipment like our paddle wheerl scraper at work I get stuck with most of it. Theres a bolt that holds part of the turbo bracket on and something else. Im rebuilding this older scraper and Deere didnt have a very good engineer on this part location betwwn the motor and a solif firewall. Theres no room to put a pull handle on this bolt or a wrench. I could put a stubby on it but I cant get any leverage. I took and welded a strap across the end of the open end side and fed a cable through and clamped it off. Then chained a snatch block to the belly pan and fed the cable through it. I pulled on it by hand and it still wouldnt go. Then i bolted the end down on the motor mont bolt and put a bottle jack in the center of the cable. she came out then.

I had some cylinders under a tarp and they got condensation in them and scaled up in the bores. I pulled them apart and got a cheapo cup brussh and put a 5/8ths all thread in it and then used and all thread connector to hook it into my junk grinder. I repolished the cylinder in about 2 minutes.

If you have a bearing race thats in a blind bore you cant get out take and weld a bead on the inside of the race when it cools and shrinks it will almost always drop out.

Leaf spings off of trucks make good tooth liners when welded ontop of excavator or loader teeth when loading highly abrasive material like rock gravel and sand. they double and and triple the life of your teeth.

Save different can bottoms like coffe cans and spray cans for marking circles on material to be cut. I keep several around for differen sized work.

If I have a line or cable in a dozer scraper or dump truck that you cant see them middle or have to pull thebelly pan off to see it when we pull it out we have a cable ore rope tied to it. when we pull it out the rope is alreaddy routd just tie on the new hose or cable and pull back through. Great for the tilt lines on a D5B.

If you have a nut and blot in a hard to reach area that has alot of vibration torque it down and bendthe top of a thred over a bit with a cold chisel. This is commonly practiced with a crane sheave wheel.

A cheap and quick porta power can be made with a small cylinder and bearing grease with an alemite fitted to the cylinder. Just pop on a grease gun.

When a grease fitting any of my machinery wont take grease Ill take a gun thats hal empty and take the tube of grease out and push the greas to the bottom of the tube then put it back in the gun. Then fill it with oil, hydraulic fluid or fuel, then pup it into the fitting it will take a few shots slowly then youll feel a pop or a jerk and see the oil drip out. This also helps when a machine like the scraper is put up for long rainy periods in the winter.

If I get a alrge bolt broken off in a machine take and drill the center with a bit about holf its size or smaller then still stick weld a bead inside the hole. then when it cools wed a nut to the face of the bolt if its flush withthe hole and the cooling of the inernal weld will shink it a few thousandths.

I keep alot of lrge nuts even if they are boogered to weld onto the shanks of brken bolts.

If you have an injector or line or any 12 pointed fitting that is in a reced bore that a normal line wrenc is too fat to fit into grind a slot in the end of a 12 point box end that will work a few time till it stretches out.

When I bought my 1 ton dump druck it had an electric pump on it. The batteries are marine type with the 5/16ths stud. the onwer used a closed type casted nut on top that came with them to hold the cables onthe hot terminal and the pump terminal. Well this year when I went to get it out the the blind nut was frozen ro the the terminal. I drilledthe top to put in a few sqirts of blaster then let it soak the next day I stripped the terminal n th batery. I then chiseled off the cap but I couldnt tighted my cable because the treminal would spin. chased the threads and left the die on the terminal hacksawed a slot in the topof the termingal the n backed the die off. I put my copper cable ends back o nthe terminal then started the new nut. hen I had to tighten them I put in a flat screwdriver and tightend it up. I save 110 bucks.

Also the fingers out of an old welding glave slipped up on plier jaws also help preven marring the surface.

 

[BearKiller]

Those are good ones there, TaylorTractorNut.

Here are a few more :

Slip short lengths of rubber hose onto the jaws af a pair of needle-nose locking pliers and use them to pinch off rubber hoses without harming the hose.

This works on small fuel-lines on up to big radiator hoses, so long as the jaws of the pliers will span the hose.
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Round up all of your clean shop rags and put them in that plastic five-gallon bucket that somehow got a little split in the bottom.

It may not hold water anymore, but it will keep the rags nice and clean and always where you can find them.

If you don't have the bucket lid, a circle of plywood with a few locator cleats screwed to fit the inside perimeter of the bucket and keep the plywood aligned will suffice for a cover.
____________________________________________

I use brass and stainless tubeless tire valves for all sorts of things; the kinds that have a rubber grommet, nut, and washer.

I have used them for fuel inlets/outlets on both metal and plastic fuel tanks.

The large bore tractor sizes are big enough to make a bulkhead fitting for the fuel draw-straw on a ton diesel truck.

The smaller long-stem tire-valves are ideal for making the fuel outlet when turning a plastic jug into a gas-tank for a small engine.

A short-shanked one in the top of a fuel-can makes a wonderful sealable air-vent to make pouring much easier.

I have several of the grommets in a jar of diesel that have been in there over three years with no noticable ill effects.

I used two of them in a bracket for the cable-ends at the injection-pump on my truck, one for KILL-cable, the other for Vernier throttle control.

The cable "threaded" into the bore of the tractor tire valve and the nut then holds it all secure, far better than any purpose-built cable-keeper and a lot more professional looking.

 

[have_blue]

A couple I recently stumbled upon:

Discarded air mattresses are great for covering lawn mowers, power washers, and small implements. They are made from thick, heavy vinyl, drape real well, and the wind won't blow them away.

An inexpensive child's rock tumbler is a great way of making small parts look new again. Tumble a day or 2 with coarse media if badly rusted, finer media if not in real bad shape.

 

[GE222]

I have a set of import 3/4" sockets that are mainly used in my arbor press for pressing bearings, etc.

I built a very accessible and convenient place to store my safety glasses, hearing protectors, as well as pencils. The time was well spent as the glasses hardly ever get scratched, and pencils are always close at hand.

Keep the screw well oiled and if possible covered when using a c-clamp for welding.