Best Shop Tricks

[scottrnelson]

Originally Posted by zap2504

I took an empty gallon windshield washer fluid jug, cut off the bottom and part of the side (where the handle is) to form a sort of flexible old-time sugar scoop. Now I dump my hardware into the scoop, sort through it looking for what I need, then compress the ends of the scoop together to form a funnel for pouring the parts back into the storage container. Since it's free, I've made a couple others for friends.

I like that idea. I think I'll go home and make one of those.

[ride2little]

I just use an old tackle box and keep all of my misc fasteners, connectors, washers, nuts, bolts, heat shrink, terminal, etc, etc... Another positive about being a fisherman.

[Guy Young]

This may be a 205, and apologies if it is.

Fella brought in a wheel off his Strom that one of the rear bearing completely came apart. Trick was to get the outer race of the hub. The bearing was completely separated and the outer race was sitting flush with the lip you see in the bore. Absolutely nothing to gain purchase on. All of the claw extractors I have were too thick to even begin to get a hold of the thing. Ground down a piece of steel, kinda tapped it down into the bore of the outer race, and tacked it into place. That gave me a nice surface to drive it out from the other side. Popped right out.



.

[gn77b]

antenna of broken radio + a bit of epoxy + a neodymium magnet I had laying around = a pick-up tool that costs 0. yeah, I know, the ready-made version costs next to nothing but making something for nothing gives me a lame feeling of accomplishment

[airborndad]

Originally Posted by AK Oldman

My hands get extremely dry, particularly in low humidity climates, and the ends of my fingers and thumbs split open on me. I use super glue to hold the split closed. It works very well on minor cuts as well.

works for larger cuts too ask O.J. Simpson

[ibafran]

The bucket that I look thru most is lined with an old towel. I pick the parts containing towel out of the bucket by grabbing the 4 corners laying on top. Open the towel by laying it out on the workbench. Get whatever parts I need and pick up the towel of stuff by the 4 corners and drop it back in the bucket. The only guy that I know who has a better method bought an old roll cab at a garage sale and sorts his loose fasteners and stuff in the drawers. If he wants a metric machine screw, he opens the marked drawer. I bought one of those 40 bin plastic parts things on sale to keep the stuff that I want to find quickly but not often. Thus, my salvaged woodruff keys and little set screws are found in those drawers and not with the usual clutter in the towel lined bucket.

[richarddacat]

I had bought me a new roll around tool box and wanted to line the drawers.
My wife had a new yoga pad she never used, it was almost enough to do all the drawers. About an 1/8" thick, kinda sticky so tools won't slide and a nice blue color.

[Rd650]

Good one on the strom wheel Guy. Simple and very effective.

[PFFOG]

One of the sucky-ist jobs when working on cases is cleaning off the old gaskets, that have welded themselves to the covers/cases.

Go buy a 6" sharpening stone (oil stone) take the case over to the sink or parts cleaner to keep the stone wet and sand away, it melts off the gasket, and flattens the sealing surfaces

[PFFOG]

Originally Posted by Guy Young

This may be a 205, and apologies if it is.

Fella brought in a wheel off his Strom that one of the rear bearing completely came apart. Trick was to get the outer race of the hub. The bearing was completely separated and the outer race was sitting flush with the lip you see in the bore. Absolutely nothing to gain purchase on. All of the claw extractors I have were too thick to even begin to get a hold of the thing. Ground down a piece of steel, kinda tapped it down into the bore of the outer race, and tacked it into place. That gave me a nice surface to drive it out from the other side. Popped right out.



.

The other welder trick is just weld a bead around the inside (in the ball channel) of the outer race, as it cools it shrinks the race and it will fall out

[scooteraug02]

Originally Posted by PFFOG

One of the sucky-ist jobs when working on cases is cleaning off the old gaskets, that have welded themselves to the covers/cases.

Go buy a 6" sharpening stone (oil stone) take the case over to the sink or parts cleaner to keep the stone wet and sand away, it melts off the gasket, and flattens the sealing surfaces

When I worked at a gas station the mechanic would take a thermostat housing put some water on the concrete floor, rub the housing back and forth on the floor milling it to a flat clean finish.

[GlennR]

I just discovered this thread. I'm just on pg 7...maybe this has been mentioned already.


I like to keep large scraps of Blue Board (foam insulating board) and also cardboard handy. I use them to sit, kneel, or lay on while working on my vehicles & bikes. The blue board is waterproof, cushions, and keeps your butt warm, which is great if your working outside and/or on gravel or damp ground. It's also easy to wipe clean if you get it dirty.
I use the large cardboard scraps for the same purpose, but it's more disposable.

I'm also a big fan of rubber bands, large office binder clips, and magnets in the shop.

[nuggets]

Originally Posted by GlennR

I just discovered this thread. I'm just on pg 7...maybe this has been mentioned already.


I like to keep large scraps of Blue Board (foam insulating board) and also cardboard handy. I use them to sit, kneel, or lay on while working on my vehicles & bikes. The blue board is waterproof, cushions, and keeps your butt warm, which is great if your working outside and/or on gravel or damp ground. It's also easy to wipe clean if you get it dirty.
I use the large cardboard scraps for the same purpose, but it's more disposable.

I'm also a big fan of rubber bands, large office binder clips, and magnets in the shop.

I like that one.

I like to keep a disposable tyvek coverall with my spare tire in the cage. I can throw it in if I need to do a roadside tire change and keep my clothes clean.

I also reccomend carrying a small square of housewrap in your bike's toolkit. That way you can spread it out and lay your tools and parts on it, instead of losing them in the dirt.

[Tom S]

Originally Posted by nuggets

I also reccomend carrying a small square of housewrap in your bike's toolkit.

Housewrap? What the hell is 'housewrap'?
I had a small canvas bag of tools in one of my cars. There was also a piece of plastic sheeting, *Visqueen*, about 18’ – 20” square in there. Dump the tools on the on the plastic sheet & roll 'em all back up in the plastic sheet when done. Worked real good.
Maybe that’s what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.

[groundrules]

Originally Posted by Tom S

Housewrap? What the hell is 'housewrap'?

light weight, tough, flexible, water proof, chemical resistant, easy to come by (especially if you have access to some first class mail envelopes).