Best Shop Tricks

[Tom S]

Originally Posted by PiffleMaster

Some excellent advice here...

Except this:
"... jackstands .... If you have some, throw them away and get new ones."
WTF?

[Unstable Rider]

So, it blinks green lights?

I freaking like it.

That is badass.

What next - fire without MATCHES?

Originally Posted by Voltar

Well, not bike related I don't guess but with all this disk drive talk..... Here is what I did with one earlier this week:

[Voltar]

Originally Posted by Unstable Rider

So, it blinks green lights?

Well, explanation for less intuitive minds.....
If you can blink a green light (actually any color would do), you can control a relay. If you can control a relay, you can control bunches of stuff.

[EvilClown]

Originally Posted by cat

give it a break. Or take it to Jo Mamma.

This.

[VStromTom]

May have posted this before but I keep a small mirror in my tool kits for the garage and each bike. It has really helped me see areas that otherwise would not be visible, helps alot in getting at bolts/nuts, clips, etc. Takes up very little room too.

[Whalerman]

Great thread, lots of good ideas here.

Something nobody has mentioned for removing broken bolts is a left hand drill bit. Invest in a few of the right sizes for your extractor set. More often than not the drilling process will break the bolt free and unscrew it just like magic, and you have to drill a hole anyways to use the extractor.

Mark them clearly and obviously so you don't try and drill a hole with them using the drill in the wrong direction.

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Somebody mentioned truck mudflaps as floor protectors against oil spills, dropped tools and parts etc. I use cheapo car or truck winter floor mats for this purpose, they have a lipped edge so any oil or coolant spills are contained.

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The worx powdered hand cleaner is the only thing I have found that will take the fish stink off my hands (my wife would be so offended if she knew what you are thinking right now) after a day on the water handling rotten crab and prawn bait. It works great even with salt water.

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Fluke makes a 3 AAA cell LED light that has a flexible ball joint clamp attached.

This

It can be used as a headlight or clamped to the edge of anything (cases, frame, plastic) to put the light where you need it. Its a little pricey like all fluke equipment but is a quality tool and is really bright when the batteries are fresh.

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To prevent the drill press chuck key from getting implanted into you or the wall, wire in a limit switch so the drill press won't run unless the chuck key is hanging off the switch.

Thats all I got at the moment.
Cheers.

[Renegade_Azzy]

My favorite, which may have been mentioned.. but..

Penetrating oil. mix 1/2 Acetone and 1/2 ATF. Add to a spray bottle and shake before using. Works great on all sorts of rusted bolts. I keep it handly when working on the rustbucket I call a Jeep.

from Machinist's Workshop magazine. (Supposedly)
I hope you find it interesting...

They tested penetrants for break-out torque on rusted nuts, with interesting results, especially how we've come to rely on PB Blaster... They arranged a subjective test of popular penetrants, with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from an equivalent "scientifically rusted" environment:


Penetrating oil ........... Average load to break free

None ..............................516 pounds
WD-40 .......................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .....................214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ............... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ......................106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix............ 53 pounds

The Automatic Transmission fluid-Acetone mix was a "home brew" of 50/ 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.

Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results! Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is nearly as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price...

[EvoLife]

Similar things have been posted here before, but a friend of mine and I are pulling his spare bike apart to get some stuff powder coated and ready to sell. To pull the swingarm we put this together. He's a pipefitter and works with this stuff everyday, so I explained to him what I had in mind and this is what he came up with. All of it breaks down and fits in a 5gal bucket for storage. ThisFlatEarth is generously letting us use his garage for the time being and is likely to inherit this contraption.

[bergermeister]

Originally Posted by Renegade_Azzy

My favorite, which may have been mentioned.. but..

Penetrating oil. mix 1/2 Acetone and 1/2 ATF. Add to a spray bottle and shake before using. Works great on all sorts of rusted bolts. I keep it handly when working on the rustbucket I call a Jeep.

does it hurt painted surfaces?

[scottrnelson]

Originally Posted by bergermeister

does it hurt painted surfaces?

Acetone is what they put in nail polish remover. In fact, the best stuff is almost all acetone. Yes, it can soften paint.

[P B G]

Originally Posted by EvoLife

Just a heads up and your guy probably has addressed this, but what keeps those street 90's at the top of the uprights from turning?

Iron pipe is just tapered fit, and unless you went out of your way to weld, or deform the thread on those the whole thing can fall under any sort of rotational force.

Essentially since any force taking the legs off vertical towards a left hand rotation will permit the whole thing to go down you have a risk factor. Less since one side needs to go forwards and the other back, but it can still happen.

Safer if you use those Unions used in the middle of the top frame such that the side uprights could be connected across to each other at the floor or near the middle.

[EvoLife]

I knew the potential for that situation was there, but if you saw the size of the gorilla that put this thing together you wouldn't be as concerned, however I agree that it is not the best design. I gave my buddy the gist over the phone and I think he came up with a great usable piece. He's no engineer, and neither am I, but the more time you spend looking at it the easier it is too find the potential improvements.

I could just tack the street el's and leave the rest, but to be honest this thing is very tight. I hung the bike and shook the crap out of it and it's plenty rigid. We lowered the front wheel back down before we started wrenching to eliminate any dynamic swing.

I think the front and rear legs on either side are going to get connected at the bottom and locking casters added. Probably going to move two of the top pieces down to do that, like you said, and rotate the last one to be in line with the bike instead of transverse.

[garandman]

I bought aluminum jack stands, on sale at HF for $39.

[tgeliot]

Originally Posted by Renegade_Azzy

My favorite, which may have been mentioned.. but..

Penetrating oil. mix 1/2 Acetone and 1/2 ATF. Add to a spray bottle and shake before using. Works great on all sorts of rusted bolts. I keep it handly when working on the rustbucket I call a Jeep.

Acetone is very volatile; make sure you have plenty of ventilation when using this mixture.

[richarddacat]

Originally Posted by P B G

Just a heads up and your guy probably has addressed this, but what keeps those street 90's at the top of the uprights from turning?

Iron pipe is just tapered fit, and unless you went out of your way to weld, or deform the thread on those the whole thing can fall under any sort of rotational force.

Essentially since any force taking the legs off vertical towards a left hand rotation will permit the whole thing to go down you have a risk factor. Less since one side needs to go forwards and the other back, but it can still happen.

Safer if you use those Unions used in the middle of the top frame such that the side uprights could be connected across to each other at the floor or near the middle.

If you have rafters in your garage ceiling and a means to access them one thing that I've done is use tie-downs hung from the ceiling.

Get a 3/4 iron pipe to cross two rafters and drill two 2" holes in the ceiling close to the rafters then hang one end of the tie-downs on the pipe, use the other end on the handle bars.
Do the same for the rear it you need it. Usually I just move the bike to for which end I want suspended.
Also use a floor jack to stabilized things.