Workshop tools: Definitions.

Discussion in 'Australian Motorcycles' started by Grump, Nov 14, 2005.

  1. Grump

    Grump Guest

    DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal
    bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings
    your tea across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted
    motorcycle part you were drying.

    WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the
    workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and
    hard-earned work calluses in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouch...."

    ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes
    until you die of old age.

    PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

    HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
    principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion,
    and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your
    future becomes.

    VICE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they
    can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

    OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
    objects in your workshop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside
    the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

    WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and
    motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or ½
    socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.

    HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a car to the ground after you have
    installed your new disk brake pads, trapping the jack handle firmly under
    the bumper.

    EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a
    hydraulic jack handle.

    TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

    PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic
    floor jack.

    "SNAP-ON" GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for
    spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-shit off your boot.

    E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known
    drill bit that snaps off in bolt holes you couldn't use anyway.

    TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the tensile strength on everything
    you forgot to disconnect.

    CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large pry-bar that inexplicably has
    an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

    AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

    TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a
    drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which
    is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, it's main
    purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm
    howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle
    of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

    PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style
    paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; but can also be used,
    as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

    AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power
    plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by
    hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last over
    tightened 58 years ago by someone at ERCO, and neatly rounds off their
    heads.

    PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket
    you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

    HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses too short.

    HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used
    as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts not far from
    the object we are trying to hit.

    MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard
    cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents
    such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector
    magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.

    EXPLETIVE: A balm, usually applied verbally in hindsight, which somehow
    eases those pains and indignities following our every deficiency in
    foresight.
     
    Grump, Nov 14, 2005
    #1
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  2. Grump

    Eskimobob Guest

    You forgot the biggest tool around...

    THE HOME MECHANIC
     
    Eskimobob, Nov 14, 2005
    #2
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  3. Martin Taylor, Nov 16, 2005
    #3
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