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In The Shop: Should Have Known Better
By Dan Anderson
3/14/2008
By Dan Anderson
I learn from my mistakes—most of the time. Here’s a list of things I’ve learned not to do with tools:
Don’t use a chrome socket on an air- or battery-powered impact wrench. Chrome sockets can crack under the repeated hammering of an impact wrench. The edges of the cracks tend to be sharp and cut deep and fast if the socket spins between your fingers.
Don’t use WD-40, JB-80 or any other penetrating oils to lubricate air-powered tools. Penetrating oils have low viscosity and don’t cling to the spinning internal components of air tools. Lubricants designed for air tools have a higher viscosity and contain special additives to improve lubricity and inhibit corrosion.
Don’t store metal working files on top of each other, especially in portable toolboxes where they’re subject to motion and vibration. The files will dull their cutting edges by rubbing against each other.
Use caution when hauling portable MIG welders to the field. Motion and vibration can unspool the wire from the coil and create a world-class bird’s nest. Either remove the coil during transport or wrap a rubber tarp strap around the coil to prevent the wire from springing off the coil.
Stick-type welding rods left to fend for themselves in the bottom of a toolbox are worthless when it comes time to weld. Store them in their plastic containers or steal a Tupperware container from your wife. Ugly, weak welds are the result of chipped, humidity-damaged flux on welding rods.
Punches or cold chisels with mushroomed heads need to have the mushroom removed. Ragged fragments from the mushroomed striking surface can fly off when struck by a hammer and penetrate nearby skin or eyes. Use care when reshaping the heads of punches and chisels—the mushroomed metal tends to fly off in small chunks, rather than normal grinding-wheel sparks. Wear face shields, leather gloves and protective sleeves.
There are tapered alignment punches and there are tapered pin-driving punches. They are not interchangeable. Alignment punches are metallurgically more brittle than punches designed to drive pins from holes. The brittle metal of an alignment punch can shatter and throw sharp bits of metal when struck with a hammer.
In general, alignment punches tend to be chromed. Pin punches tend to be dark, unfinished metal—but not every dark, unfinished punch is a pin punch. If a punch has “for alignment use only” stamped along its shank, keep it away from hammers. If a punch has “wear safety glasses when striking” inscribed on its shank, its softer metal may bend if you try to align holes with it.
Don’t leave clicker torque wrenches loaded, especially torque wrenches that are adjusted by turning the handle to set the desired torque. The mechanism in that sort of wrench must be untensioned when the bar is not in use. Clicker-style torque wrenches with a small dial on the side of the wrench aren’t as susceptible to damage, but it’s a good practice to always detension any torque wrench when they’re not in use.
Generic prescription eyeglasses and drugstore sunglasses are not safety glasses. Both shatter into razor sharp shards when struck by debris. Prescription glasses can be ordered with impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses. Sunglasses with safety lenses are available from most tool retailers.
Don’t hold a piece of metal in your bare hand while you drill it on a drill press. Nine times out of 10 you’ll brace yourself and hold the metal when the drill bit breaks through. The 10th time you’ll need stitches. Clamp the metal to the drill press table.
Don’t use cheater pipes to extend and add power to 1/2" breaker bars, pipe wrenches or any other wrench. Wright Tool and other specialty manufacturers offer special box-end wrenches that are designed to work with 2'- to 3'-long extension handles.
As I said, I learn from my mistakes. I have the broken tools and scarred hands to prove what I learned the hard way when working on equipment.
Cool Tool of the Month
Hydraulic lines are often located in close quarters, making their fittings tough to tighten or loosen with traditional open-end wrenches. Angle-head wrenches have heads positioned at 30° and 60° for tight spots. Prices for full sets of angle-head wrenches range from $60 to $275.
Send comments and story suggestions to Dan Anderson at xrdan@netins.net.
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