What tools do you carry, always

From: Russ Blakeman <russ_at_rbcs.8m.com>
Date: Thu Dec 7 11:13:04 2000

All of my "have to be excellent quality" tools including my vise type pliers
are Sears Craftsman. This way when I break them they give me a new one and I
can depend on them to be reliable as well . I use my vise grip pliers for a
multitude of things, especially when I'm doing repairs on the big iron
printers such as IBM 5224/5225's and when I have to grab and hold the feed
shaft on an IBM 6400 (also HP LP/Linejet and Printronics look alikes) to be
able to put that pain in the butt snap ring on the end of the shaft. Sure
with the Craftsman tools I need to inventory my tools better when I finish a
job but I have to anyway as it really sucks to leave a 6" phillips laying in
the carriage unit of a high speed cabinet sized line printer. Tends to ruin
the screwdriver and your reputation as a reliable repair tech. I got into
the habit of self inventory before testing when I worked around jets in the
USAF anyway.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
[mailto:owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of John Tinker
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 9:28 AM
To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: What tools do you carry, always


A swiss army type knife with a phillips driver. The "Tinker" model is my
personal favorite.

But next to the knife, the single most valuable tool, in my opinion, is the
vice-grip style plier. It doesn't have to be vice-grip brand, but the
Chinese knock-offs can be horrible, the tolerances so poor that the
frustration they produce is worse than not having the tool at all. (I wonder
if the Chinese plan for destroying the U.S. from within is to flood us with
cheap SKS's and crappy vice-grips?)

Although it is not especially useful for computers, the vice-grip is the
tool I wish the world had more of. Screw-drivers of course are used more
often. But they are almost everywhere, and can be faked when necessary. But
the vice-grip is the fundamental opposing thumb writ strong. The greatest
feeling of wealth and power that I get from a pair of vice-grips comes when
I grab a garfed-up screwhead sideways. It will get you by when nothing else
comes close. Besides the obvious, you can rip metal, bend things out of the
way, cut heavy wire, and use it as a vice. They also can be used as a
general-purpose clamp. How many times have I seen car window cranks faked
with a vice-grip? As a derivative, there is a c.b. radio antenna you can buy
that uses a vice-grip as the method to attach it to almost anything.

I really like to have a well-provisioned toolbox, so you won't see me
walking around with only a swiss-army knife and a vice-grip too often. But
especially if I don't know what I'm going to encounter, the first tool I
make sure to take with me is the vice-grip.

-- John Tinker
Received on Thu Dec 07 2000 - 11:13:04 GMT