Tool Talk
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Project Ideas on May 30, 2011, 12:29:18 PM
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for the next semester (freshman year in college) i have to solve a technical problem. This is going to be a taste of what senior design is going to be like in 3 years.
Basically i need to find an issue and fix it so i figure i would ask if you guys are annoyed by any tools you use on the job? An easy way to respond can be "I Hate It When..."
I would appreciate any help!
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I suppose we might be able to offer suggestions.
We are a group of old tool people and try to keep our discussions here on topic for the most part. Many of the tools we discuss are the forerunners of improved tools as used today.
If you want to be a part of Tool Talk, please post an introduction, we like to know a little about the members we meet here.
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You might try the following links -- I bet someone at one of them wiil be interested and be able to help you out good luck.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/index.php
and/or http://www.eng-tips.com/
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What's really needed is a key on the computer that ratchets up a tiewrap around a portion of the anatomy of a college kid who thinks getting other people to do his work is clever.
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What else do we do when we research something? Taking ideas from one person is plagiarism. Taking ideas from many is called research.
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I hate it when I can't read the names under the buttons on DVD players because the lettering is a medium gray on a silver background. I hate it when I can't read the red lettering against the gray of the God-stick for video players to determine what button I'm pushing. Color coordination is lovely, but not when it comes to visibility. Contrast is what is needed.
I'll think about on the job tools, but mostly, I use old tools, and I know and respect their limitations. Maybe durability/longevity issues here. My carriage maker's rabbet plane was made around 1770. It still does the job it was made to do.
My Makita cordless drills still do the job, but getting the batteries for it is becoming difficult. I hate it when the tool works, but can't be used because the batteries for the new ones don't interchange.
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How about Inventing a Dishwasher, where you Don't have to "Wash the Dishes" before you "Wash the Dishes"? This one is Long Overdue!!!!!!!!!
Wayne
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How about Inventing a Dishwasher, where you Don't have to "Wash the Dishes" before you "Wash the Dishes"? This one is Long Overdue!!!!!!!!!
Wayne
its been done wayne,her name is connie and she works great!!
brian
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I'm going to have to tell Connie on you for that one Brian! You will be washing the floors with a toothbrush soon! Lol !!!!!!!!
Wayne
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How about making a universal remote that will work on everything and it easy to figure out
Brian-
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How about a remote that works on the girlfriend?
Off....Off...off!
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Quote of the day....I like that.........What else do we do when we research something? Taking ideas from one person is plagiarism. Taking ideas from many is called research
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What's really needed is a key on the computer that ratchets up a tiewrap around a portion of the anatomy of a college kid who thinks getting other people to do his work is clever.
Oh, come on now, the kid's interested enough to find "tooltalk." We primarily learn through others wisdom..... plenty of folks on this site have a lot of that to go around!!!!!
Cheers to the kid in school!
bird
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for the next semester (freshman year in college) i have to solve a technical problem. This is going to be a taste of what senior design is going to be like in 3 years.
Basically i need to find an issue and fix it so i figure i would ask if you guys are annoyed by any tools you use on the job? An easy way to respond can be "I Hate It When..."
I would appreciate any help!
This is my guide on how to become a millionaire.... Find a way to repel carpenter bees. Or, better yet, find a way to get rid of stink bugs. Does anyone else deal with the sting bugs? I don't like bugs. I can't help it. I can remember being a teenager, stomping on a roach, leaving my shoe on top of the bug with a hand written note for Dad, "RIP." We still laugh about that!
But, I digress. I've found biscuit cutters to be a real pain when trying to cut the slots in boards that accurately coincide with each other.
However, often the biggest problem for me doesn't involve the machinery so much as it lies within the pathetic manuals you receive with a tool.
So, if your assignment is to find a problem and fix it, I would start with manuals. You could create the best tool in the world, but if the "inventor" cannot teach others how to use their invention, the product remains obsolete. .
I'd look at tools requiring a good bit of knowledge in order to accurately work/ use the tool. I've never understood how someone could invent a tool, but is unable to clearly state to others how to use the tool. Another "tool" that comes to mind is the line of Kreg pocket jigs. I've seen some of their jigs, and it looks like a nightmare to me!
After all of my rambling, the important thing isn't necessarily changing technology, but making technology more "user friendly."
By the way, which college are you attending? ... none of my business... just curious
cheers, bird
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Bird, I ain't sure if you covered 7½ or 9 acres with that answer, but I'm real sure there ain't a repellant for carpenter bees.
Best cure for them I've found is a tasty mix of sawdust, elmer's glue and Sevin. I worked up a way of filling their holes with a calking gun and slapping a piece of masking tape on to hold it. They don't chew their way back out, and the plug stays in place real good.
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That's a good one, AP!
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Or, better yet, find a way to get rid of stink bugs. Does anyone else deal with the sting bugs? ... just curious
cheers, bird
[/quote]
Yes Bird, I deal with stink bugs every year! I moved from the City, to the foothills about 25 years ago, and had not even heard of this bug before. They start to show up in the house around March or April, and last around one month. I pulled all the carpet up, and filled all the cracks in the slab floor. Then I pulled all the baseboard off, and filled the gap between the floor, and sheetrock,(3 cases of caulking), then replaced with new base board that sits flush with the slab floor. This worked out great for about 5 years, and now they are back. Here is their progression: They show up as one or two, then 10 or 20, then 40 or 50, in the house. If you step on them, they just laugh at you, so I put a lump of two sided tape on a pvc stick with a "T" on the end, and go on stink bug patrol every morning. The whole ordeal last for about a month, and we are used to it now. Hell we even welcome the black widows and wolf spiders in our home now, as they take care of some of them! Lol !
"Such is life in the Country"
Wayne
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It doesn't look like the OP is reading anything here anyway --- looks like he went elsewhere for his suggestions. I always wonder why folks post only once then disappear.
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It doesn't look like the OP is reading anything here anyway --- looks like he went elsewhere for his suggestions. I always wonder why folks post only once then disappear.
Young fellow explained to me how its called shotgunning. You formulate a request for help hopefully overcoming your generation Y didn't my Parents use Birth Control manners and phrasing. Then you google up a group of places you can post the request and post across 50 or however many you can till your buzz wears off.
The hard part is you are supposed to keep a list of the places you posted so you can go back and see the answers, and a lot of people forget that step. Since they lack problem solving skills they aren't smart enough to google up their own posts.
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WOW, I really am behind the times. I had no idea that there was a complete , ummmmmm "search engine" for folks that are suppose to complete certain classes/ tasks. Oh, by the way, I'm guessing I'm working on the first square foot ..... definitely haven't figured out how to cover an acre yet! Glad you keep me in check!
cheers and all the best,
bird
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If you can forgive a serious answer amid the levity, the trigger lock-on button of many electric hand tools is made for right-handers and is very easily inadvertently locked by lefties. I've had many a near catastrophe due to this (noteably with electric drills and sabre saws). I'm amazed the government safety councils haven't fixed this problem - maybe you can!
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Wow Joe that IS a great idea
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> I'm amazed the government safety councils haven't fixed this problem
They have...and haven't. OSHA's solution to trigger locks was to become wishywashy , prohibiting them on some things and allowing them on others. The resulting rules are so convoluted, I doubt the average user could tell you if his tool is allowed to have a trigger lock or not. For example, they are ok on sabre saws with blades < 1/4" , but not on thicker blades....
Do you suppose a thin blade will saw your fingers off slower?
The same kind of silly rule applies to circular saws...
Many construction sites prohibit trigger lock tools regardless, there is no question they can bite you...
I had not thought abouyt the left hand thing, which is interesting, because there is also a requirement that you be able to release the lock with the same finger you used to lock it, which probably means, for a left handed person, some tools fail to meet the requirements....
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Here a good one for you.Craftsman brand locking pliers.Why is it that Vise Grip locking pliers will hold just about anything you clamp them on to , yet Craftsman locking pliers tend to pop off more times than I care to remember. What does Craftsman have to do to make their locking pliers hold better.
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As someone who bought from Smokey Mountain Knife 8 dozen pair of left handed reconditioned scissors and spent about 4 years giving them to many Lefties I encountered (OK mostly cute female Lefties) I can give you the answer to power tools. It's a foot switch!
Make the switch up with a couple short cords or better a sump pump switch cord, and you have the needed safety device.
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Hmm, I've got a lot to learn from you, aunt phil!
cheers, bird