fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 02:31AM
small pry-bar with a ground down punch
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 02:32AM
or an old horseshoe nail depending on size
GAK67 Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 03:09AM
A tool for laying railway iron on wooden sleepers.
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 04:28AM
I think it looks like a tommy bar,
but I'm not playing until someone tells me what this thing is...
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 04:40AM
A lotta my brother mechs would call this a crows foot/line-up bar.
For most applications where you'd wanna pry on a part they're not very
functional and are prone to having the tip break off the prying end if you
actually try to do anything serious with 'em. They do work great as a long
handled line-up punch particularly if you need to use a hammer to line up the 2
parts.
I have a variety of sizes/lengths of these in my box and they pretty much stay
there
Onyma Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 06:21AM
woberto: What that item is is actually unknown though it appears to have been
used in sheep sheering somehow.
Article: [
games.historycolorado.org]
SpazzII Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 10:09AM
Marlinspike, Crows-foot.
Birdbath?
quasi Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 01:02PM
I hate to state the obvious, but it's a photograph.
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 02:47PM
It's not like any marlinspike I've ever seen and though it may be a type of
crows foot I haven't seen any like this either but if Kim says that's what the
mechs call it that's good enough for me, although the pics of those I've seen
are very different, there's no forked claw. It's about 18" long. I have
found it pretty useful at times when needing to apply brute force to a small
area and I've been grateful to have it but it mostly goes unused.
I thought it might be something used by steel workers or maybe loggers for
setting chokers or something like that. Since I found it up here in Oregon
loggers makes sense. I sharpened the tip since this picture so I can use it to
punch holes in a burn barrel, if that works out. Might be easier to drill the
holes though.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 04:18PM
Duh, brain fart .... this would be called a ladysfoot, a crowsfoot would be
forked
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 05:03PM
Cool Kimster. Yep, that's exactly what it is from looking at pics online. Thank
you buddy.
pro_junior Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 06:48PM
I have one of these, appears identical to the one in the pic, I've not named
it...
one thing that I use it for is to jab small holes into the dirt, for planting
propagation cuttings from plants
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 08:38PM
It's definitely a "lady's foot" like the Kimster said. They sell for
$40-60 new depending on size. I've found it useful for different things. I'm
glad I have it, it's come in handy a few times when I'm scratching my head
thinking WTF tool can I use for this deal? When I first found it around 20 years
ago in a garage I thought to myself I have no idea what this is or is good for.
I've since found several uses.
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 16, 2011 09:57PM
use 2 of them for prying off the brake parts from a chain hoist without
removing the gears and shafts
oh, and Blah, the best head and back scratcher i have found is a spaghetti
claw...plastic preferably.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 16/08/2011 09:58PM by fossil_digger.
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 01:11AM
I have several that are similar, we just call them Tommy bars.
Printers would use them regularly to rotate bearing cups. The cups have holes in
them for this purpose.
Kinda see it
here
Also there are several concentric adjustments on a press that require the same
tool.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/08/2011 03:02AM by woberto.
90130_ Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 06:40AM
?
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 18/08/2011 06:17AM by 90130_.
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 03:53PM
Pictures I've seen of tommy bars are a t-handled wrench and nothing like this,
pics of lady's foot bars are exactly the same as this. I know people call things
by all sorts of names, one of my favorites is a "goddamnit" as in,
"Please hand me that goddamnit over there."
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 04:05PM
I saw an ad for Metric and Standard crescent wrenches the other day, whatta
hoot that was. They were sellin a set of 6, 8, 10 and 12" Metric wrenches
and then a set of 8, 10 and 12" standard wrenches
Gotta love that marketing genius eh
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 05:27PM
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That's a different kind of goddamnit.
GAK67 Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 06:50PM
Mrkim - that reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago. A farmer goes into
his local rural supply store and says he wants to buy 30 foot of polythene pipe.
"I'm sorry sir, but we use the metric system here," he was told, so he
does a quick mental calculation and asks for 10m. "Certainly sir, and what
size would you like, half inch, or three quarter?"
It would be interesting to know how many people fell for the ad you saw.
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 07:27PM
BTW, I found that a lady foot pry bar is also called a rolling head pry bar.
Learn something new every day.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 07:48PM
Yeah here in the US our dumbasses are stuck with the old standard stuff, which
sucks to me since I like metric better ... except when it comes to measurin
thousands, there I stay with inches
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 08:41PM
I'm kind of the same way. Metric does make more sense in some cases and in
others standard seems more applicable. I suppose it really comes down to what
you're accustomed to and/or have to put up with. What drives me bonkers are
things like some vehicles that use a combination of both. Another thing that is
crazy is some things say a screw is so many mm long when in reality it is
exactly some fraction of an inch instead.
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 17, 2011 11:32PM
i always enjoyed this mind fuck:
.750ml bottle is a fifth
1.0 liter is a liter
and a 1.75 ltr is a half gallon.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/08/2011 11:41PM by fossil_digger.
BlahX3 Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 01:15AM
A half gallon is 1.89270589 liters, not 1.75 liters, which is 0.14270589 liter
difference; a significant 4.8254601980279012756056010304566 oz.
A fifth is 0.757082356 liters not ".750 ml" (which should have read
either .750 liters or 750 ml and should have been rounded UP to 780 ml if you're
rounding numbers and is still wrong - three times wrong at once.)
The obvious 1.0 liter = 1 liter, a big duh and doesn't count and you get an F.
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 01:35AM
no the liquor industry gets that grade
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 01:45AM
Feet and inches are for working with timber, if you're a quarter inch out
nobody cares.
Millimeters are for steel fabrication, much tighter tolerances.
I'm all for metric but there are times when you can communicate much better in
feet and inches.
Other imperial measures will fade out one day me thinks.
GAK67 Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 01:54AM
Things change over time. That story I told earlier I heard a few years ago not
long after NZ went from imperial to metric. You don't get half inch pipe any
more, it's now 12mm and 2 inch pipe is now 50mm (not only in name, but also in
measurement). The only time I really see imperial measurements here now is in
tools because you still get imperial nuts and bolts on stuff imported from
either the US or (to a lesser extent) the UK.
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 02:13AM
i'll take a pic of the 4 lady's feet i have tomorrow and post 'em
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 02:51AM
Yeah Blah, the 80s GM cars were the worst for their standard/metric mix and
match fun. I remember an 80 Olds Omega I had with the body & suspension
hardware in standard sizes and the engine was all metric, whatta mindfuck that
was to work on!
Here's a fun fact I learned when workin with bearings. All bearings and seals
are made to metric specs, even ones that match up to inch sizes. Bearing
catalogs here will typically show the specs in inch sizes because most people
think in these terms but they're actually built to a metric spec.
Here's another interesting difference between inch and metric sizes when it
comes to bolts. Inch size bolts like a 1/4 - 20 means the diameter is 1/4"
with 20 threads per inch. A close metric comparison would be a 6mm X 1.0 which
means the bolt is a 6mm diameter with a distance of 1.0mm from crest to crest of
the threads.
GAK & 'berto, most of our material items here are measured in inches like in
steel bar and flat stock, pipe, wood, ducting materials and such though you do
come across some variations in that from time to time. If however you need a
piece of 12mm shafting for a part on a machine you typically have few sources to
find it available from, while you can find 1/2" rod stock at any steel
supplier. And, if you're dealing with a machine shop they'll want the specs
expressed in inches and thousandths of an inch, though some are conversant in
metric figures, most prefer inches, which works great for me, so ...
Like John Prine said : "Ooh baby, It's a big old goofy world"
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 18/08/2011 02:56AM by Mrkim.
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 04:15AM
1980's Mazdas can be taken 90% apart with a 10mm & 13mm spanner.
In fact they made it a double-ended spanner with 10mm one end and 13mm the
other.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 05:05AM
I hear ya 'berto and the simplicity of the asian auto manufacturers fastener
choices is a real plus when workin on 'em. Mitsus use 8, 10, 12 & 14mm
headed fasteners with a very few 17s and then a 22mm for the crank bolt and a
32mm for the drive train retaining nuts which means only a very few tools will
be required to do everything.
Some of the best tools to come along for mechanics in YEARS are the new smaller
head version ratcheting wrenches (spanners), wobble drive socket extensions and
ball end allen wrenches (hex keys). These are definite musts for any serious
mech these days to round out their arsenal.
And a serious thanks is also due GE for pushin silicone sealers over the old
school nastiness of havin to use Permatex No. 1 and No. 2 we used to have to
use for this purpose. That nasty gooey concoction was a terrible excuse for a
sealant and tended to harden and crack out over the long term which silicone
never does and ... I can get it in caulk tubes which makes it even easier to
apply and store
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 06:50AM
Mazdas used to have cork gaskets on rockers & sumps... what were they
thinking?
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 18, 2011 08:14AM
Yep, cork gaskets have mostly gone the way of the dodo, and thankfully so!
Most have been replaced with either rubber, urethane or just applied silicone
anymore which is a big plus. I get a kick outta generic Mitsu gasket sets that
come with an oil pan gasket since even Mitsu never used a pan gasket!
I hear lots of people talk about the good ol days of cars as if they were
somehow better then than now which is total BS
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 18/08/2011 08:15AM by Mrkim.
pro_junior Report This Comment Date: August 19, 2011 05:45PM
my old '77 Pontiac Catalina overheated on the way home from working swing-shift
one summer night, pulled over and I could see I was leaking around the
thermostat housing, so I pulled out the thermostat, and sure enough it was
broken. tossed it in the trunk and put the housing back on, I made a gasket out
of an empty coors light box I found on the side of the Interstate...drove it
that way for a couple of weeks before I finally got around to installing a new
thermostat..
this reminds me of another time,
at band camp, I was driving a
'95 long nose pete in central california on a hot summer day, when I blew out
the top radiator hose..had a split about 4 inches long...was running with
another driver and we both pulled off onto the shoulder of an off ramp..we
wrapped some shop towels around the hose, then secured the rags with a dozen or
so heavy-duty zip ties, then wrapped all that up in some good 'ol duct-tape,
then another handful of zip ties...rolled another 150 miles no problems, to a
shop where I could get a replacement hose. I was tempted to run the patched hose
until it burst again, just to see how long it would go, but decided to go ahead
and put the new hose on while I had a decent place to work...
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 19, 2011 07:01PM
Yep, lotsa stuff will work in a bind and a bit of ingenuity is definitely
bettern bein stuck some where. I bet we could have quite an intersting forum
thread about lotsa similar roadside repairs as well as homeboy engineering fixes
'round the house
quasi Report This Comment Date: August 19, 2011 07:51PM
I worked for years at a wholesale business that sells waterwell pumps and
repair parts among many other things associated with producing and moving water.
Those pumps still typically use cork and paper gaskets. One of our best
customers who became a pretty good friend over the years is a die hard Ford fan.
One day he walked into the shop and asked for "one of those Starite (pump)
gaskets that looks like a Chevy rear end." Though I have no preference, of
course I had to say, "It takes a Ford guy to know what a Chevy rear end
looks like." He eventually forgave me for the statement.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: August 20, 2011 12:04AM
One of my bestest ol car buddies was a die hard Chevy guy and I was, at the
time, a die hard Ford guy, which led to lotsa ribbin & such.
One day he shows up in a T shirt sayin "I'd rather PUSH a Chevy than DRIVE
a Ford" and sportin a big shit eatin grin from ear to ear. I looked at him
said, "Yeah, and you probably will too!". Ol Robert was a good sport
about it and just calmly said "Fuuuuuck you ... you asshole"
woberto Report This Comment Date: August 20, 2011 10:15AM
On the back of a lot of Toyota Landcrusers, the tow point has a sticker reading
"attach Mitsubishi tow cable here"...
