ShopTalk Sunday: Prenukuall Hand Tools, Detection Tech

A wee bit of focus now on “last minute checklists” before the world, um….well, we hope not….

While we have been buying the usual (solar panels, reach out of touch someone rounds, and a bit of chow…) our thinking this week somehow got over into the hand tools for use if (or when) the grid is attacked.

At times of exceptional risk – now through the end of the year? – we are on “firehouse readiness” levels.  Which means batteries even on the drills and battery circ saws are all fully charged.  There’s alway a hot battery for the 60-volt chainsaw, and trips to town this coming week will top up a few other supplies.

To mentally transition to uncertain future, I went through the hand tool inventory this week because of a few projects ongoing.

Proper Screwing

A last-minute addition to the (tube type) ham radio gear – an electronic Morse code keyer after the classic W9TO design that Hallicrafters turned into “The T.O. Keyer” – showed up.  But it needs some attention to detail.

After the ultra tough black satin paint dried (blazing Sun helps)it was time to put the screws back in. which, of course, never line up.  So, a trick is to use a soft-jawed squeeze clamp to hold things in place while the low (and in this case, inept) human can get all the screws started…

This was one of those occasions where having just the right clamp paid off.  Straight pressure, one way or the other, wouldn’t do the trick.  But this worked perfectly.

Don’t worry if you don’t (yet) have a collection of 8 (or more) squeeze clamps.  If you have a “young helper” this is a dandy time to teach them about the importance of proper alignment during assembly.  “Hold that still, now, son…”

Prepping for 1890

I don’t like talking about the End of the World.  Except when it comes to tools.  Because when it gets here (for real) it will mean the sunset of the Golden Age of Power.  You’ll need hand-powered everything.

In the shop, I did the “drilling and screwing” by hand inventory this week.  Here’s the gaps that were filled:

What was called “and eggbeater drill” when I was being the shop helper is now about $15 bucks at Amazon.  Though as you go up in price, the quality of the drill chuck will improve (generally).  The one that came on this drill was not suitable for anything less than about a 1/16th, but after that it was OK.

There’s actually a use-case for such a drill, even if you have power and a charged-up battery drill/driver.  Take in the shop where I need to put some shelf brackets up:  Hold the bracket screw hole on the “eggbeater drill” and when it’s where you like it, hold the bit firmly in place and 3-turns (assuming soft wood or sharp drill (they are never sighted near one another) and in go the screws with the power tool.

This will also give you an excuse to refill the inventory on standard shank drills.  Which (who uses them anymore?) have been mostly replaced with impact-driver-friendly shanked bits.

Bigger is Better

The next size up in hand tools for drilling might be a “brace and bits.”  The Brace is an old-school carpentry tool and looks like this.  Leaving a $20-25 hole in your credit card.

I should explain that the picture (right) also shows a colored assortment of Torx bits for the impact drivers.  It will be used as one more “repair-oriented” tool because there will be plenty of things needing repair when the world blows up.

It is very easy to spend upwards of $100 onb a good brace, if you are young, maybe a $50 unight (or higher quality) could be argued because again, the chuck on these cheapies aren’t good for anything small.  But, all according to age and outlook, right?

Next thing you will need will be a modest assortment of bits.

This $20 class of bits is being left in the shipping plastics because it reduces the summertime rust everything in sight trends in Texas.

Again, you can spend more, but remember that unless you have laid in a good supply of fasteners (screws, say…) about the most common use for this kind of drill is to dowel-fasten projects.  If you have a gallon of TiteBondIII on hand, even you and I can get things into working condition if made of wood.

Oh – long as we are on Hot humid Texas summers:  Run out to your shop and (after making sure your compressor doesn’t have any pressure in it, open the little valve on the bottom of the air tank.

I learned long ago (everything is when you’re 76…) that it’s easy to have a full quart of humidity driven condensation in the tank.  And it comes out roughly the same color as the stuff into the toilet after too much red wine the previous evening.

“Huh?”

Oh – don’t mind me – just drain the tank outside where you can get a hose after it and get rid of the muck-n-yuck, got it?

One more tool to consider – as there was one of these carving sets on sale – I think this one came in at like $25 on sale.

First time I ever really got an appreciation for the fine art of wood carving, was in Cusco, Peru.

We’d flown in, back in my airline days, jump seats on a 737-100.  Cusco is a one-way airport.  Once you commit, you are going to land because the air is so thin there’s not a practical “go around” for the low performance 737-100s… at least there wasn’t at the time mid 1980s.

Well, anyway there’s this one landmark church in the middle of Cusco and if you ever go, make sure to inspect the chairs.  Incredibly intyricate hand carving on all of them and it tells a story.

Second place I saw really good relief carving was aboard a friend’s Tayana 37 sail boat.  For some reason, their Asian yards do incredible teak reliefs on many of the Taiwan small boat yard products.

Last Chance to Fill Gaps?

We won’t direct you to the live coverage news stations this evening, but…

In the meantime, let’s all refresh on shop basics.

• There are only Four Shop Operations
  1. Measure and mark
  2. Cut
  3. Join
  4. Finish
• For each of these operations, you need:
  1. Power tools
  2. Hand tools
• And you need these for every type of material you could be working on.
  1. Wood
  2. Plastics
  3. Metals
  4. Masonry
• And in 3 sizes:
  1. Small
  2. Medium
  3. and Large

Where you will run into trouble with certain shop operations unless you plan far, far ahead.  For example, Measure and Cut metal might be done with a hacksaw, but my, ain’t a Sawz-All better?  And for joining?  Hand drill and bolts through 1/4″ plate?  No, this is why we keep an oxyacetylene rig around even though it’s a PITA.

More Organized & Motivated ShopThink

I have a hard time getting started on boring projects  (like clearing the workbench…) So I put it to the A.I. stack “Gimme some easy to remember tricks to keep me in Ultra Work Mode when the sweat’s pouring off…”

Since this may be a little too distilled for you, try this:

Plugolla

We did our annual insurance on the old place in the sticks this week.  And come to find out, our insurance agent’s hubby is into metal detecting!!!  So here’s a shout out to Chris Roger’s work.  And yep, he’s working with one of the manufactures on new technology which here in red dirt country can be a real software artform.

 

The kind of soil in East Texas is a tough nut for detectors because there’s a lot of iron in the soil.

Anyone hoping for success metal detecting will need the right mix of electronics and source material if you’re doing anything more saerious than sniping playgrounds and beaches.  A perfect mission for A.I.!

“Since you’re in Palestine, Texas (75803), there are a few intriguing treasure legends worth exploring with a metal detector, though they remain unconfirmed. One notable story involves a letter found in 1897 by W. S. Glenn, describing a cache of twelve jack loads of silver and thirty mule loads of Spanish gold buried in 1813 near a clear-running stream with a waterfall and high ridge east of the Neches River—possibly on his grandfather’s farm east of Palestine, where an old mill pond still stands. Another possibility is the broader East Texas lore of outlaw caches, like those potentially hidden by figures such as Sam Bass, who roamed the region, though specific sites near Palestine lack solid evidence. Always seek landowner permission and check local regulations before detecting, as these tales are speculative and require careful research to pinpoint.”

But in terms of really going deep (which human eyes can do on the LOC.gov site in old newspapers, for example) we are still waiting for A.I. to get better:

“Since no specific articles are identifiable from the digitized collections based on the current data, no list can be provided. For a comprehensive search, I recommend visiting the Chronicling America site (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) or the Portal to Texas History (texashistory.unt.edu) and using keywords like “East Texas treasure” or “Palestine treasure” to explore unindexed content, or contacting the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (ref@tsl.texas.gov) for assistance with physical archives. Always verify permissions and local laws before pursuing any treasure-hunting…”

Wait!  Did someone just say “That’s what God made nightvision for!”???”  What am I going to do with you? But, since you’re at it, got a ground-penetrating radar we could get airborne?

(I won’t mention the Polish Seer (Jackowski) has “flash bombs” coming by Wed night?  A likely [our thoughts] embodiment of the idea of sequentially detonating conventional explosives where timing is used for  both amplification and steering of over pressure areas?New kind of bombs emitting flashes of light…)

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net