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Tool Nerds, Questions and Tool Snobbery

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
Damn 22% off sale on Ebay!
I don't trust the new apprentice so I got a torque limiting ratchet for sparkplugs-
1655639499856.png

Bought a used Stahlwille 1/4" socket set coz I can't afford a new one and it came with the ratchet I wanted not the normal kit one.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
By chance I just spotted 20 Dormer Shark HSS taps with Titanium Aluminum Nitride ranging from $3-$10 so I bought them all, I have no idea what sizes there are but they top out at M12.
Seems an M12 is ~70USD-

EDIT- The Koken sparkplug thing fuggin' sucks, used it on an aluminum head and it felt like it was going to strip the threads, it's so hard to click off. I would have sent it back but I threw the packaging out as Koken stuff has always been good in my experience.
DOUBLE EDIT- Popped the back cap of the sparkplug thing and backed the nut off so it clicks at 20Nm.
 
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Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,262
8,772
Crawlorado
K, wtf tool do I need to install this little grip ring? Never encountered one of these before.

Might be 4mm in diameter, but it's a strong little bugger that doesn't take kindly to being hammered on, nor can I get good enough grip with pliers.

13912.jpg
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,025
Sleazattle
K, wtf tool do I need to install this little grip ring? Never encountered one of these before.

Might be 4mm in diameter, but it's a strong little bugger that doesn't take kindly to being hammered on, nor can I get good enough grip with pliers.

View attachment 178353
That there looks like a snap ring that is going to fly across your garage never to be seen again. Perhaps something like a tapered awl or ice pick could help spread it apart if it doesn't need to land on a flange.
 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,262
8,772
Crawlorado
That there looks like a snap ring that is going to fly across your garage never to be seen again. Perhaps something like a tapered awl or ice pick could help spread it apart if it doesn't need to land on a flange.
Well of course it needs to butt up against a flange. :rofl:

The stub I need to get it on is maybe 1/4" long, so there's not a lot of room to work with.
 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,262
8,772
Crawlorado
What if you jam a flat screwdriver vertically
in the gap and turn it 90 degrees?
That was my next plan of attack, don't see why it wouldn't work.

At this point, I'm more curious to know what the right tool is, cause I have flat out no idea. Never seen a circlip of this type.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,560
AK
K, wtf tool do I need to install this little grip ring? Never encountered one of these before.

Might be 4mm in diameter, but it's a strong little bugger that doesn't take kindly to being hammered on, nor can I get good enough grip with pliers.

View attachment 178353
There's a little one of those on my manitou mcleod shock that goes over the damper piston bolt, except since I've taken it on and off a few times, it has broken. It's a shitty design. For that one, you had to "spread" it and clamp it back each time, there was no real way to pry it off otherwise...that of course wore it out and it failed after a few on/off cycles.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
That was my next plan of attack, don't see why it wouldn't work.

At this point, I'm more curious to know what the right tool is, cause I have flat out no idea. Never seen a circlip of this type.
Looks like there's no proper way of removing those little biatches:


And of course there's no proper method to install them either :rofl:

EDIT: Found this other tool in a separate thread:

Screenshot_20220628-070037~2.png


But yeah, they're essentially non-reusable.
 
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HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
Can you replace it with two circlips back to back?

I can't remember where I came across those little clips but I did the screwdriver thing, I also get to see a good number of the horseshoe clips that can be a pain in the bum if someone has gone crazy on the pliers.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
FWIW, I just recalled I came across one of these when servicing the axle of a hand mixer. I didn't have to mess with the removal part though, since moisture had found its way up the axle, past the little o-rings, and it was corroded to death. I just replaced it with a stainless steel e-clip.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
Bought some scrapers-
1656931989649.png

And tap holders that hopefully fit Australian taps.
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,384
Nowhere Man!
The BikeHand tools are cheap. Are not as good as Park Stuff for sure. But good enough to get the job done. I like their headset press. I have found it very useful in many other applications. Tools that I use frequently I buy the best I can. If not, I use what I call the harbor freight approach.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
I was using my light as a driving light last week on site, pretty sure I left it on the thing I was working on.
I was properly sad as it is the best work light I have used and now the purchase price has almost doubled, luckily there was a discontinued green one going at almost half off.
1657882767869.png

Schumacher SL137

Got some pin ejectors coz they had a special, so I got the ratchet thing for a dollar.
-2532330555454311952.jpg
 
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maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,140
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Crescent is giving these puppies away for free on their website, assumed I’d would likely never show up but I got it in 3 days. Let’s see if they actually make bits last longer… in 18 months when I have time to build something big enough to actually break a bit

Also got my ‘Murica edition Wera bottle opener
165AC1E4-4FE4-48FF-94C6-E385C89C28FA.jpeg
7FEB16FC-A057-4FB3-B69F-5698D7F2464F.jpeg
 

boostindoubles

Nacho Libre
Mar 16, 2004
7,839
6,145
Yakistan
I was using my light as a driving light last week on site, pretty sure I left it on the thing I was working on.
I was properly sad as it is the best work light I have used and now the purchase price has almost doubled, luckily there was a discontinued green one going at almost half off.
View attachment 179036
Schumacher SL137
I found a green one of those in the road about a year ago. It's badass! I use it all the time.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
I found a green one of those in the road about a year ago. It's badass! I use it all the time.
Yeah I love it, goes for 5 or so hours at max brightness and it doesn't strobe when you dim it.
I bought a smaller Energizer work light and the strobing when dimmed messes with your head, it has to be used at full brightness.

I'd always seen shallow sockets as a nice to have not a necessity, I was wrong and use them as my normal set now in the workshop.
Normally I'd use the battery ratchet on the nut side but now with the shallow sockets I do it the opposite way and use the spanner to do the final torquing on the nut.
They make starting bolts so much easier because you don't have to fuck around with putting a nut inside the socket to space it out, magic!
Shallow 3/8 on the left, 1/4" drive on the right.
IMG_20220724_160529.jpg
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,384
Nowhere Man!
K, wtf tool do I need to install this little grip ring? Never encountered one of these before.

Might be 4mm in diameter, but it's a strong little bugger that doesn't take kindly to being hammered on, nor can I get good enough grip with pliers.

View attachment 178353
Park MLP-1.2 $40 on Amazon. I have the Pedros version. It has a spring to assist and bigger notch thingy. I use a Dowle to assist in the spreading action.
 
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Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,262
8,772
Crawlorado
Park MLP-1.2 $40 on Amazon. I have the Pedros version. It has a spring to assist and bigger notch thingy. I use a Dowle to assist in the spreading action.
I actually own a pair of those and would happily try, except that stupid little ring rocketed off into the abyss on a failed installation attempt.

Instead I shall just thread the shaft and put on a nylock, as it should have been in the first place.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
That's a healthy wrench. I always assumed that when wrenches and/or fasteners got that big it was advantageous to switch to something fixed. But then again, 1 wrench > multiple large wrenches if you are mobile.

Meanwhile, I just added a 150mm to my collection and am still after the 100mm version.
Nah they seem better in regards to spreading compared to using smaller ones on smaller fasteners.
This will end up getting hit with 4lb hammers and larger and will probably be pushed by a floor jack at some point too.
Irega is supposed to be an okay brand, normally if it says made in Spain it will be made by Irega, they manufacture for loads of companies.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,456
Where does the battery go?

Do you find that the amount of thread locker varies massively in those nipples? My last lot were all over the place.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,700
Champery, Switzerland
Where does the battery go?

Do you find that the amount of thread locker varies massively in those nipples? My last lot were all over the place.
This one isn’t battery powered. I just welded the squorx tip on to an old style nipple driver.

There isn’t any thread locker on them I think. I put Spoke Freeze on them. I used to use blue loctite.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,560
AK
Honestly, my spokes don't "loosen" using softer compounds that don't "lock" the spoke. I'm not sure if that's it or there's something different about my builds now, but the spokes don't loosen. Every "locking" compound I've used has contributed to welding the spoke to the nipple, but even then I'd get ones that would somehow break loose and work their way looser and looser. Worst ever was loctite though.
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
542
350
That’s weird. Loctite is supposed to act as anti seize and prevent corrosion in threaded connections.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,560
AK
That’s weird. Loctite is supposed to act as anti seize and prevent corrosion in threaded connections.
It seems like the loctite takes a few steps up in terms of it's "locking" power when applied to spokes. Maybe it's our incredibly small interface as far as the nipple to the nipple tool and having to use that park tool. I remember doing this one or two times and having to cut out the spokes. The other thing is that you might need to true on the trail if you break a spoke for some other reason, so having the nipples "locked" that hard makes it impossible to do trail fixes too IME. Just no good reason IMO to lock them that much...but again, something seems to have changed in the last 10 years where they don't seem to loosen like they did back in the day.