A HOME MECHANIC'S
TOOL GUIDE
HAMMER: Originally
employed as a weapon of war, the hammer is used as a kind of divining rod to locate
expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.
ELECTRIC HAND DRILL:
Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but
it also works great for drilling mounting holes in fenders just above the brake line that
goes to the rear wheel.
PLIERS: Used to round off
bolt heads.
HACKSAW: One of a family
of cutting tools built on the chaos principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked,
unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal
your future becomes.
VISE-GRIPS: Used to round
off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense
welding heat to the palm of your hand.
OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used
almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire.
WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once
used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for
impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.
DRILL PRESS: A tall
upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so
that it smacks you in the chest and flings your drink across the room, splattering it
against that freshly painted part you were drying.
WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust
off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light.
Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes
you to say, "Ouch!"
HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used
for lowering a car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup,
trapping the jack handle firmly under the front fender.
EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4:
Used for levering the car upward off a hydraulic jack.
TWEEZERS: A tool for
removing wood splinters.
PHONE: Tool for calling
your neighbor to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.
TROUBLE LIGHT: The
mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of
vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at
night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about
the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours
of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your
shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads.
AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine
that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it
into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips
rusty bolts last tightened 60 years ago by someone in Springfield, and rounds them off.
PRY BAR: A tool used to
crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to
replace a 50 cent part.
HOSE CUTTER: A tool used
to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short.
|
