 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Other Stuff : Good Tips
Page 1 of 2   |
|||||
| Author | Message | ||||
Downwind Guru  Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
GOOD TIPS, The thought here is to develop a thread on "Good Tips', anything you come across or do in the workshop or in life that makes thing easy, not restricted to any actual purpose like windmills and solar etc that are already well covered, just the little things you do that work well. Example #1:- Today i needed to squeeze some polyester resin into a small gap on several items, the sort of job a syringe would be good for, well we all know resin and syringes dont last long together and its a matter of having one, so a ziplock plastic bag and a silicon tube nozzle was used. Press the nozzle through the bottom of the bag, fold the bag around the nozzle and use a tight fitting rubber band or O-ring around the bag and nozzle to seal it off. The seal can be tested by zipping the bag up and blowing into the nozzle. Then its just a matter of pouring the resin in and zipping the bag up. This could be used for any thing from paint, glue, light grease, gap filler, etc, all those jobs you need a disposable cheap method of application of a gooey product. Example #2:- After welding we often need to paint our welds, for example doing a weld on some galv tube, we have a few spots that need a coat of paint for protection, Its a pain in the butt to have to get a paint brush dirty for such a small job, spray paint is fine, but we dont always have a can handy, besides it costs 10 times the price for a small amount of paint. For a tin of paint application, i use a spring (compression) about 4" long and 1/2" dia. and a bit of foam sponge rubber screwed in the end of it, like the foam sponge rubber use in a mattress or a kitchen sponge, a block sponge will last for ages, as only a small pinch is needed. Its best to dab the paint on in a stipple action, rather then using a brush action. After use leave the paint go hard in the sponge and then it can be removed from the spring and the sponge replaced for next time. It costs nothing and no brush to clean after. (saving the environment from chemicals) Its worked for me for over 10 years. Example #3:- Washing the car, its a pain to brush the detergent over the body and not have it dry off on one side before you get around the whole car. A soft house broom (like you sweep the floor with) and a tub with some car wash in it, and you will broom over the whole car in a matter of minutes, after a hose off its easy to see the detail bits you missed. Ok you get the idea. What seems simple to you might be a good tip to someone else, tell us about it. Should this topic develop into a informative thread and Glenn would like to make it a splinter subject, i suggest you list each "Good Tip" as a new post and not combined them as i have just done, the reason is it makes it a hell of a lot easier later to edit "good tips" into a new section or use it on the main page. Im sure you all have a few to add........... what are they Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Barry T Coles Senior Member  Joined: 30/07/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 109 |
Good idea Pete. There are a lot of little tricks we pick up over the years through experience & or frustration. One little trick I have been using for years now is how to get a cable through conduit if you have forgotten to put the pull through in as you go or to be able to pull another cable through a conduit that already has a cable running through. Equipment needed: Builders string, a cotton ball or a wad of cotton depending on the conduit size, and the vacuum when the misses isn’t looking. Unwind enough string to be able to go through the full length of thee conduit plus a bit; tie the cotton ball to the loose end of the string and poke it in the end of the conduit, go the other end of the conduit and suck the cotton ball and string through with the vacuum and you have a pull through in an instant. This works great for pulling controll wires through 12mm black poly pipe for garden retic. Cheers Barry I need to learn from the mistakes of others. I dont have the time to make them all myself. |
||||
Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Yeah I agree, good idea Pete Couple more tips with conduit, speaking from experience the last couple of days. #1 Just because you can easily fit the wires down a 25mm piece of conduit in the store, you must still buy the next size up, 32mm or bigger. Once you start pulling the wires through the smaller size, you will realise your mistake. #2 Buy 20% more wire/conduit than you measured. At lease 20%. #3 A little talcum(baby) powder helps. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
To keep ants out. If you have ants invading your house, a easy way to stop them is go around outside the house and spray along the foundations or footings with surface spray (the bug spray stuff in a pressure pac can, not fly spray), it dont take much and the ants will not cross it for 6 months or more, infact they seem to give up and move on by 6 months. Door steps and window seals and brick vents in the invasion area is often their favorite entry point so ensure you spray the area under them. Pete. I should add there is masive brownie points to be gained from doing this, from the "cookie cutter" and its a job that can be done with a beer in one hand and the spray in the other. (just dont get your hands confused) Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Nice thread. Have a favourite one: Use soap, wax, grease, oil or just rub wood screw through hair (if you have any :) ) to make screw drive easier into wood. Recently used hex key on security bolt with triangle hole in the head. Saved me getting proper tool, or somehow trying to slice screw's head to be able to use ordinary screw driver. Soaking rusty stubborn bolt with Coke is quite good to undo it, often better than kerosene. Sometimes just “gentle” blow with hammer can do the trick. As to trying to get something to pull wire into conduit, some thin wire out of sewage pipe unblocking arsenal can help. George |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Brush Clean. Should you use a paint brush for some fiber glassing to apply the resin, then afterwards you need to wash the brush, use Acetone to remove the resin (or gel coat) from the brush. Heres the TIP. After the Acetone, wash the brush with water and a cake of soap (dont use detergent its not the same) soap like you use in the bathroom, rub the brush on the soap to form a lather and work it through the bristles, then rinse the brush in water, repeat the process 2-3 times. I have the same brush used for 100s of fiber glass jobs and its still as soft as a baby's bum. Also works well when you wash a brush after painting. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
mac46 Guru Joined: 07/02/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 412 |
Tips...ok you asked for it, Most of the stuff folks worry about , ain't never gonna happen anyway. The biggest troublemaker you'r probably gonig to have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every morning. Don't interfere with something that ain't bothering you none. Letting the cat out of the bag is a hole lot easier than putting it back in. Keep shunks and bankers at a distance. A bumble bee is considerably faster than a JD tractor in road gear. BTDT Mac46 I'm just a farmer |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
No much of a tip, more of a known fact. Whats the old saying.....something about leaving sleeping dogs lie. I would rather see more informative tips here than the thread corrupted by known facts. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Desoldering tip. When you need to desolder a component from a PCB and it has plated through holes, its hard to remove the solder from the hole before the component can be replaced. TIP. Use a trimmed down WOOD toothpick, heat the solder and poke the toothpick through the hole and push the solder out, the solder wont stick to the toothpick and its easy to remove. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Interesting Pete but I'm not sure the pick would work to get the original busted component out  . I gather its used after you somehow extracted the offending part, to clear the hole, yes?
What I do is this: to get component out first use solder sucker to remove solder, followed by solder wick - all done carefully to avoid damaging the pad or track. If the component lead is bent over now is the time to straighten it carefully, bent long nose pliers or small screwdriver (jewellers's) works for me. Once leads are straight heat their ends with soldering iron tip, one at a time, and push into hole while pulling on component lead with tweezers from the other side. This only works for two leg components, any more and a special solder tip is required to heat all at once. When the component is out there is some solder left in the plated thru hole that prevents inserting a replacement. The best way to get this out for me is, strangely, refill the hole completely with solder first. Then heat this solder and deftly use the solder sucker to clear it all in one go. Solder wick works too but not as well as the 'sucking' effect. Klaus |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Klas, i thought it would have been a given that the component was removed before trying to clean the hole out. One day you will get a hole the solder sucker wont work on (trust me it will happen)and holes attached to a ground plane is often a good example of this. For what its worth (another tip here) i use an old compressor gutted from a fridge for my solder sucker, much easier squeezing a trigger for a power suction then dicky spring loaded suckers. Most desoldering jobs are then 0nly a matter of seconds then, so the compressor run time is next to nothing. Same compressor is also used for Vacuumn Bagging when i am doing fiber glass work. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| grub Senior Member Joined: 27/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 169 |
One for spraying with those cheap plastic spray bottles. It used to irritate me to no end that there was always some spray left in the bottom of the bottle because you have to spray down (on weeds) and the feed tube no longer reached the fluid. Remove the top, remove the tube, replace the top and start spraying while holding the spray bottle upside down. Get all the fluid used up. _______ l*****l l*****l l*****l .l***l..l ..l_l__l__ ..l______l> |
||||
muddy0409 Senior Member Joined: 15/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 125 |
Nothing new to add... My signature says it all!! Don't poo poo conspiracy theories. Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory. |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
[quote]There are only 2 tools you really need: WD40 and Duct tape. If it doesn't move, but should; use WD40. If it does move, but shouldn't; use Duct tape. [/quote] You forgot .... if it hisses or squeeks than kill it. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
[quote]One for spraying with those cheap plastic spray bottles.[/quote] Grub, you reminded me of another tip. When using one of those cheap garden sprayers with the air pump in the lid to pressure the spray bottle with air. Often the air pump dont work or its a real effort to get enough pressure into the bottle. What i do is drill a 1/2" hole in the bottle up near the top and pull a car "tubeless tire valve" into the hole, then charge the spray bottle off the compressor, works well. I picked up several spray bottles in council rubbish with faulty pumps and now have a garden sprayer for each purpose, weeds, bug spray, car wash, etc. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Barry T Coles Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 109 |
Damn! and here's me thinking I was the only smarty pants to think of that one. The first one I modified must be at least fifteen years old now & in our world of the throw away that's not bad economy. Cheers Barry I need to learn from the mistakes of others. I dont have the time to make them all myself. |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
[quote] The first one I modified must be at least fifteen years old now [/quote] You were a bit slow, as i think i bet you by 6 months 
The first one i done was a nice stainless steel sprayer with a busted pump someone threw out, it was too well made to not be repaired, but being lazy i fitted the valve and not repaired the pump, it still works today. See Barry you should have told us here about your "Good tip" then it would have been your idea, i know you would have, or could have, or even should have, but had not have. Good minds think alike
Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
When your Philips screwdriver tips for a cordless drill looses its magnetic strength and no longer holds onto the screws (they become next to useless) use an old coil off a DC solenoid, power the coil from a battery or DC power supply and insert the driver tip into the coil, leave it a minute or so and the magnetic charge should be restored. I have one made up with a timer on it and it lives in the work van, it tends to get more use by every other tradie on site than myself, but still a handy gadget to have, and word travels fast on site to the point most coffee breaks some wants to recharge their driver tips. I keep getting told "You should sell them" my reply...... make you own! Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
If you bruise(compress) a small area of softwood and are left with task of sanding down the rest of the area to get a smooth level surface, try wetting the bruise with water. Works quickly with balsa, more slowly with pine. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
||||
| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Norcold, To add to your good tip. (learnt these in woodwork at high school all those years ago) Place a damp cloth over the dent and iron it with a hot clothes iron, the steam from the wet rag will suck the dent out quickly. Another way is to pour a little Metho on the dented area and light the Metho, the burning metho will pull the dent out and it will not burn the wood, as the flame is on the surface of the metho not the wood, once the metho has burn away the flame will go out. Sometimes it will need a few repeats to remove deep dents. The metho method is best used if you want to coat the wood with paint or vanish after, as it leaves no moisture/water in the wood, otherwise you need to allow the wood to dry out before coating. Both methods will work with soft and hardwoods. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
||||
| Page 1 of 2 |
|||||
 Print this page |
