Little known handy tools

[Firstime RVer]

I used to tell people "give me some steel and I'll make you something nice, give me some wood and I'll make you a nice fire"

Seriously though I can manage to do OK with wood as long as I take my time and measure twice, keep checking for square etc. All the great construction screws and nailers available today make it a lot easier to keep things plumb and square.

I've made furniture out of wood and steel, and I made a custom cup holder and some different tables for the motorhome. (The one that came with it was heavy MDF and there was no place to stash it) But I'll never be able to make a presentable cabinet.



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Nice job on the table but I really like the clamps that hold those darn table leg tubes !!!
Wish I had a couple of them in our TT when we bought it..

Safe travels and all the best.

 

[Rene T]

It looks like an STC release tool. (That was my guess but after cheating I see I am wrong, although it still may work for that?)

Help us out. What is a STC

 

[bigbAZ]

Nice job on the table but I really like the clamps that hold those darn table leg tubes !!!
Wish I had a couple of them in our TT when we bought it..

Safe travels and all the best.

Found them at West Marine.

 

[bigbAZ]

Help us out. What is a STC

"Snap To Connect" fittings used in high pressure hydraulic applications and on HEUI diesel engines like some Cat and certain Navistars (early Ford Powerstrokes). (HEUI is where there is a high pressure oil pump that uses the engine lube oil to open the injectors)

 

[jymbee]

... but after cheating I see I am wrong...

I had no idea what it was before cheating, and still no idea what it was after cheating.

 

[bigbAZ]

I bought one of these hose removal tools a while back and I tried it out yesterday. I still maintain that the best tool for easy hose removal is a heat gun to soften the hose. Even using the tool I couldn't get the hose off but a gentle heating with the heat gun and it came off very easily. The hose was on a dishwasher and the nipple was plastic so I didn't want to use a lot of force and break something.

On the other hand, the constant tension hose clamp tool in the next picture is fantastic. I bought that one last year and can't believe I fought with those clamps for years without the proper tool.

 

[gwinger]

Yes, woodworking. It centers the dowel on both boards and you can make custom tabletops and things like that. Nothing fancy like cabinets.

Dowel jig would not have threaded holes. But maybe there were threaded inserts for the smaller sizes.
I have two different ones and neither have threads. One is actually adjustable to offset the holes.

 

[No cats]

But maybe there were threaded inserts for the smaller sizes

That's correct, I have several threaded inserts.

 

[bigbAZ]

I made this to help locate an intermittent short circuit in my Jeep's reverse lights. I bought the plug in fuse extender and added the 12 volt lamp so I could plug it into the fuse slot behind the glove box for the reverse lights and still see the lamp while driving.

When the short is not present and I am in reverse the lamp will glow dimly. When the short is present and I shift to reverse the lamp glows brightly. The fuse will not melt due to the resistance of the lamp in series with the load and the short. With the test lamp connected and the reverse circuit energized wires can be jiggled or disconnected to pinpoint the location of the short. In my case it turned out to be in the reverse light switch on the side of the transmission.

 

[gwinger]

I made this to help locate an intermittent short circuit in my Jeep's reverse lights. I bought the plug in fuse extender and added the 12 volt lamp so I could plug it into the fuse slot behind the glove box for the reverse lights and still see the lamp while driving.

When the short is not present and I am in reverse the lamp will glow dimly. When the short is present and I shift to reverse the lamp glows brightly. The fuse will not melt due to the resistance of the lamp in series with the load and the short. With the test lamp connected and the reverse circuit energized wires can be jiggled or disconnected to pinpoint the location of the short. In my case it turned out to be in the reverse light switch on the side of the transmission.

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That's an old timers trick to trace a short and keep the fuse from blowing.
Once it gets dark and you can't see what you are doing, problem solved.

 

[bigbAZ]

That's an old timers trick to trace a short and keep the fuse from blowing.
Once it gets dark and you can't see what you are doing, problem solved.

Sure is, and one I used to use during my career with a pigtail lamp holder in series with the circuit breaker. In the old days they just screwed the lamp into the edison base fuse holder but not too many of those around anymore.

 

[John From Detroit]

I made this to help locate an intermittent short circuit in my Jeep's reverse lights.

Ono my motor home I had one circuit that lost power.. Rather than worry I powered it via a license plate lamp (much smaller than that one) the lamp never even glowed dimly (Very low power circuit)

I was worried the original power feed might return and had it happend the lamp might light as well indicating original circuit working... And if there was a short. the lamp would light as well. protecting everything by limiting current. Very good tool.. The test light is amazing .