Conference quark::mennotes

    (P.S. ... it's "vise grips" and "baling wire" ... unless the
    subjects are Heidi Fleiss and sometime to tie to the bucket you're
    using to save your sinking boat...)

    
    The scary part is that I own every one of these, and have used them
    in almost the exact circumstance mentioned.  They left out two big
    ones though.

    1. Adjustable (crescent) wrench. Metric or standard, it doesn't 
       care.  They can be used on anything from an alternator to the
       two inch nuts on a tool bar. 

    2. Pliers.  Give an ol' farm boy a pair of pliers and enough bailing
       wire and he can fix d**n near anything ;^).

    fred();

        Oh, and another one:

    3) Black plastic electrical tape:  Will do anything duct tape and
       plastic zip ties will, and some applications of baling wire.
       Also makes a good heavy duty medical tape for the times you lose
       a patch of skin to a slipping wrench or forget that hot metal
       looks like cold metal.

    fred();

    
    Shortly after one of my uncles got married, his wife decided that she
    would spend more time with him by "helping" in the shop.  Well,
    apparently her "questions" and "suggestions" wore thin pretty fast.
    So he sent her 15 miles into town to buy a left-handed screw driver.
    She came back about an hour later ready to take the left-handed
    ball-peen hammer to his head.

    fred();

    I'm a duct-tape man, through and through. If it can't be fixed with
    duct tape, why save it?
    
    Alpha chips have been repaired by duct tape I hear.
    
    jeff

    Ten pound sledge hammars and chain saws are my favorite toys.:) I have
    a ten pound sledge in the bottom of my truck for those hard to park
    areas. Like when someone box's me in. And I cannot get my front bumper
    out past theirs, cause they parked sooooo close.:) And if it is too big
    of a job, I use the chain saw to cut off the bumper, or the corner of
    the impolie parked car.:)
    
    

    
    Some other stuff that I have found to be invaluable is some epoxy
    called "JB Weld".  If this stuff won't stick it together, then
    throw it away.  Just the other day I had to glue the corner of my
    car back on after some *&^% had chain-sawed it off ;^).

    fred():

    A couple more things that i've found useful:
    
             Wire hanger
             Toothpicks make good shims in a pinch

    re .8

    Toothpicks or wooden match sticks make good fix-its for stripped out
    wood screws.  Squirt in a little glue, insert toothpick, break it
    off even with the top of the hole, then insert screw.  Make sure
    everything stays in place until the glue dries.

    Paper-clips are another thing with 1001 uses.
    
    fred();

    What,
    
    Nobody around here uses bungie cords?  Work better than coathangers and
    bailing wire for a lot of the same applications, and it is a
    non-conductive material which can be important at times, as well.
    
    Nonstick cooking spray works as well as other spray lubricants in a
    pinch.
    
    meg

    I like bungie cord! If yha own a pickup truck, there is enough cord to
    drop your truck from a bridge and bounce back always tucked under the
    front seat!:) Also pack fishing line. Have found some wild uses for
    Spider Web.... sides fishing!:) 30 pounds of test on 2 pounds of line!!
    Just doesnt get any better than this!!:)
    

    Speaking of kitchen items:
    
    Oven cleaner.  Makes an excellent parts-cleaner.  I'd recommend using
    rubber gloves to handle the stuff, though, and don't wash it off on
    the lawn.  Some guy on tv the other night said it works good to take
    graffiti off of brick/masonry too.  It would probably take _all_ the
    paint off of a painted  surface.  Haven't tried using it for paint
    stripper, though.
    
    fred();

    And how could I forget:

    Table knife:  Letter opener, screw driver, lightweight pry-bar, (if
    held by the blade) a lightweight bonking stick (see .0).  Can even
    be used to spread butter, jelly, or mayonnaise.  About the only thing
    it won't do is cut anything more substantial than warm butter.

    fred();

    I still have my "Shell (gas) Steak Knife" from the '60's in my tool
    kit. Great for cutting hoses etc.
    
    How about sheet rock screws and a cordless screw gun? How did the world
    survive with our SR screws...?
    
    Bungies, you ask? We have a $ 1, 2, 3 store in my town. Every time I go
    there I buy a package of bungies (up to 4 - 12" for a buck).
    
    But my flavorate tool have to be firewrench (actelene-oxygen cutting
    torch)
    
    Steve

    GAS steak knife? Does this thing have an internal combustion engine in
    it???!!! I *like* it.
    
    jeff
    
    PS. Super glue too.

    in my opinion the world's most versatile and important 
    handtool is a pair of 9" Klein Lineman's pliers.

The tool I use the most is the shovel.  I use it to dig holes in the yard for
the new plants.

Most usefull tools are
   screwdriver
   duct-tape

I just had a thought, I could have used duct-tape to fix the plumbing leak
instead of the goup.

Andrew

    My snow blower... When it works...:) 

    
    I never thought of a snow blower as a "tool".  I think of it as
    equipment  :*)
    
    My favorite:  a Hammer.  I love hanging pitchers, and I just came off a
    summer of re-siding my house with red wood ceder - that hammer and me
    became best friends.
    
    

    Guess it depends on where you live. For me, as a landlord,
    quipment/tool, it becomes a blur.:)
    
    

    <--- regarding the duct tape..
    
    I once lived in a house (for 7 long years) where I patched many bare
    spots, and edges of the kitchen linoleum with duct tape...
    
    I even washed and waxed it, too... 

    Sheetrock screws, how did we live w/o them...?
    
    My 12v DeWalt cordless drill/screwdriver
    
    Compressed air

    > Sheetrock screws, how did we live w/o them...?
    
    Great stuff, but be careful... sheetrock screws are NOT designed to 
    withstand great loads.  Do NOT use them to hold up anything that's
    going to hold any significant amount of weight!
    
    > My 12v DeWalt cordless drill/screwdriver
    
    I got me one of those too... it's quickly become my favorite as well!
    
    Then, of course, there's the ever present Vise-Grips[tm]
    
    --jim
    

    RE Vicegrips:
    
    I bought some cheap Chinese welding vice clamps (like vice grips) as I
    needed about 6 at a time some times. The other day, one opened and took
    a chunk of a palm side finger joint between the lower handle and the
    lower jaw. I am not sure if the Vice Grip version will do that, not
    that I want to find out. I think that those Chinese clamps will get a
    piece welded to them to act as a guard...
    
    And let us not forget about ether (sp)...
    
    Steve

    I'm not sure I want to speculate about what "vice" [sic] grips or
    clamps might be...