AI6YR BenAha! Found the perfect replacement adjustment arm for this bicycle trainer! #BikeTooter #repair #kludge
Darth Osler@ai6yr looks perfect!
Andrew HenryMother-in-law has a bunch of vise-grips she is trying to give away.
You make me think I can’t have too many vise-grips.
M.S. Bellows, Jr.
Joyce Bell 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽🇬🇱🚫🧊
Red Ball Jet of Umbrage@msbellows @ai6yr @AndrewHenry When I was a callow young proto-crone, a wise man once told me that vise-grips are the first step on the way to independence and self-actualization. That advice shaped my entire adult life.
Kee Hinckley@iBlame @NilaJones @msbellows @ai6yr @AndrewHenry When my father bought a secondhand International Scout, he found a pair of vice grips clamped to the frame. Into the glovebox they went.
When the clutch cable anchor rusted through a few years later, so that stepping on the clutch moved the sheathing, not the cable, those vice grips got him home.
Lockpick Extreme@iBlame @msbellows @ai6yr @AndrewHenry When my kids were little I taught them how to bend a penny in half with a pair of vice grips. They were thrilled to have superhuman strength via the power of leverage.
#vicegrips #leverage
#vicegrips #leverage
@LockEx @[email protected] @ai6yr @AndrewHenry When I was still volunteering in Mountain Rescue, a daughter's first grade teacher asked if I could come do a presentation to her classroom. I walked in the door in full winter regalia: mountaineering overalls, big insulated boots, puffy jacket, lobster mittens, goggles, face mask, climbing helmet, wearing my rescue pack and carrying an ice ax. Not even my kid recognized me. Instant attention.
I talked a little about mountain rescue, gave them some age- appropriate tips for not getting lost and wilderness survival, and then explained that school is really important for mountain rescuers because we use math all the time, and to demonstrate I built a 3:1 rope system and initiated a tug of war between the girls and the boys.
Much weakening of masculine self-certainty occurred.
Then I had the biggest boy and the smallest girl do a tug of war.
Yeah, that was a fun day.
(I did explain how a 3:1 worked and that one side had a huge advantage, but it didn't seem to sink in as much as the "boys aren't necessarily stronger than girls!" part, which of course was the most important lesson.)
@ai6yr @LockEx @AndrewHenry (The smallest girl only stalemated with the largest boy even with a 3:1, which I think was actually a better lesson than her winning. Huzzah for equality!)
Sarah E Bourne@msbellows @AndrewHenry @ai6yr The accelerator cale snapped on our VW Fastback. We were able to coast downhill to a typical Maine gas station/store, where we got some picture wire. The vice grips (already in one of the trunks) served to hold one end of the wire and to use as a gas pedal. Worked well enough to drive another 3 hours to Boston. I'll always have a place in my heart for vice grips.
@sbourne @msbellows @AndrewHenry I guess I need to add vise grips to my box-of-automotive-tools-in-the-trunk, lol.
Jeff@sbourne @msbellows @AndrewHenry @ai6yr
If it's being used in your heart, wouldn't it be a locking hemostat? 🤪
If it's being used in your heart, wouldn't it be a locking hemostat? 🤪
Gary @N8DMT@ai6yr Hemostats are the electronic nerd’s equivalent to the mechanical nerd’s vice-grips. Hemo’s are great third hands for soldering stuff - especially if they are the curved tips version.
@n8dmt Particularly important I learned for soldering diodes, which tend to be heat sensitive.
glasspshr
AG7GM Dan@n8dmt @ahttps://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaGxpaTF0OTBjcXQwMDJuNXUyMzJtYnJ1Ymhmb2F1YjZuNTNkNTRvaCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/TSlfgM3dU0VuU/[email protected]
Nazo
CavyherdA small pair of vice-grips was among the tool set my dad gave me when I graduated high school. I still have nearly all of those tools. (I think one screwdriver may have gone walkies.)
My hemostats I picked up more recently. I have two pair in different sizes. (The thing I need that don't have is some sort of non-locking hemostat kind of thing.) Like, needlenose pliers, but with loop handles.
My hardware store also finally stocked dental picks.
Paul Horn@sbourne @msbellows @AndrewHenry @ai6yr Reminds me of the day the same cable snapped in dad’s ’75 Audi Fox.
He pulled the interior trim panel off the front door, pulled out the speaker wire, tied it to the accelerator doohickey and threaded it up through the hood vent.
Drove the stick shift car home with his left hand out the driver’s side window using the wire as a throttle.
#MacGyver before the TV show existed.
Oh, and my inherited tool chest came stocked with a great many vice grips of varying sizes and types. Needle Nose vice grips are a real thing.
Larry Anderson 🕊️@nrohluap @ai6yr @sbourne @msbellows @AndrewHenry And that makes me think of the time I was with a buddy of mine in his 1978 Honda Civic and the accelerator cable snapped. He got out, opened the hood, set the idle screw to about 4000 rpm, and we idled all the way back to his house, rowing through the gears.
@larand @nrohluap @ai6yr @sbourne @AndrewHenry Brilliant solution. I miss manual transmissions sometimes.
@msbellows @larand @ai6yr @sbourne @AndrewHenry If you’re not using the left hand to manage the throttle and the right hand to shift the transmission, maybe.
And he used to give me grief for steering with my knee … yet another useful skill!
Roger Moore@AndrewHenry @ai6yr
Vise-grips are like duct tape: seductive but usually wrong. They can solve some immediate problems, but at the cost of long-term problems. That's fine if you're going to throw away the stuff you used them on when you're done, but you'll curse them later if you aren't.
Vise-grips are like duct tape: seductive but usually wrong. They can solve some immediate problems, but at the cost of long-term problems. That's fine if you're going to throw away the stuff you used them on when you're done, but you'll curse them later if you aren't.
@VATVSLPR @AndrewHenry So, how to fix this problem without vise grips 🤔
@ai6yr @AndrewHenry
You mean other than getting (or making) the actual right part? This may be one of the things vice-grips are good for: extending the life of something that would otherwise be useless. You don't care if you damage it, because the only other alternative is throwing it away.
The other thing they're good for is removing something like a rounded nut. You know you're going to throw it away once you get it off, so you don't really care if you damage it in the process. The key point is that vice-grips are most useful when the thing you're using them on is pretty much scrap anyway.
@VATVSLPR @AndrewHenry LOL looks like it's just a (missing) handle on the end of a bolt. i.e. essentially a fixed/permanent wrench.
@ai6yr @AndrewHenry
Yeah, or you could get a bolt the same size (probably with a washer) and use a standard wrench on it. That looks like it was originally a standard bolt that had a cap with a crank arm attached. It looks like the original bolt head is still there, so you might be able to use that if you can remove the added widget on the end.
Yeah, or you could get a bolt the same size (probably with a washer) and use a standard wrench on it. That looks like it was originally a standard bolt that had a cap with a crank arm attached. It looks like the original bolt head is still there, so you might be able to use that if you can remove the added widget on the end.
@VATVSLPR @AndrewHenry tried to add an arm, but needs to be attached to the bolt head. BUT, now I can use a standard wrench.
Bill@VATVSLPR @AndrewHenry @ai6yr Hey now, don't be down on duct tape like that. I'm an engineer over here, and I know the Rule of Movement: if it moves and it shouldn't, duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, WD-40. /s
@Sempf @AndrewHenry @ai6yr
The problem with duct tape is that it won't keep that thing from moving for the long term. The adhesive in duct tape will dry out and crack before you know it. That's OK if you only need a short-term fix, but it sucks if you're left with the same problem, and now the thing that moves and shouldn't is covered in duct tape residue.
The problem with duct tape is that it won't keep that thing from moving for the long term. The adhesive in duct tape will dry out and crack before you know it. That's OK if you only need a short-term fix, but it sucks if you're left with the same problem, and now the thing that moves and shouldn't is covered in duct tape residue.
SarcastiCanadian@Sempf. I always thought this rule was if it moves and it shouldn't, duct tape; if it doesn't move and it should, hammer.
Gabriel NJoe walks down the aisle of a hardware store, and cover his ears before passing by the duct tape section.
— Hey handsome! Let’s go repair something together.
Croons a particularly large roll of tape.
The siren sounds of duct tape
Luring people in
Make them want to wrap stuff up
Leading to a life of sin
Strapping stuff together
With cloth, plastic, glue
It's all fine and dandy
You can even fix your shoe
It all seems to be working
No need for bolts or screws
Til you have a sudden failure
And your shoes you lose
Now I hear you can duct tape
Your broken bumper now
Still one day in the future
It'll still fall off, POW!
Their seductive rolls beckon
Fix everything thing with me
Alas another year in the sun
And it's broken again, see!
Paul_IPv6@ai6yr @wtrmt @VATVSLPR @AndrewHenry
for years, i used duct tape for anything *except* ducting work.
then, i was running ducting out to a work space in the garage from the main house. i was *so* disappointed to learn that duct tape was no longer code for taping ducts... there is sometimes no justice in this life.
@paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @wtrmt @AndrewHenry
My understanding is that it's properly "duck" tape after the cotton duck fabric used to reinforce it, not "duct" tape.
My understanding is that it's properly "duck" tape after the cotton duck fabric used to reinforce it, not "duct" tape.
@VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @wtrmt @AndrewHenry I'm going to have to pull canon trumping etymology on this one
stib@VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Interestingly the duct tape in Australia is pvc tape without cloth, basically like wider electrical tape, it's stretchy and not super adhesive.
Cloth tape is called gaffer tape, which comes from the film industry. Gaffers are the people responsible for lighting on a set and they use cloth-reinforced tape (just not on the gels or the light stands unless you want a booting) that is very adhesive, and very expensive.
The hardware store version is a pale imitation but is about a fifth of the price.
Cloth tape is called gaffer tape, which comes from the film industry. Gaffers are the people responsible for lighting on a set and they use cloth-reinforced tape (just not on the gels or the light stands unless you want a booting) that is very adhesive, and very expensive.
The hardware store version is a pale imitation but is about a fifth of the price.
@stib @VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Australia has its own nouns... Like... "CBD" in Australia is very different from "CBD" in the United States. 😂
I was very confused about reading about the Sydney CBD one day until I finally figured out it stands for "Central Business District" and not the California "Cannabidiol", the ever popular near relative of marijuana everyone seems to want to cram into everything.
Lauren Weinstein@ai6yr @stib @VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry "CBD" for "Central Business District" is a common urban-related term in the U.S.
@lauren @stib @VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry LOL, apparently I have lived in SoCal too long, CBD only means "not marijuana but close" in my brain wiring. 🤪
@ai6yr @stib @VATVSLPR @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Well, OK. I'm here too, but CBD always has meant Central Business District to me, all the way back to UCLA and earlier.
@stib @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @wtrmt @AndrewHenry
Here in the USA, gaffer's tape is similar to duct tape, but it's definitely not the same stuff. The big difference is that gaffer's tape is designed to be removed without leaving a nasty residue. Gaffer's tape is also matte while duct tape is smooth, so gaffer's tape won't result in specular reflections.
Here in the USA, gaffer's tape is similar to duct tape, but it's definitely not the same stuff. The big difference is that gaffer's tape is designed to be removed without leaving a nasty residue. Gaffer's tape is also matte while duct tape is smooth, so gaffer's tape won't result in specular reflections.
@VATVSLPR @stib @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Gaffer tape is far superior, but EXPENSIVE. And there's a lot of "gaffer tape" on the Bezos Expo which is crap.
Hippy Steve@ai6yr @VATVSLPR @stib @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry
Gaff tape is the best. Unaffordable most of the time, but worth the price. I miss doing lighting/rigging work. The companies would buy it in bulk so I could often make off with a roll or two without it being missed. lol
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frog@VATVSLPR @stib @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Gaffer's tape also doesn't stretch and tears easily and neatly. Pro Gaff (formerly part of the Shurtape brand) is the good stuff. Gaff will leave a residue if you let it sit long enough, especially on smooth surfaces.
@frog @VATVSLPR @stib @paul_ipv6 @wtrmt @AndrewHenry Thanks!!! Will note that brand. Have gotten twice buying random brands (admittedly from the Bezos Expo Of Crappy Stuff A Lot Now)
`Da Elf