The brake drum from came from an Eaton rear drive axle from a 2025 Western Star tractor. 129K lb GVW, which we regularly exceed.
CK5
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Got any cool tools lately?
- Thread starter nvrenuf
- Start date
Melinda’s aunt passed away back in June. The family has spent the last 5 months clearing out her house to sell the house.
Melinda brought home her aunt’s late husbands old sledgehammer. Thing is probably older than me as Hal died at 70 something back when Melinda and I were dating 32+ years ago.
Anyway, it’s a good brand name head True Temper, and it’s stamped “made in USA”
My bet is it’s very good steel. Anyway, I got rid of the rotted old gray wood handle, it had old electrical tape wrapped around the handle in a couple of spots, and the head was loose around the handle.
So, I bought a good fiberglass handle, took a grinder wheel to the head got all the rust off, taped her up painted the head and pressed it in then epoxied it.
Turned out great, nice 8 lb sledge.
Melinda brought home her aunt’s late husbands old sledgehammer. Thing is probably older than me as Hal died at 70 something back when Melinda and I were dating 32+ years ago.
Anyway, it’s a good brand name head True Temper, and it’s stamped “made in USA”
My bet is it’s very good steel. Anyway, I got rid of the rotted old gray wood handle, it had old electrical tape wrapped around the handle in a couple of spots, and the head was loose around the handle.
So, I bought a good fiberglass handle, took a grinder wheel to the head got all the rust off, taped her up painted the head and pressed it in then epoxied it.
Turned out great, nice 8 lb sledge.
Got some safety wire pliers.
Are you an A&P mechanic?
I ask because most “mechanics” don’t even know what those are, let alone how to properly use them.
When I was in A&P school, we had an entire 3 week sub-course on how to properly safety-wire bolts and cannon plugs. You had to actually perform an entire 6 bolt safety-wire set to pass the practical part of the test. And, it had to be perfect.
I'm a nuclear test mechanic for the Navy. I use them when test fittings need to be locked into place so they can't be accidentally knocked loose. Our test equipment can be installed for a few days or for the entire availability of the boat. We can't always install it in places where it's out of the way so we do what we can to keep accidents from causing issues. For home use I'll probably not use them often.
Not really a tool but I think they’ll come in handy.
It is actually a tool to measure bolts and nuts
I just use a caliper and two little thread pitch gauges (metric and inch). Then you can measure any thread, could be a less common thread such as 1/2-28 or something.
They came in my Irwin tap and die set I bought 12 years ago, very useful.
They came in my Irwin tap and die set I bought 12 years ago, very useful.
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That's how I do it.
Been doing it since my childhood working with my dad on his lathe, making small parts for gun repair
Calibrated mkI eyeball,if that fails I use Grandpa's taps till i find the correct size and thread.
Or this comes in handy
Or this comes in handy
More often than not I just go grab a nut out of the bolt bin that looks like it would fit, if I try a std and metric and neither fit then I go get the caliper and pitch gauge depending on the OD.
Is only the odd and rare thread pitches i have trouble would have to try a guage of some kind.
Yeah metric like 8mm x 1.25 and 5/16 24 look dam close.
Head stamp should give it away
Yeah metric like 8mm x 1.25 and 5/16 24 look dam close.
Head stamp should give it away
Buddy of mine bought me one similar to this. Comes in handy sometimes and hangs on the side of the toolbox.
Agree, always check that first if possible, because if the head says 10.9, it's a waste of time to try a std nut or a 20 pitch gauge, and vice versa.
The nice thing about these or the ones I got is you can actually screw them into what you are working on. I’m working on an LS swap on my dad’s car and need a bolt to run into an existing hole on the block for a ground wire but I’m horrible at metric sizes.
That's what I have as well. Use it all the time and bought a couple more for gifts.
I needed a small jigsaw to trim my kitchen cabinet so my fridge hinges would clear. Any excuse will do so I picked up this little M12 Jig Saw for the tool box.
