Golly, do I ever feel DUMB right now!

[gr8legs]

My recent acquisition of a brand new in the box Freight Harbor heavy duty 1/2" air impact wrench was an eye opener - and in more ways than one!

The magical tool:


and on the back there is a 3-position valve for varying the amount of air supplied to the 'business end' of the tool.



Very cool, gave a rough indication of how much 'oomph' the beastie was going to apply to a fastener.

And I thought to myself "Why didn't anyone do that sooner? I've been around similar air tools since I was in knee pants and never paid a lot of attention when someone was using one. Either 'on' or 'off' was my impression. Maybe 60+ years ago that was the way it was. Well, here is where the 'dumb' part is. I looked at all my 3 other impact wrenches variously acquired at garage sales and thrift shopping and right there next to the air inlet was a black knurled knob. Very black - I figured it was an air filter or something else not to be messed with - and in my defense, as I said the knobs were painted solid black.

Taking a wire brush to the black paint on the 'air filter' revealed some markings on the knob - lo and behold, they were throttling valves for the tool.




I'm sure everyone else on this forum knew about this magical control and I should just keep my mouth shut - but if you had a similar upbringing to me then my 'dumb moment' may be instructive. (And you don't have to admit not knowing it because I already did).

Even at that, with the old tools I didn't get as much torque as the new HF wrench put out so it's a win-win!

<blushing>

Stu

 

[Tozguy]

Well I guess I'm eligible for the dumb club then. Just checked my impact driver after reading your post and saw the numbers on the knob.
Seems like I set it at maximum over 30 years ago and forgot about it. Up to now I have been regulating line pressure at the compressor to adjust the driver.

 

[Superburban]

Throughout high school, I used my dads drill press a good bit. The ones we had in school shop, had a big dial on the front for speed. My Dads did not have that, so I always thought it was just a single speed. Later in life, I saw an add that showed the pulleys at the top, hidden under a flip up cover. Boy did I feel dumb. Next time I visited my Dad, I slipped down to his shop, to look, and low and behold, it had the same cover.

 

[kb58]

Would be a lot funnier if it had been set to "1".

"Gosh, this big new air compressor isn't any good, either!"

 

[brino]

Hi Stu,

I'm glad you didn't feel too "dumb" (your word!) to post.
It takes a big person to admit their mistakes, and own them.

I looked at all my 3 other impact wrenches variously acquired at garage sales and thrift shopping

So NO manuals for them likely either.

I should just keep my mouth shut

Thanks for NOT!

-brino

 

[gr8legs]

So NO manuals for them likely either.

Usually no manuals included with $2 or $3 purchases at yard sales

 

[silence dogood]

Stu, just blame it on all the smog from the fires. Seriously, how's your end of Oregon doing. Here, we finally got to see more than 2 blocks. And then it started to smog up again. There is a fire north of Ukiah (Sigh).

 

[Z2V]

Thoughts and prayers for all you folks on the west coast dealing with all the fires. I just can’t imagine seeing total communities wiped out by fire.
Be safe

 

[alloy]

Well your not the only one that feels dumb. Actually way more than dumb. Dumb****

Working on a 7 start thread for a speedometer drive gear today and got my 7 starts, think I got pitch correct, everything looked good as far as measurements go, program runs great. 2:10 run time. Gear blank is about $1.50. Far better than my present cost of $30 each.

But the matching driven gear didn't mesh correctly.

After 5 test parts I realized it's a left hand thread.

Duh George, which way does it turn???

 

[deakin]

fwiw:
the pros only use the max setting and use the finger to govern the torque