Tool of the Day

[pontiac428]

I thought I'd start a new community contribution thread. Many of us enjoy the other "of the day" threads, but we don't have one for tools that we think are interesting or unique. The rules are you have to post a photo and a description of a tool you have. That's it, it can be any kind of tool from a drill bit to hand tool to a machine. I'm going to post a few to get started and see if it takes off.

First up is my first machine shop tool. Kind of like a kid's first BB gun, the tri-knife deburring tool is a helpful little buddy that can out-work a whirly tool in the right hands.


Next is a leetle friend from Germany. It's a two-finger ratchet that accepts 1/4" driver bits. Being reversible is nice. Good for tight fasteners in small spaces. The photos do it no justice, this ratchet is a midget.


My last tool of the day is what I call my set of "JDM screwdrivers" for working on cars (and other things) from the Japanese Domestic Market. Officially, they are called JIS screwdrivers, cross tip, #00 through #2. I used to fear touching any cross-slot fastener from Japan because I knew I had a better than likely chance of destroying the slot. I've learned all kinds of extraction tricks for JDM screws. Well, the fear is gone and so are the extractions now that I have the right tool for the job!

 

[darkzero]

I'm a tool junkie so I'll play.....

All my full size JIS screwdrivers are Vessel but I also have their smaller ones too. I use them so much I bought an extra set, one for the shop, the other to keep in my room.



While on screwdrivers. Love these coin slot & faucet slot drivers by Anex. I mostly use them with the Anex mini handles but when I need more grip I use them with Vessel stubby handles (which also came with JIS bits).





Continuing on with Japanese market tools. The Engineer screw gripping pliers are awsome. Although mine came from Japan can get them through Amazon US. Vamplier also sells them here which are red in color & are also made by Engineer.


Engineer scissors are awesome too.



My stubby adjustables. The thin jaw ones are very handy.



And since you mentioned it, love the 1/4" hex ratchets. My Wiha set came with one & with an adapter for 4mm hex bits. The one below it is a Wera which is my favorite, came with a 1/4" hex to 1/4" square drive adapter for it too.


(Sorry, guess I got a little carried away )

 

[francist]

Here’s a devilishly clever little gem from my pliers drawer. Apparently a reproduction of an earlier Victorian-era design, these little pincers make surprisingly easy work of pulling tacks and small nails.



The sharpened jaws sneak under the nail head and the bow-shaped thumb lever exerts more gripping pressure the harder you pull back on the handle. Looks kind of cheesy but works killer.



And another version of screw pliers, but Will already beat me to it...




-frank

 

[Hawkeye]

The number of times I wished I had a thinner wrench...

I got a whole whack of tools when I bought the Storebro Bruk lathe. This is one of my favourites. It's metric, so it doesn't see much use. My best guess is that you set it up as a Go/No Go gauge for production runs.

 

[francist]

Don’t know that much about this set other than it probably belonged to one of my grandfathers, maybe from the Model A. My Dad had it although I never saw him use it that I can remember.



It’s a “Tomahawk“ ratchet set, maybe one of the first, and it’s pretty clever. Only ratchets in one direction, so to get it to go the other way you just push the little hex stub through to the other side of the wrench! Made in the US, it’s good quality steel and extremely positive action.







-frank

 

[Mike_Mac]

I have a few hand tools that puzzle me as to what they are for. I have kept them over the years as I don't like throwing good stuff away if it is still possibly useful. I will attempt to take some photos today and post them for others thoughts.

 

[darkzero]

Not really unique I guess but perhaps uncommon in a hobby shop? Spindle/taper wipers. These things are expensive new, found them new on ebay for cheap. I also have them in MT2 & MT5 in a drawer somewhere, not sure why I even got the MT5.

I don't like to stick my fingers in holes. Uh, that didn't come out right! I mean in mystery holes. Uh I mean in holes where they don't belong. Ok yeah.... I'll just stop now.

 

[Mike_Mac]

What do you think this 'Speetol' tool is for?
It is some sort of clamp.
It has been hanging up on my workshop wall for years.

 

[mmcmdl]

Can I play along ?

 

[pontiac428]

Can I play along ?

It's a public thread, so please join the fun!