Quick & safe way to hang tools with screws - OT

[Jerry Work]

Hi all,

I'm not sure where this should go so put it here with the request to the moderator to move it if this is not the right place.

A lot of us hang tools using screws as pegs.  I typically use trim screws which are very hard with sharp threads which can mar precision tools like the caliper shown in these pics.  To protect the tool, a piece of shrink wrap tube used for insulating electrical connections will leave a nice soft cover over the screw thread upon which the tool can sit.  It also works for hanging much larger stuff.  I hang my Domino machine off one end of my primary sanding and assembly work station where it is convenient to the 33 vac with boom arm also used with the sanders.  I hang it from the center triangle in the fence that is a soft alloy casting.  Note in one of the pics how putting it on and off the hardened trim screw so many times scarred up that triangle and the area around it on the base before I started covering hanging screws with shrink wrap tube.  The last photo shows the shrink wrap now around that screw.  No more scaring of the Domino machine fence.

Jerry

 

[richard.selwyn]

That is a great idea.  I have always wanted to get the dipping plastic/powder coating stuff you can buy in the US to do something similar, but have never found it here in Europe.  The shrink electrical stuff I use is much thinner than that - I'll have to see if thicker is available here in poor old Europe.  (I'm going to the Us later this month I hope, but am worried that I already have too many things from Lee Valley to take back)

 

[AlexThePalex]

That is a great idea.  I have always wanted to get the dipping plastic/powder coating stuff you can buy in the US to do something similar, but have never found it here in Europe. 

Richard, that's incredibly simple to do, just find yourself some plastic that you can melt and melt it in a pan.........., and dip away.

 

[richard.selwyn]

OK - but where on earth (or more importantly in France) do I find plastic I can melt?

 

[AlexThePalex]

OK - but where on earth (or more importantly in France) do I find plastic I can melt?

Literally everywhere. It doesn't have to come in a standard package from a tool shop. Every plastic object you see could be used, if it's the right kind of plastic. There are basically two kinds of plastics, thermoplasts and thermosets. Thermoplasts will melt when you heat them and the thermosets will not. By far the majority of plastics you see are thermoplasts because they are much easier to work with for the industry.

All you have to do is find some plastic object, take a pan and gently heat it until it melts. Favourite objects for me are things like plastic doormats, bicycle handles and doorstops. They are easy to come by and very cheap. You can also simply use discarded plastic from the waste bin. You just have to experiment a bit which types melt and which don't. 

 

[richard.selwyn]

You've got me interested.  Just wondered - do they give off fumes when they are heated?  I'm trying to pcture plastic doormats and doorstops and am not sure I know what to look for (door mats here seem to be rubber or natural fibres)

 

[Julian Tracy]

Why not simply get small diameter plastic tubing and cut small sections and slip over the thread?

Much more protection and faster to boot.

JT