six-point socket's tidbits of Home Improvement, small projects and other stuff.

[rst]

Im the Tool Man...still have a hat  [big grin]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

Yesterday I was caught saying: “Let me just change that tire real quick.” Even though I know so well, I should never use "just" and "real quick" in the same sentence.  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

So, we have this garden/hand cart - it's really great when it works as intended, but it's also kinda "high maintenance" ...

We ordered this a couple of years ago from a backyard/gardening stuff related dealer located in one of the next bigger cities. It wasn't cheap but on the same hand also not really expensive. What we didn't know back then, this dealer gets almost everything that is not seeds/plants from China and sells it here by "pretending" and advertising to be a local, high quality/expert gardening market ... After ordering a couple of times (mainly seeds and plants) we went there once, and instead of a gardening market it was just a big warehouse and many greenhouses. You could only access a part of the warehouse where they either hand out products from stock, or look through returns/factory seconds ... We were pretty disappointed, as his advertising clearly sounded a lot different.

Anyway, back to the cart. I think it was in a picture or two before, but just in case, here it is:

Comes in handy for anything from intended use as garden cart to getting groceries from the car to the house or transporting other materials ...

After the first year I had to change all 4 tires for the first time, because all of them had cracked, some tubes were punctured, some had defective valves. This then turned out to be another lesson: I tried sourcing these tires/wheels locally. From our equivalent of home depot to specialized tool/hardware stores - no one could (or wanted to?) really help me. Then I typed the numbers embossed in the tire into amazon's search... LOL! Of course, there were plenty of sellers and offerings .........

Speaking of high maintenance, the coatings of paint are really thin so it started to rust after the first week, so I we have to keep this pretty clean and dry ... (I'm thinking of investing in a small paint spray setup ...)

So fast forward, gardening season is upon us and of course, another flat. So I bought another tire, in fact I bought two, to have a spare at hand. While unpacking I think they look kinda odd but I couldn't put my finger on it ...

Just brought my wrenches.

Old tire comes off easy

New tire goes on, that looks good. - Almost finished.

But wait, what's this? Where's the bolt?

Put the old tire back on - looks good.

Well ...

First thought: I gotta pack these both back up, and send them back. Pay return shipping as they don't qualify for free return shipping.

Second thought: I could simply change the hub, as tire and tube are supposed to be the same.

To make this as quick as possible I got my impact ...

Dismantling of old tire.

Deflating new tire.

Both tires dismantled.

Putting my "new" tire together. Old hub, new tire and tube.

Works.

Fastening.

Let's see when I will need the spare...  [eek] [blink] [eek] [scared] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[grobkuschelig]

I hope you just learned your lesson real quick. [emoji6]

It seems to be the week for this. I wanted to quickly repair my old Nintendo NES this week, spent two nights and still have things to finish. Postponed for now, due to other projects ranking up in priority.

At least now you know how quickly you can dismantle and reassemble the tire. [emoji6]

 

[leakyroof]

I feel your pain Oliver... Last night I drained the gas and the oil out of our SnowBlower to put it to rest for the Summer and Fall until we awaken it again for Winter.  The Oil Drain tube backed out of the engine block when I was trying to just remove the cap at the end of the pipe to drain the oil like usual.  There wasn't enough room next  to the engine to get pliers or a Visegrip to hold the drain pipe so I could loosen and remove that stuck cap..... Ended up with a mess of oil that I couldn't stop.... [embarassed]  Now it's all fixed, drain pipe/tube is secure in the engine again.... but what a time waster..... [mad]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

[member=63474]grobkuschelig[/member] Good luck with the NES!

[member=10952]leakyroof[/member]

Thank you, but your situation sounds a lot less fun and more serious then my little odyssey - I hope you have flooring that was easily cleaned up at least. What a mess  [eek] [scared] Glad it is back OK now!!

I visited our hardware rental this morning and reserved some mobile scaffolding for next week, the beams of my patios roof need to be sanded and painted. FUN FUN FUN  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

5l. of paint and 123.3m FrogTape will be delivered on Monday.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Hey Oliver, I have the same style wagon and was constantly re-inflating the tires on a bi-weekly basis and replacing tires. I finally got fed up and purchased solid urethane tires for it. Fantastic conversion, right now the wagon has probably 500# of porcelain tile sitting on it, been like that for about a year.
[attachimg=1]

 

[six-point socket II]

That sounds great [member=44099]Cheese[/member] do you have a link to the source for me by any chance? Would be highly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Sorry Oliver,  [sad]  I looked but the receipt is not in the proper folder. They came as a set of 4 tires with hubs & bearings just like the picture. You simply pulled a cotter key and then removed a nut, pulled the old one off and slipped the new one on.

I purchased the wagon at Northern Tool so it's likely that I also purchased the tires from them. The name Marathon also sounds familiar.https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_lawn-garden+wagons-yard-carts+hand-pull-towable-wagons
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_tires-wheels

 

[six-point socket II]

Thanks [member=44099]Cheese[/member] those links help a lot! Great!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Hey Oliver, just checked the wagon and they’re Marathon Flat-Free.

No wonder Marathon sounded familiar.  [doh]

 

[six-point socket II]

Thanks Cheese!

I'm going to get me some of these for sure!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

"There's always something ..."

I finished a little something in my basement which required me to move a gel joint installed in 2015 by professionals from Germany's largest telephone company.

After touching it, I had some kind of liquid all over my hand ... Checked the second gel joint, that was never moved/touched, even more of this liquid substance on the underside ...

Right now I'm trying to find out if it is normal for the gel/silicone to liquify over time/ "sweat". But I guess no matter what, I will have to call the telephone company on Monday. ...

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[nclemmons]

The gel joints I have seen were used by the phone company here.  Far smaller than yours!

They never harden.  Gel is for moisture displacement. 

https://goo.gl/images/MPcwdE

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Neil,

Thank you! You made me look for the file I have on this, and I found this picture, taken by the pros when they installed it.

As you can see, the joints inside that box are probably the same. Thank you again!

So it might be just the outer gel/silicone seal of that box that is "leaking"/"sweating" ...

I guess I won't get around interacting with the phone company on Monday.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Wooohooo this happened today:

Goodbye copper DSL, welcome fiber optic ...

Wooohooo!!!  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Advertisement.

Hi!

Today I prepared my patio's roof "substructure" for tomorrow's sanding extravaganza.

Minimalistic tool kit.

I started by removing cramps (Don't ask ...)

And cable clamps. These snap easily and then you need some quality pliers to get a good grip and pull them out. I have to say that I really like the Klein Tools J2000-9NECR Journeyman 2000 series pliers. I've used these before on the other project to get some really long and stubborn nails out of masonry so I knew they were the right tool for this. They just  grip everything, even if there’s not much left to grip. Optimal transmission of force right into the tip of the jaws and a sure grip you can rely on. Very happy with them and by now they have become my go to pliers for everything that needs a sure grip and lots of force.

Then it was time to remove the brackets from my "party lighting". Although I did install these, I had no idea the (at least partly) slotted screws were this small. I must have forgotten - and I have no Idea how/ with what tool I installed these originally.

So I got my SIR Tools Mini-Hexdriver Bit-Kit to find a 3mm slotted bit, and put it in my PDC's quick (ex)change chuck.

Of course, and this is totally not like me, there were also very small PH screws on some of them ...

Back to the PDC.

Well I'll spare you the pictures of moving stuff off the patio and so on...

Very early tomorrow morning I will be at the local hardware rental to get my mobile scaffolding - and hopefully I can post about it in the evening when the sanding is completed. Saturday is reserved for painting. Monday the mobile scaffolding needs to be back, and I honestly don't plan on working on Sunday. So let's see and hope for the best.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[grobkuschelig]

Hi Oliver,

Best of luck that you get it finished in the time planned.

How many meters of beams are there to cover?

 

[nclemmons]

Don't you have a bigger drill for that small screw bit?!

I have a 40 year old set of very similar Klein pliers.  Here, they are called lineman's pliers as any electrician was guaranteed to have a pair in their toolbelt.  Here's a brief history of how they got started - making a pair that sound similar to what you are using today!  In 1857, so 161 years ago!  Amazing.  http://www.kleintools.com/content/history

Klein Tools is headquartered here in Chicago and has had several factories in the Chicago area.  Fantastic tools.

Good luck with the project!

 

[Cheese]

Hey Oliver, don't want to rain on your parade,  [unsure]  but I couldn't help but notice the divot in the linesman's pliers' edge.

An object was obviously cut and the jaws of the pliers were either too soft, and they deformed, or the edges were too hard and they chipped...just curious...there's a story there....[big grin]

[attachimg=1]

 

[six-point socket II]

Good morning everyone!

08:07 AM - It's raining, and a tiny storm with lightning and thunder is rolling through, so I let that pass before picking up my small scaffolding.

[member=63474]grobkuschelig[/member]

Thanks! Well:

10 m x2 sides
10 m x3 sides
3.7 m x3 sides x10 beams

And some smaller parts.

So it's roughly 161 m + ...

[member=167]neilc[/member]

Thank you so much! Have you been to the factory?

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]

Advertisement.

It's not the rain, that ruined the parade...  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

But I'm afraid there's no real story. I did some extensive cutting tests with these Lineman's pliers - after all, that's what the series 2000 side cutting pliers are meant to do.

It went smooth through everything I threw at it, and then I found this "little" rusty nail, probably from my grandfathers hardware assortment. I pondered for some seconds, I knew it was a 50/50 chance, I cut it. There was a louder than normal "crack", that's when I knew that was a hardened steel nail. Actually I was surprised there wasn't more damage to the cutting edge.

I cut bolts, nails, spring hardened wire - no problem. And even after my "mishap" it would still pass my paper test. I took a small file to smoothen the dent a little. I originally wanted to cover this in my overall review of the pliers.

Kind regards,
Oliver