Replies

1. 
   BruceS | Aug 20, 2007 10:18pm | #1

   Well you can grind out a section and make tubing wrenches,  they are very handy for doing brake jobs,  A/C, fuel lines, oil furnace work etc.  Just quench often to save the temper while grinding out the slot.

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   zolton | Aug 21, 2007 02:21am | #2

   Wood,

   Use them for dodgeball practice. Remember; if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball...

   Zolton

   * Some people say I have a problem because I drink hydraulic brake fluid. But I can stop any time I want.

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Aug 21, 2007 02:42am | #3

   Zolton,

   I once tried making a boomerang out of a wrench, threw it in the traditional Australian way, but it never came back.  I thought that was odd..........

   They do however make great extensions for ratchets and breaker bars when you need a little extra leverage.

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

    

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

3. 
   prosopis | Aug 21, 2007 03:01am | #4

   Woodhors,

   I saw in a wood magazine once where someone said they used different sized open end wrenches as fixed calipers for spindle turning.  They even ground a bevel on one tip so it would cut the last bit of wood to the precise diameter.

   This is nuts, but my daughter had to make a musical instrument out of odds and ends for a science class project once.  We used a bunch of wrenches to make a xylophone.

   I'm no metallurgist, but I know the alloy is tough, I just couldn't say if the steel would harden properly to make a good tool or knife edge.  If I had as many wrenches as you suggest you have, I sure would fire up the forge and check it out!  I imagine others around this site will provide some good information about the metallurgy part. 

   Finally, you may consider donating them to your nearest high school automotive class.  It's just a thought.  It might help a youngster out in a way that you could be really proud of. 

    

   Regards,

   Randy 

4. 
   mudman | Sep 09, 2007 12:30am | #5

   I generally not one to bring up these kind of issues, but what you sujest is very illegal and dangerous. There are far better ways to work over metal that tapeing it to RR tracks. Which I think is BS anyway as the tape would never hold the metal in place.

   Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

1. 
   joinerswork | Sep 09, 2007 04:54am | #6

   mud,

   I can't speak to a wrench, but my boys used to regularly place (no tape needed) coins on the rr track behind our house, and wait for the train to come along.  I thought everyone did this as a kid.

   "And the big round penny that you lay on the rails and the wheels mash flatAnd a glimpse of the faces of the ladiesAnd the picture of the men in the engineer's hatAnd the brakeman waves from the red cabooseHe's a part of the past never quite turns looseIt's a part of the soul and a heart and the mindOf a boy who's raised by the railroad line"

   Chris LeDoux, "Raised by the Railroad Line"

   Yeah I guess it has an element of danger.  Like if you didn't pay attention and hear or see a train coming while you are bent over putting a penny on the rail.  And it is illegal.  That's rr property, and they don't like trespassers, or hitch-hikers, it's true.

   Disclaimer:Closed track.  Professional penny placer,  Do not attempt.

   A boy was playing on the railroad tracks, and the train comes along.  He panics, and starts running down the tracks.  The train's getting closer and closer, and the engineer leans out the window and yells, "Hey kid!  Quick, run up the bank!!"  "Mister," the boy wheezes, "If I can't outrun this thing on the level, how d'you think I'm gonna beat it up that hill???"

   Ray

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Sep 10, 2007 03:04am | #7

   You're absolutely INSANE!

   Where in the rath of J do you come up with this stuff. 

   Now you've not only got the dogs barkin but the cat has taken up residence in the woodshop so's he can get some sleep.  Oh yeah, the other day the wife took the new kitten, named Cinderella to the vet to get fixed. 

   Turns out the she is a he!  Now when he yowls it's rather hiigh pitched.  Do you know of a good animal psychologist that's cheap.

   Regards,

    Bob @ Kidderville Acres

    

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   JMartinsky | Sep 10, 2007 04:27am | #8

   One of my fonder memories as a boy was m father taking us to local train stations and we wait for an express to come by. Very exciting stuff! One day, he took us to Southport (CT) train station which in the late sixties and early seventies, was lightly used. He put a couple of nickels on the track and they were squished flat! It was so cool! They were even warm when we found them. Very cool stuff!Best,John

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Sep 10, 2007 04:40am | #9

   Hi John,

   My wifes grandfather lived in Manchester, VT many years ago.  In those days many tourists (commonly referred to as flatlanders) used to walk the streets of town after dinner.  He would epoxy quarters to the sidewalk and sit on the porch and watch 'em try to pick 'em up!

   He was a joiner/blacksmith by trade, no relationship to Ray.

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

    

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

2. 
   JMartinsky | Sep 10, 2007 05:08am | #10

   VERY Funny!!!!!!John

3. 
   joinerswork | Sep 10, 2007 07:48am | #11

   Jmart,

   One of my more intense memories as a small child , is of accompanying my dad to the local grain mill in the town near our farm.  He was dickering with the owner about something, price for his barley, I guess, and said to me, "the train is gonna come by pretty soon.  Go stand over there (pointing to the front porch/loading dock where his truck was sitting) and you'll be able to see it."  The edge of the dock was about three feet from the tracks, and when that express train suddenly appeared around the corner of the mill, blowing its whistle for the crossing, and its cars creaking and swaying only inches from my nose, I was petrified.  It was sensory overload for a farm kid, the loudest thing I'd heard up to that time was the old hammer mill in the barn.

   Ray

2. 
   joinerswork | Sep 10, 2007 07:53am | #12

   Bob,

   Old boy scout leader joke.  I heard it at a Woodbadge training session.

   Poor Cinderfella.  I hear that bird psychologists are cheep.

   Ray

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Sep 10, 2007 01:28pm | #13

   Ray,

   Here's one for ya'll:

   Maw is outside the house hanging up the laundry, when she hears Paw in the

   kitchen. Maw walks in and says, "Paw, get out there and fix that there outhouse."

   Paw says, "All right, Maw."

   Paw walks out to the outhouse, looks at it, and says, "Maw, there ain't nothin' wrong with this here outhouse!"

   Maw says, "Yes there is. Put your head down in the hole."

   Paw puts his head down in the hole and he says, "Maw, there ain't nothin' wrong with this here outhouse!"

   Maw says, "Now pull your head out of the hole."

   Paw goes to lift up his head and he says, "Oww! OWW! Maw! MAW, my beard's stuck in the cracks in the seat!"

   Maw says, "Aggravatin', ain't it?"

   Probably not a Scout joke heard 'round the campfire

   Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres

    

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

2. 
   joinerswork | Sep 10, 2007 04:09pm | #14

   Bob,

   Good one.  Only to be told after taps and lights out for the boys.

   Ray

3. 
   troys | Sep 11, 2007 06:24am | #16

   very goodTroy

5. 
   BruceT999 | Sep 10, 2007 11:23pm | #15

   You could donate them to your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They re-sell good stuff to make money to help support the mission of building decent housing for poor people.

   BruceT
6. 
   westol | Sep 11, 2007 07:21am | #17

   Open end wrenches are handy for sizing small turnings on a lathe.  Much easier then callipers.  You can also lend them to neighbors who will never return them.