Tools defined.. HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer >nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive >parts not far from the object we are trying to hit. > >MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of >cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works >particularly well on boxes containing leather goods. > >ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets >in their holes until you die of old age. > >PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. > >HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija >board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, >unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its >course, the more dismal your future becomes. > >VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads and transfer intense >welding heat to the palm of your hand. > >OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various >flammable objects in your garage on fire. > >WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars >and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that >9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes. > >DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching >flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in >the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it >against that freshly painted part you were drying. > >WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them >somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also >removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar callouses in >about the time it takes you to say, "Ouc...." > >HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a car to the ground after >you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the >jack handle firmly under the fender. > >EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward >off a hydraulic jack. > >TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters. > >PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbor to see if he has another >hydraulic floor jack. > >SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool >for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off >your boot. > >E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt >holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit. > >TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease >buildup. > >TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the >tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have >forgotten to disconnect. > >CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying >tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip >on the end without the handle. > >BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring >sulfuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox >after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just >as you thought. > >AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw. > >TROUBLE LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called >a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine >vitamin," which is not otherwise found under motorcycles at >night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume >40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer >shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the >Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is >somewhat misleading. > >PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style >paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be >used, as the name implies, to round out Phillips screw heads. > >AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a >coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into >compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact >wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 60 years ago by >someone in Springfield, and rounds them off. > >PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip >or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent >part. > >HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short. |