The dumbest tools you "own".

[Dirtman]

Im not a nerd! I'm a big ole sexy boy!

 

[lvwill]

I had a bunch of crazy jigs when I was building curve and twist free standing stairs and handrails. Gets kinda crazy when you have to make square holes in the bottom of a handrail.

 

[Josh B]

These - I have several. I've never used one for anything, and can barely imagine anything it would be useful for:

View attachment 34985

Those are really good for screws in tight spots, especially the ones that require considerable torque to break loose.

And when you can't get your hand or fingers into a deep hole to start a bolt.

I used one of my old tricks on a bolt I couldn't reach today.
Started out trying to hold it to a socket with a large hard drive magnet, but that wouldn't even hold it there

Then thought of my old paper towel trick I'd use to hold loose phillips bits into a magnetic tip holder.
Put the socket onto an extension, put a piece of paper towel around the bolt hex and shove the bolt into the socket. Stick it in there and twist away

 

[Bgunner]

of the tools explained.

Then thought of my old paper towel trick I'd use to hold loose phillips bits into a magnetic tip holder, and shoved it in there and sure enough, it did the job
View attachment 34993

I bought a set of extractors that get hammered on to do this job. Two good whacks with a hammer and a few good turns with a socket out comes a stripped head. Although this is a good idea if it is just starting to get buggered up.

 

[Dirtman]

Toe knife!

 

[mikkelstuff]

These are not "dumb!" Ingenious if you ask me.

The right rear bottom head bolt on my '75 Ranchero 460 is so close to the AC/heater box that even a socket on a flex handle will slip in to loosen the bolt let alone torque it. I remove the entire AC/heater box the only time I pulled the heads. SO I cut off a welded up a foot long end wrench with a socket on one end and a 1/2" drive for a torque wrench on the other. Hence, I can loosen or - with proper calculation - torque that head bolt. 'Course I've never used said wrench but danged it I'm throwing it out either!

 

[huh?]

11mm

 

[Dirtman]

I remember being too poor at one point to buy good tools and I needed line wrenches. I cut apart an entire set of old William's wrenches to make into line wrenches. I didnt know how good and expensive William's wrenches were until later in life...

 

[Curious Hound]

11mm

11 mm is more common on industrial machinery and less common in automobiles. I use it almost daily at work. Besides, it doubles as 3/8" pretty nicely.

 

[Snoranger]

11 mm is more common on industrial machinery and less common in automobiles. I use it almost daily at work. Besides, it doubles as 3/8" pretty nicely.

You mean 7/16”.

 

[19Walt93]

I have a screw driver with a notch cut into the blade that I used to remove brake hold down springs on Falcons, a piece of coat hanger bent into a shape that lets me push the self adjuster lever out of the way to loosen the adjustment on drum brakes, several old bearing races that I use for press/driver tools, and a 28" metal rod with a lip ground into the side of one end that I used in the late 70's to remove the right inner seal on rack and pinion steering gears because we had to rebuild them and the Ford seal remover didn't work.

 

[Curious Hound]

You mean 7/16”.

Yup.
Sorry.

 

[Elfiero]

What is the dumbest “tool” I own? Me

 

[19Walt93]

No tool is dumb if it does the job you need to do.

 

[Josh B]

I sure wouldn't want to disagree with you Mr Walt (my brother's name), but I'd have to think all tools are dumb.
And deaf.
And blind. haha

I'd have to think that most, if not all tools, are conceived in the minds of very intelligent people. And the most of those not while setting at a desk or drawing board, but while under a hood or vehicle, or leaning across the machine they were made to repair, by the person doing that repair.

It seems this thread has taken a very sharp left turn away from its original title, but suppose that fact is in every ones best interest

Even though it might be more comical to hear about the time someone tried a 12 ft cheater pipe and wound up on the ground with a broke nose, don't think many would be lining up to divulge those stories