Some Cool Tools, & A Badly Abused Motor - Sunday Morning Quickies, Episode 118, May 5, 2024

This week, we're taking a look at some important, yet often overlooked tools that should be in everybody's arsenal. A long overdue special thank you goes out to viewer Harlan Root for turning me on to the screw starters, and to my wife Liz for gifting me a crocodile ear polypus long before my journey into VSMs. Last, but not least, a huge thank you to viewer and friend Meredith for the giant collection of sewing machine motors she bestowed upon me a few weeks back, one of which we are going to delve into this week - a Delco that someone in the distant past badly abused.

Here is a short list of tweezers and screw starters that I find indispensable. I keep all of these on my bench and in my field kit;

400 Series Stainless Steel Tweezers with 0.030" Wide x 0.020" Thick Curved Pointed Tips
https://www.mcmaster.com/5498A19/
Tweezers with Curved Pointed Tips, 400 Series Stainless Steel, Trade No. 7
https://www.mcmaster.com/5669A55/
Tweezers with 0.030" Wide Bent Pointed Tips, Steel, Trade No. 5B
https://www.mcmaster.com/5669A87/
Tweezers with Standard Pointed Tips, 400 Series Stainless Steel, Trade Number 1
https://www.mcmaster.com/5669A44/
Screw Starter, 1/8" Size, for Number 2, Number 3, Number 4, M2, M2.5 Screws, 5" Length
https://www.mcmaster.com/5690A24/
Screw Starter, 1/8" Size, 10" Overall Length
https://www.mcmaster.com/5690A25/
Screw Starter, 3/16" Size, 10" Overall Length
https://www.mcmaster.com/5690A17/
Screw Starter, 1/4" Size, 10" Overall Length
https://www.mcmaster.com/5690A21/

Micro-Mark is almost always out of stock on the crocodile ear polypus, but here's some on Amazon that are excellent. Various sizes available, the 5.5" are IMO the most useful.
German Stainless Hartman Alligator Micro Forceps 5.5 Inches Serrated Blue Rings ENT Instruments
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R5D6NVX?...

HARDY 7 mil Textured Nitrile Powder-Free Gloves, 50-Pack
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-mil-t...

ECG J-SSD-2, Solder Station Digital Adjustable 75W 200-450 Deg C with LED Display, Metal Stand and Cleaning Sponge
https://www.amazon.com/ECG-J-SSD-2-St...

HERCULES 20V Cordless Compact Heat Gun - Tool Only (I like this with either the 5ah or 8ah battery, sold separately)
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...

Tropical Shine Cushion Nail Files (Coarse through Fine)
https://www.sallybeauty.com/nails/nai...
ASPEconomy 3-Way Buffer (Fine through Ultra Fine)
https://www.sallybeauty.com/nails/nai...

The feature on my web page - "My Recommended Tools, Materials, and Suppliers" can be found here:
https://bobsvsmservice.com/my-recomme...

New manuals page on my website:
https://bobsvsmservice.com/manuals-i-...

If you have a nightmare story you would like to share, send me an email to [email protected] with "My Worst Nightmare" in the subject line. Include lots of pictures if possible and let me know the gory details!

My website: https://bobsvsmservice.com/

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