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Ever come across that one tool that made your life that much easier? Post it here!
Considering I find a new tool I didn't know I needed at least once a month I figured I couldn't be the only one. Especially when it comes to building these trucks!
What it is, what you know about it, where to find one.
I'll start with a golden one that many of you will know; the Beverly Throatless Shear
The what: It's a sheet metal cutting tool, but can do plate if you have a big enough one.
They come in three sizes; B1, B2, and B3. The B3 can cut up to 3/16" thick plate.
The Why : A throatless shear can cut endlessly. You can cut any shape on it, no burrs, and it's extremely easy and fun to use.
The How much: New Beverly's are around $550 (B1) -$1200 (B3), however they are considered bullet proof and used ones run $250 (B1) - $675 (B3) on eBay. Stories are out there about finding one for $20. Do note it's a B series, the "S" series is a slitter shear that Beverly also makes. They look very different.
Brands: The tool is actually a throatless shear, the reason they're often known as Beverly Shears is because Beverly made the original and made it well. They've been around for almost 100 years now, still being made in America. Still top notch and still worth what you pay for. There are many knock-offs now and the general consensus is Beverly can't be beat and you get what you pay for. While I have not used knock off brands I have put 100s of hours on a Beverly B1 and it never hiccuped (just bought a B3 this weekend ). I would highly suggest a used Beverly over any other brand, if nothing else you can sell it for what you paid for it.
Other: Some tools that can cut thicker metal struggle with thinner material. With a Beverly Shear you just have to adjust the spacing between the blades to go from 28ga to 3/16" if you wanted to. I did anything from 28ga to 16 ga stainless without changing the blade spacing on a B1 (though I probably should have a little bit with the 16 ga, but it worked, I'd say it wasn't rated to do stainless that thick, but I want to say it is for 16a mild steel). Just loosen a bolt and adjust two screws. Easy. I'm not positive the max thickness that each shear can do other than the B3. Stainless is always less. The B2 is their most popular model for auto shops, think it does up to 1/8" thick mild steel.
A set of round files.
Ranging in size from 3/32" to 5/16".
Including at least one tapered round file.
They are very handy to enlarge or elongate holes when our truck body parts just don't quite align, or to knock the burr off a sawn part. Or to take the sharp edge off of something that shouldn't be sharp, and to put a edge on something that should be sharp - such as a chain saw chain. They don't have to have fancy handles on them, or even a handle at all.
Available in many places including yard sales, big box hardware stores and online.
Flat style files are handy too, but for some reason I appreciate the round ones much more.
Tom
Do you mean special tools that you had to make that nobody else did, and have used one time or over and over?
Any tool that made your life easier. If you used it once and it worked awesome to just do one small thing, those would be great to know. Often they lead to other ideas for tools or how to do something. If it was intended to do one thing and didn't but you found another use for it, by all means share those too. The idea is to get a resource of tools that could make the difference for people in making something that you don't usually know about unless through experience or chance.
Doesn't have to be bought, can be made, I make a lot of my own tools too. If you made it pictures would be a plus.
I have tons of specialized tools some of which, are so task or vehicle specific, they may only see action every ten years or so but..... Day to day in the Shop, the Cordless Drill Motor is #1. Grabbing it off my bench to drill a quick hole, or wire-wheel something clean for a few seconds has been enormously beneficial. Not very sexy I know but for me it's the real hands-on truth.
In the context of our old trucks, the tool that comes to mind right away is the short piece of 3/4" pipe I welded a couple of bolts to with their spacing just so as to remove the round pedal pads from the pedal perches.
It was monumental - the very first fabricated tool I made at age 15 when I first dove into my '56 F-100.
JML
if you ever play with stainless steel braided hose, you've lost blood... This tool will prevent that called the "Koul Tool" and comes in several sizes to match -AN fittings
just put the fitting in the tool... vise it up and twist the braided hose into the end... done. My fingers are remembering trying to do this bare handed... it wasn't pretty
when i had my first 51 f1 i used a basin wrench to take the cap off of my master cylinder-i found a few other uses for the basin wrench too. i have often take a open end -box wrench and cut it in 1/2 now i have 2 short wrenches for tight places-i also have done that with 2 open end wrenches and i did it with 2 box wrenches.i have taken a wrench and bent it straight up into a 90 degree angle then bent it to a different 90 degree angle.i have a box of odd wrenches.when i go to a yard sale and i find a odd tool i buy it.you would be surprised that every so often i use one of them
I may have posted this somewhere before, but I'll post it again. For those of us that are getting older and have a little more of a problem seeing clearly, I added a cheap harbor freight flashlight to my mig to help me see where I'm starting my welds in dark areas. Really helped for me when building my exhaust system up under the truck.
This tool undoubtedly makes my life easier. Makes a 2 handed task into a 1 handed task.
One of my favorite "tools"!
Digital slide caliper. Priceless when Frankensteining old car parts on cars that they don't belong on or buildng something from the ground up.
I did just pick up an ancient cardboard dial thingy (from 1949) that cross references fractional & SAE sizes with their Metric equivalents (and vice versa), mostly for drill bits and tapping.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
). I would highly suggest a used Beverly over any other brand, if nothing else you can sell it for what you paid for it.
