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For me it depends on the day. If it’s 100* outside and I’ve been out in it all day I typically just do the minimum as far as putting stuff away or cleaning.
In most cases unless we are slammed i will clean up once or twice. I am trying to do it in between jobs now but, it is hard. I have noticed it increases my productivity. My main issue comes when its 1 hr before quitting time and someone shows up with a wheel seal or a 1hr job that requires tools and getting dirty. Then it normally gets piled on the tool cart and if we have a busy week i will literally walk up to my forman and go look this is day 3 i need 30 mins to wipe down my tools and get them away..
Hey everyone. New guy here. Been following the videos for quite some time and decided this was the topic to get me to join! Haha. I have some photos to go along with my posts too.
I am pretty extensive on my organization on top of my box during my day. I have a place where everything goes and where (for the most part everything stays)
It keeps me organized and organization helps me be faster.[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2525_zpsda6vjrdw.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2734_zpshlno1qck.jpg[/IMG]My tools get very oily and packed full of grease, dirt and other junk.
At the end of the day if it’s been a good or average day, I will wipe down all of the grease and oil off everything and then throw my sockets and wrenches in the hot tank while I’m wiping everything down. Cleans the sockets really well and keeps them looking nice.
I will use parts washer on anything with moving parts or rubber to prevent them from getting damaged or weakened from the acid in the tanksOn crap days or days I’m leaving really late (I already work 10 hour days)
I’ll just do a quick wipe down and toss it in the box. Maybe stick them in a basket in one drawer and clean them first thing in the morning.[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2674_zpszhrplxkw.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG1657_zpsq7gexgso.jpg[/IMG]
I wipe my box down everyday and usually wax it every few weeks.
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/tools/IMAG2655_zps18rqvdxy.jpg[/IMG]
As for my “favorite tool” its my IR2115TiMAXX. I absolutely love this impact. At 125PSI there is nothing I can’t bust free with it. (Within reason)
it gets really dirty and thrown around a lot. I keep a cornwell cover on it and it’s removed daily and wiped down. It gets pretty nasty some days too. But it never goes in my box dirty. Never. Same with my PH3050B[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2748_zpsri20a91z.jpg[/IMG]
After I cleaned her up (and replaced anvil obviously)
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2809_zpspnlbgyca.jpg[/IMG]
hopefully that all worked. I’m on tapatalk
[quote=”BeardedWrencher” post=128355]Hey everyone. New guy here. Been following the videos for quite some time and decided this was the topic to get me to join! Haha. I have some photos to go along with my posts too.
I am pretty extensive on my organization on top of my box during my day. I have a place where everything goes and where (for the most part everything stays)
It keeps me organized and organization helps me be faster.[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2525_zpsda6vjrdw.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2734_zpshlno1qck.jpg[/IMG]My tools get very oily and packed full of grease, dirt and other junk.
At the end of the day if it’s been a good or average day, I will wipe down all of the grease and oil off everything and then throw my sockets and wrenches in the hot tank while I’m wiping everything down. Cleans the sockets really well and keeps them looking nice.
I will use parts washer on anything with moving parts or rubber to prevent them from getting damaged or weakened from the acid in the tanksOn crap days or days I’m leaving really late (I already work 10 hour days)
I’ll just do a quick wipe down and toss it in the box. Maybe stick them in a basket in one drawer and clean them first thing in the morning.[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2674_zpszhrplxkw.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG1657_zpsq7gexgso.jpg[/IMG]
I wipe my box down everyday and usually wax it every few weeks.
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/tools/IMAG2655_zps18rqvdxy.jpg[/IMG]
As for my “favorite tool” its my IR2115TiMAXX. I absolutely love this impact. At 125PSI there is nothing I can’t bust free with it. (Within reason)
it gets really dirty and thrown around a lot. I keep a cornwell cover on it and it’s removed daily and wiped down. It gets pretty nasty some days too. But it never goes in my box dirty. Never. Same with my PH3050B[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2748_zpsri20a91z.jpg[/IMG]
After I cleaned her up (and replaced anvil obviously)
[IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/Lukeizzle991/IMAG2809_zpspnlbgyca.jpg[/IMG]
hopefully that all worked. I’m on tapatalk[/quote]
Wow, thanks for the detailed look at your tools. Love the tool box. I also have that impact and I like it very much as well, although ever since I got my AC Delco I haven’t used it as much.
BeardedWrencher, it’s incredibly refreshing to see someone take such nice care of their tools. You get a Karma point from me right off the rip for that. I was also drawn to join this forum in order to respond to a ETCG1 video, and it’s turned out to be good therapy for me to cope with the stresses of fixing cars for a living. I hope to see you sticking around, man. Professionals like us are able to do people a lot of good here, and there is a lot of shared wisdom for us to learn from in the technician’s forum.
I also treat my tools very good, I’m actually cleaning them up right now. I avoid abusing them and very rarely break anything or need warranty replacements. I also maintain and modify tools as needed to prolong optimal performance. An example would be that on a balljoint press, where the grease nipple hole goes into the threads of the forcing screw, the edges of hole are not dressed/cleaned up. This causes galling of the pressure screw under high load, which can be cured/prevented with some effort. I also try to avoid getting the tools too grimy, especially soft grips and power tools. I like to wrap my impacts with a rag to protect them from all the rust powder or oil mess that starts falling during overhead use.
It’s not even related but, “It’s Makers time!” would be a great ETCG shirt if it was’t copyrighted. Maker’s Mark, the preferred whiskey of ETCG.
“Double Makers and Coke for the car guy and they are all on me.” — Me
Nick from Pittsburgh (Now Uniontown)
Thanks guys. I spent a lot of money on my tools so I am going to take care of them! Haha. A lot of what I own is trial and error for quality.
I will definitely stick around. I may not post a lot or spend a lot of time on this forum but I will hop on whenever I get the chance!I can’t say I don’t abuse my tools much. A lot of them see a hard life. My impact does way more than it should on a daily basis and my extractor set and socket set is beyond excessively used.
I don’t necessarily baby them but I don’t abuse the crap out of them. I am very ocd about organization and cleanliness of them. I do my best to not warranty them just because they aren’t aesthetically the same as out of the box/off the truck. (I work with a handful of guys who are.. like air hammer chisels have some damage to them so they replace them)My problem isn’t tools, it is my workbench. It is such a handy place to pile things. When I tear things apart I want the space for car parts and fasteners. So, the work bench is my battle.
I always clean my tools off when done. Never go back in the box greasy. I keep alot of rags around for just that purpose. I also never use hammers on screwdrivers, I don’t throw airtools on the concrete, just basic stuff. If I have a tool that is going to be abused, it comes from the broken screwdriver crap socket mixup drawer. I never use a tool for anything but its intended purpose, thats my rule. I find that guys, almost universally when spending bux on truck tools, do not abuse them. Tire shops excluded, altough most of them use IR guns or CP guns that are basically disposable and those guys have to work so fast, its not the same. Knowing than one socket can cost 20 or more dollars to replace is really an incentive to treat them with class. I have almost never known a seasoned pro tech who didn’t guard their tools with their lives, and seeing a Snap on Ratchet thrown down in the floor dry or something one might see with a craftsmen wrench just is not something I see with truck tools. I helped a widow out with some assets of a decease tech, and even though this guy worked on semis, motorcycles, out in the field, his tools when he left this earth looked clean, and organized, and obviously never mistreated in the least. Myself, I did knick my Snap on timing light on a Ford mustang, when timing it, years ago, but if you ever look at where the timing mark is on a ford in relation to where the fan is, it was an easy thing to do, although I would never repeat that move.
I was in the auto body collision field for a little bit, was taken advantage of because I only had part of my degree finished (worked at a dealership during the summer) and now finishing my degree so that I can be paid more than 8.00 an hour. When I was working there my tools were always put back in an organized place and always cleaned before they were put away. Now that I have double the amount of tools and a bigger box I had to reorganize and find better places for them.
There is no way to organize or take care of tools without each having a certain place they go back into everytime, which requires a big box. Otherwise its pointless. I have never seen a pro tech who just piled crap together like some of these guys you see on youtube that throw a pile a sockets in a basket or the likes.
It is best to have everything easily accessible. But, 30k is a little much for me to spend on a box. I use a tool cart and a decent size box. I organize all the tools i use regularly and all sockets and combo wrenches and hopefully soon extensions. But, past your cart and socket and combo wrenches i have everything piled in drawers in order of frequency of use. it rarely slows me down and if it does it is usually on a big job where book time isnt possible anyway.
I used cheap tools and worked on my back for 30 years. Farm work in dirt for very little pay. Never did have a Snap on box, still don’t. Kids today out of tech school have 96 inch epiq boxes, 30 grand worth of tools, the whole nine yards starting out as lube techs. Snap on guy would give the sun and the moon to a young guy in school but gives me the shaft. Old guys like myself who have experience but no certs or schooling are sorta viewed by shops the same way as the waste oil or scrap metal that is disposed regularly. Just something to be thrown away.
Andrewbutton442, IMO having 30 grand in tools doesn’t make you a good mechanic, experience does. Very few mechanics in my area actually work for a dealer and do metric tons more work than the dealership. I’ve seen first hand how the independent guys will work on everything that comes in while the dealership guys have trouble not breaking wheel studs and cross threading lugnuts.
No, I agree with 100 percent on that. I know one loner tech who enjoys bringing in stuff than stumps all the other mechanics from around the city.. and he has a little toolbox with junk tools. He wont buy new tools from Harbor Freight, he is to thrifty, HOWEVER, he has been told this exact thing, “oh, you don’t have enough tools to fix late model stuff.” This guy, he is smart enough to either borrow the tool if he needs it (has ALOT Of friends, for obvious reasons) or make the tool from scratch. He Uses a 1953 model lift air over hydraulic 10 hours a day, in yet I see newbies in tire shops with more tools than him. He had no certs or degree either, he is farm trained and well read. I actually took my aircat 3/8 ratchet in to have him try it out, he refused and said his 1970s CP stuff that he built from other peoples broken down tools was good enough. Difference between old school master mechanic and newbie. OH, he could buy with cash an entire snap on truck with what he makes in a year with fixin stuff, but has no desire. He has uses 3/4 a truck like the one in your Avatar for a plow truck that he bought for next to nothing, and has run with a worn out 400 ford for 30 years.
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