Air hammer chisel guidance

I have also used a balljoint removal tool, which is basically just a "U" shape on the end of the shank, but the cool thing about the set is that it is designed to be interchangeble between the air chisel shank and a regular straight shank (manual sledgehammer) use. This leaves me with a hardened steel shank which fits the air chisel and a 5/8"NC threaded end which (usually) threads into the various size "U" tools. I have threaded various lumps of steel, aluminum, etc to make various custom tools. My latest tool (still untested) is an attachment to help me sink a 10 foot long 3/4" solid copper ground bar into the (packed) dirt so that I can have an RF ground for my Ham radio equipment. If it doesn't work, it'll be a long day, on a ladder, with a sledgehammer. Ugh. Michael

Reply to
woodworker88
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UGH! I find it a bit hard to think clearly when the sweat is running down my face. Not so bad if your doing something like digging a hole/ditch where one doesn't have to contemplate much. I hope this doesn't cause you too much grief. I'd come over and give you a hand, but I suspect you will already have a solution in place before I could get there :)

Reply to
Leon Fisk

I've been using both the ceiling fan on high, and a floor fan (from the shop for midsummer use) sweeping back and forth across my wife and me. However, we were not exactly dressed for company. :-)

I spent a lot of last night finally replacing six older disk drives in one of the computers with a single one which has the same capacity as the six in a rack-mount housing. This reduced some of the heat being pumped into the room. Last night was really bad in the humidity sense, so we made use of the other ceiling fan over the bed all night long.

I had thought that the problem was a failure in the actual compressor, after a quick check seemed to say that the capacitor was still good -- but I was wrong -- the problem was the capacitor. The computer room (which is where I spend the day when not in the shop) has fallen from 91F (when he arrived) to 83 F, and still falling. The first hour was spent just pulling down the humidity before the temperature started to visibly fall. Tonight should be a lot more comfortable. :-)

Can I blame mis-reading the capacitor on being too hot to think clearly? Anyway -- I'm glad that I was wrong in that case, because replacing a capacitor is a *lot* cheaper than replacing a compressor. :-)

However, if I had made the proper identification, I could have had it working a lot sooner. :-(

Thanks, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

According to woodworker88 :

That sounds like a nice thing to have -- since the odds of finding "blank" tools with the right shank seem to be rather poor -- unless I can find an exsiting tool which is a close match to what I need to make.

Hmm ... I had little problem with a 6 foot one (which was probably about 1/2" diameter, but the soil here may be more forgiving, and the time of the year may have had things a bit more moist.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

According to DoN. Nichols :

[ ... ]

O.K. I've figured out what went wrong. There are two caps in a single housing, with three terminals, marked "C" (common), "Fan", and "Herm" (Hermetically sealed compressor.)

I disconnected the "Herm" wire and measured between that terminal and common. I measured one of the two capacitances listed on the label (a bit less than 8 uF), and assumed that I was seeing the capacitor on that terminal to common. In reality, the "C"ommon terminal was burnt out inside, and I had left the fan connected, so I was measuring the two caps in series -- between "Herm" and "Fan". There were enough quick-disconnects on terminals that I did not want to pull them all clear without a list of what went where. I had assumed that the failure would be either a short or an open between the cap and the hot terminal, or the cap and the common, not an open between the internal common and the common terminal.

The fact that the fan still ran was thanks to the "ghost" connection.

I feel a bit better now, knowing what I did wrong. :-)

Also, the room is now down to 81 F, and still falling.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

It has been a loooong time, but I've been burnt trouble shooting combo caps too. Their use was on the decline when I started fixing stuff. That's probably why I don't remember more troubles with them :)

The best piece of equipment I ever used for determining whether caps were good or not was a Sencore Z Meter. It could measure capacitance, leakage and series resistance. The later measure was extremely useful and saved me some headaches on numerous occasions. They used to cost around $1000 ~20 years ago? Probably can be had used quite reasonably nowadays. I still have my B&K Capacitance meter, but I don't troubleshoot that kind stuff very much anymore. The Z Meter was a lot more useful than the B&K for trouble shooting.

Glad to hear your place is cooling off to much more reasonable temperatures.

Reply to
Leon Fisk

I recall having a Snap-On catalog from the late 70s or early 80s, and if I find it, I'll try to remember to see if it has any pictures of their chisel styles.

As for smacking one of those impact drivers for loosening (or tightening) fasteners, one of the air-powered palm nailers might be easier to use. As I understand how they're supposed to work.. pushing on them causes a power stroke, which seems much more controllable than a trigger pull on a long-bodied air chisel/hammer.

My favorite tool for multiple fasteners was the 3/8" drive butterfly-type impact by Chicago Pneumatic, although the stores are flooded now with generic models. Using the appropriate phillips or small sockets on this tool made really quick work of removing numerous identical fasteners.

The newer style of quick-change chisel retainers/holders that replace the spring type holders are significantly larger than the beehive type spring retainer mentioned earlier. The larger size of the retainer might only be a problem where the work is in tight quarters.

WB ......... metalworking projects

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Reply to
Wild_Bill
[ ... ]

[ ... ]

This AC unit is about fifteen years old, now, IIRC. It has gone through three evaporators, and (in spite of my fears) still on the original compressor.

Nice.

O.K. My cap meter is a "Universal/enterprises" DCM 2000. Good enough for most electronics work, but a little sensitive -- it blew its fuse somewhere in the testing.

For quick-and-dirty with larger value capacitors like this, I just use the resistance range on my Fluke multimeter, and see how slowly it charges -- and that it has a negative value at first when I reverse the probes.

I guess that I should have expected the compressor to use the 60 uF side instead of the 8 uF side. But the label did not say which terminal got which value, and since I measured close to 8uF between the "Herm" and the 'C' terminals, I assumed that was what the compressor got. :-)

So am I. It is now stable at just over 78 F, which is where the thermostat is set. It costs too much to cool it more with all of these computers running. (Eight of them at the moment, a couple more will come back online when the weather gets a bit cooler.

As it is, I moved the data from six drives on one computer into a single more modern (and higher capacity) drive. And in general, the drives of that physical size all are close to the same power draw, so I've cut that power (and heat) to 17% of what it was.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

According to Wild_Bill :

Thanks. I may stop off if I see a Snap-On truck in the neighborhood. However, the last I remember was one which came to the lab where I worked perhaps twenty years ago or so.

That sounds good -- though the impact wrenches should really do it anyway -- and be easier to control.

I've got one of the generic copies of that -- picked up from a tool vendor at a hamfest a couple of years ago. Nice to use when the torque needs are smaller. Though what I use most of the time is an electric screwdriver -- originally the AEG ones, now the Milwaukee which took over the line (well -- Panasonic makes them too). This one can either be used straight, or hinged in the middle to give a sort of pistol grip, which gives more torque control at the cost of less reach.

Where I really fell in love with the original AEG was when I used to have to swap cards out of the VME chassis Suns. Each card was held in with two Allen-head M3.5x0.45 screws something like an inch long. Without the electric driver, it took forever to unscrew just one of them. The electric driver has a nice adjustable torque limit collar, so I can just run the screw in until it starts clicking.

O.K. I don't know how much of my work with it will be in tight quarters yet, so if I do get the quick-change retainer I guess that I'll keep the original spring one as well. How often do those fail?

Thanks, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

DoN, I don't know that failure of the basic retainer spring was much of an issue, as much as effectiveness would be (although the failure rate on the imported retainers could be an issue, I haven't used any of the current production versions). The basic type of retainer springs that I've used in the past, stretched, causing the chisel to fall out of the tool when it wasn't being used (which was just an inconvenience).

The basic retainer spring (the one someone posted a link to, in 2-packs), barely retains the chisel, particularly when the chisel slips off the work. That's when a good retainer is important. Under normal, controlled usage, the retainer isn't doing much. As the operator is providing pressure on the tool, and the chisel is hitting on the work, the retainer isn't really doing much as far as being functional.. the user could operate the tool without a retainer under controlled conditions.

The retainer is more functional when the chisel slips off the work, or when the tool is set aside, to do something else.

For splitting spotwelds, I found that drilling them was a worthwhile step, especially when the panel was to be reused. I could hit the spots with a sharp split-point drill just enough to remove a little more than half of the depth of both layers of metal, which would make separation a breeze. A sharp 1/4" drill will remove most of the spotweld in a couple of rotations, and just leave a slight divot in the second layer of metal.

The tool truck guys were offering tiny holesaws (more like a dowel cutter or spade bit) specifically for spotwelds, but I got along just fine with a sharp drill.

I still drill spotwelds in most assemblies that I want to disassemble, even in much heavier materials than sheetmetal. It's probably the best way to defeat a spotweld, since the actual weld joint is often smaller than the deformed area caused by the tips of the spotwelder.

WB ......... metalworking projects

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Reply to
Wild_Bill

According to Wild_Bill :

O.K.

Agreed.

Otherwise, it turns into a projectile?

Or -- when running the air hammer for a few seconds after adding a few drops of oil at the end of the day's work, I guess.

That sounds good.

O.K.

Reasonable.

Thanks, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

On 27 Oct 2007 04:34:31 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@d-and-d.com (DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

Nor have I used any new import springs.

That's why you left it unscrewed a turn and a half. It would still retain the chisel but was easily moved to swap 'em.

AFTER work?!? I've always oiled her up and started actual work inverted for a few seconds to get the oil in 'er. Don't run the chisel without a backup. It can split the case and you'll have chisel, retainer, and half your (broken) gun moving across the room.

Spotweld drills are available and are a godsend for that work. I've helped bodymen remove quarter panels before, and the drills help you save the fender or q-panel. Chiseling spot welds usually results in the severe deformation of both sheets and the ripping of one. Not good.

Oh, this is what I was referring to in the last paragraph.

Agreed.

-- Jewish Zen: Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated, already?

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- Uncomplicated Website Design, here and now.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

According to Larry Jaques :

[ ... ]

O.K.

[ ... ]

Either the "manual" which came with mine, or the Harbor Freight one (I forget which) suggested oiling both before and after the day's work -- I guess so you put it away well oiled, and thus are a bit less likely to have rust if there was water in the air.

O.K. Of course, I don't expect to be doing bodywork - but you never can tell -- and others reading the thread may find it useful too. But I may be breaking seams with spot welds to gain access to a tar potted transformer or something similar -- after first melting and pouring the tar out.

Thanks, DoN.

P.S. This has really turned into a long thread. :-)

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

...

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some StickScrew pictures, and as you may know, Tower Fasteners at
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(all on one line) says they sell StickScrew products. No idea if affordable.

Reply to
James Waldby
[ ... ]

[ ... ]

That is the product -- though they have swapped ends of the name (or I have mis-remembered :-)

And looking at the PDF brochure, the joining of the screws is a but more beefy than those which I have -- which are 4-40 brass.

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Hmm ... a pity that the site is currently returning:

"Configuration problem in hosting file accessing:

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"

so I'll have to try again later -- after they finish breaking the web site. :-)

Thanks, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

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