Tools you didn't know you needed

Leon youre a genius =) the thought of usng an RC vehicle never crossed my mind but its SOOOOOO elegant and simple

And it means i get to buy a fun toy when its not work time

Same thing I used North American wide examples. But I prefer going to Ottawa Fastener Supply, or Preston Hardware. Same logic of course holds. Their clientele STARTS with the heavy duty handyman and goes up into trades and businesses from there.

But it made more sense considering its an international group to quote the national chains in each dept

If you do and get a chance to try it out I want to know how well it works :) They were too darn expensive yet when I was doing stuff like that. Sure beats falling through the ceiling though like one of my co-workers did. Ooops!

Somebody made a sling-shot, weight and string rig too. Nowadays someone would probably freak out and call the police if they saw you with a sling-shot...

Here are three different patents illustrating the idea:

Don't know if one was ever sold, but it wouldn't be too hard to make one for yourself.

RC would be more fun :)

I'm kinda thinking Tank instead of 4x4 to climb the T bars but I've also been looking for a good type of elastic for the slingshot. But its better than a rifle looking dartgun too.

the British Mark IV seems like an almost ideal vehicle for crawling through roof tiles since it cant even be flipped

...

I was made a sling shot with a fishing reel attached, to shoot line over tree limbs, to start ropes for felling. Didn't work for shit. Problem was the line would get tangled in the slingshot. Went through a number of revisions before I gave up.

Along a similar line, and maybe useful over dropped ceilings, would be a compressed air gun shooting a soft ball, with string attached. Here's a start:

Bob

It works better if you use an arrow in the slingshot. Bend a piece of coat-hanger wire for an arrow guide, with a bent notch between the two arms of the slingshot. Tie the string near the point of the arrow, rather than the nock, if you have any trouble with the string getting caught in the rubber.

This is the setup I've used to launch a string for radio antennas, over trees, in the field. I've used a closed-face spincasting reel taped to the front of the grip and I've tried open-face. Closed face is less troublesome.

-- Ed Huntress

"Leon Fisk" wrote

Electricians in the convention industry in Las Vegas use sling shots with a Zebco reel taped on to shoot a nut carrying fishing line. They then pull a rope that pulls their cables through the bar joists that support the ceiling. Been doing it for quite a while.

Steve

I have, on occasion, used a 30' tape measure with a suitable wad of vinyl tape over the hook to fish a pull string through ceiling spaces. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I saw the greenlee cablecaster and as a kid i had a little fishing rod called a pocket fisherman. It was a closed face reel and about 18 inches long overall with a little peice of rod

I am CURSING MYSELF for having lost it in the changes of houses because casting a nut or sinker with it would have been so nice. I never attached much faith in it as fishing equipment since i always used open bail reels from the age of about 8 onwards and it seemed like a gimmick or something to put in a suitcase I suddenly wish it was in my toolbox.

Brent Ottawa Canada

I don't know the truth of the matter, but the story was that on Friday afternoon, a pull string needed to be provided in 500' of 8" duct. One of the crew came back from the pet store with a rabbit which he harnessed to the string. When said rabbit refused to go more than ten feet into the duct, he pulled it back and applied a few drops of gasoline to the exhaust pipe. It was estimated the rabbit was doing 30 MPH when it came out the other end. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

And the crewman with the bright idea of using gasoline on the animal was met at the other end of the conduit by a Humane Officer and the local Deputy Sheriff with the "matching bracelets" already out.

Do not even kid about shit like that. Unless you want us to book the "Michael Vick Suite" for you at the regional Club Fed.

There are more effective ways to do things like that - find a friend with a pet Ferret or two. They aren't stupid - once the Carpet Shark gets the idea that when they follow the sound of the ringing bell and come out the other end of the pipe they get their favorite treat, they'll be in and out faster than that rabbit ever could - and it won't hurt.

And even at that you purge the pipes with a manhole blower first, to make sure there is good air inside.

-->--

I got some 18" ice fishing poles and reels for Christmas last year. They are the bail type reels and not pushbutton type. But, I bet you could get a pushbutton one, and I do know they make short poles ala Snoopy Fishing Poles for kids.

STeve

Drop ceilings were MADE for remote control trucks!!! I have an old BAHA buggy with the body taken off that I run in reverse across suspendend ceilings tied to a fish line.. If it gets stuck I jerk it back a bit and take another run at it. When it drops through the hole at the other end I tie my network cable to it and real in the fishline. For heavier cables I pull a pull rope through with the fishline, then use that to pull the heavy cable.

I was hoping it would give me the excuse to buy a real good 4X4 with proportional control, but the old garage sale find has done the job well enough that I've been satisfied not spending the extra.

Been using mine off and on for over 10 years.

Well I KNOW mice have been used to get a pull line through condoit

----.(1.5 or 2")

The tale may have mutated into some uncertainties by the time it reached me, but the role played by the animal would have remained a constant.

Seems there was an offshore oil rig with some problem, maybe a grounding problem which required attatching a cable at the bottom of one of the supporting legs after the unit had been in service for some time. Underwater cutting into the leg was not a bright idea for obvious reasons. And, evidently, the interior of the leg was made nearly impassable by a collection of fixed apparatus and general mechanical obstructions and wires. So, a bright boy got the idea of getting a dead rabbit and blew it, or most of what remained of it, down to the end of the leg with extreme air pressure. Then (remember another poster mentioned one of these) they took a ferret and affixed a cable with an electromagnetic clamp on his neck. When the cable reached maximum payout, the triggered the clamp which also released the ferret's collar and allowed him to come up into a cage baited with more of Brer' Rabbit.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

i prefer the bail i MIGHT go into an outdoor store and ask if they have any snapped fibergalss fishing poles and pick up a reel for it

Even humans die by that. We lost two telecom construction guys in my province this summer Guy 1 forgot to check the manhole Guy 2 did what instinct told him and went after guy 1

Neither emerged