once the weather gets a bit warmer I want to fix up my bike

not just to have a bike to ride, but to learn how to fix a bike in the process

Let me know when ready. Can give pointers.

Posting a PSA in here, please let me know if its too graphic / breaks any rules and I’ll remove. Any of you guys that are in an industrial field no doubt get your PPE policies drilled into you over and over. But it’s all too easy to neglect that when you’re working at home. Almost lost my thumb this weekend, taking apart an automatic louver/damper motor, and I neglected to relive the tension from the spring inside. Had I been wearing gloves it probably wouldn’t have been as bad.

Friday night trip to the ER for a severed tendon and artery, severed the nerve also, Dr says I probably won’t get the feeling back, at least not fully. Stupid mistake.

I'm sorry to see it, bro. Great point, though. Just because it's at your house, doesn't mean it's a toy

Yeah, just an oversight. Could have been way worse. Could have flown up and hit me in the eye or something permanent. Or another 1/4in I would have been picking my thumb off of the garage floor

Good PSA. Call me overkill, but I wear this every time I’m working with a knife or dremel:
Stainless Steel Mesh Hand Glove - Cut Resistant <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NNT2F8/>

Best wishes brother. I have a buddy who was shot in the hand in Afghanistan and later sliced a tendon in his kitchen while cooking chicken. He said the pain from the bullet didn’t approach the pain from the sliced tendon @Px4stormtrooper#3883

Funny enough, the initial cut wasn’t very painful at all. I believe because of the severed nerve. It was more of a dull pain, and I still have very little sensation at all on the whole side of the thumb. It has mainly been a huge annoyance not being able to grip with that hand. It’s damn near impossible to do anything without a thumb, even simple things, like having to reach across with my left hand to start my truck. Luckily I’ll be healed up in a week or two and it’ll be a lesson learned. Just take care of yourselves gents, be safe out there

Any pointers beyond RTFM when it comes to not breaking powertools/stripping bolts/don't do X to Y because Z

Been having a time of it lately.

Also is there any kind of 'how not to be a greenie round the shop' manual beyond binging AvE vids?

Downward pressure, sharp tools.

@Freiheit - CA Why is Snap-On still in business? Does the quality of their tools really demand such a high price? All my wrenches are Craftsman, and although I don't use them but about once a week, they've stayed sharp for the 5 years I've had them. Plus, the warranty

What do you guys think of Klein?

I have them, they're electrician's tools more than anything

@Deleted User If you're just a hobbyist, do Craftsman. Klein is like $40 for a pair of pliers

@John O - Snap on has killer warranty and support but these days it's a lot of marketing.

Replacements are no questions asked, that's what you pay so much for

I'm sure the fact that they offer in house financing helps, too

There are other small task-specific companies.

No questions asked returns pisses me off. I have to pay more because some retard can't take care of his shit?

A decade later you'll appreciate it when Craftcuck no longer makes it

Buy old tools @John O - there are deals to be had.

I’ve been using a new holland set for years but I’m in the market for another set now and want to by US made

Le farm law

@Freiheit - CA Yeah bro, I'm very aware that Craftsman is in it's way out

@John O - What kind of work do you do?

@John O -#7072 if it's just home stuff, that'd cool, I don't mean to be a rude snob. I own no Snap-On, but use it at work all the time, have my own set of other stuff for same kind of work at home.

Commercial electrical @Freiheit - CA

I see.

@Joseph McCarthy - NJ what is it you're doing?
I have a ton of pointers and advice, I've been working blue collar for the last 18 years. Grew up on a tobacco farm and I'm a tool maker by trade, so I've pretty much seen it all.

When a motor in a power tool is going out you'll start to smell ozone, and it's cake to replace the motors. You can really smell it from a drill.

If you're giving a saw hell and it's screaming obviously back off and let the blade do the cutting. Hand saws let the blade cut don't try to use your saw as a knife.

If you're stripping heads out of screws make sure you have the proper bit size, most people use a #2 phillips head for everything, it's to big for a #1 ph and it will strip, if you try to use a #2ph on a #3 ph it will strip because it's to small. Push as hard as you can on it to try and back out the screw then ease off the pressure.
If you're using a hand screw driver, mostly slot head, put the palm of you hand on the butt of the driver and apply pressure using your other hand to turn it, sounds like common sense but it's not.
If you have a stripped screw, Phillips, you can try a square bit and about half the time you'll get it out, if whatever you're working isn't wood or it will be hidden get a pair of needle nose vice grips and un screw it that way. Or you could drill it out...

Just throwing that out there. Also who cares about being green around a shop. Everything outside of machining I learned by doing, fucking up, starting all over until I got it right. Made note of mistakes and learned my lesson.

Tools are personal preference. If you're just a home owner pretty much anything you buy will get the job done. If you're going to be using that tool more than a few times a month buy something contractor grade.
Like I'm a big fan of Milwaukee linemen pliers, where John uses Klein, I cut nails all day with mine and Milwaukee seems to holds an edge longer.

@Joseph McCarthy - NJ oh and READ THE FUCKING MANUAL

You wouldn't believe how many people out there don't know the potential of their tools.

Also SnapOn, new holland, Browning are better than craftsman and popular mechanic because they use a better quality steel. Those cheap pig iron dropped forged wrenches break easy.
And I believe that SnapOn does on site repair too. I know the Milwaukee reps will do repair for cheap.

Sorry, just thinking of things.