Here is the second installment of the tools articles...
IT’S TOOL TIME ONCE AGAIN
Already in the list of TOP TIGER TOOLS are:-
1. A Large Hammer
2. An Angle Grinder
3. A Very Good Set of Drill Bits.
4. A Pair of Engineers Dividers.
And coming in as Tiger Tool No.5 we have………..
A Propane Gas Heater
O.K, so strictly speaking a propane gas heater is not really a tool. But what could be more useful than something that allows you to work in the garage all through the winter. Very often the thought of leaving the warm embrace of a centrally heated house for the freezing confines of the garage can sway even the keenest of kit car builders to put off ‘til tomorrow what needs to be done today.
In fact, with my own build, and with SWMBO suffering increasing bouts of ‘Tiger Tension’, it was often considerably warmer in the garage than indoors!!!.
I went for the smallest Turbo Fan Assisted Propane Heater from ‘Screwfix’ which was rated at 34,000btu/hr (10kw) and cost around £80 (now only available in Stainless steel @ £99). This little puppy was more than capable of quickly warming a freezing cold double garage to a very comfortable working temperature, and maintaining it. It certainly couldn’t be left running continuously as the garage became too hot to work in, and as I don’t like to break sweat at work I certainly don’t intend to break sweat at home. Because of the turbo fan forced air combustion system the nicely heated air is circulated all around the workspace, and you don’t appear to get the condensation problems that are normally evident with most propane gas heaters. As I started my build in October 2004 the heater was one of my very first purchases as I was keen to ‘crack on’, and by using one of these heaters I was able to carry on building in a nice warm hospitable environment right through the winter. Gas consumption wasn’t too bad as I only used 2 x 19kg propane gas cylinders over the whole build which worked out at a total heating bill of £38. A bargain!!.
And as Tiger Tool No.6….
A Deburring Tool
I got a pair of these handy little gadgets from Car Builder Solutions for £5. As each and every one of the thousands of holes that you drill during the build needs to be de-burred, you might as well use the proper tool. Especially as they are so cheap.
Using one blade of a pair of side cutters, a file tang or an old drill bit to de-burr invariably results in a scruffy finish, or a severed artery and blood all over the work piece when it slips and stabs the numty misusing his tools.
Because I’m a lazy so and so I’m always on the look out for labour saving schemes, and so it didn’t take me long to tire of manually de-burring all the alloy panel holes. ‘Labour Saving Plan No.1’ was swiftly formed and involved removing the handle from one of the pair of de-burring tools so that it fitted into the chuck of my air drill.
Hey Presto!, Tiger Tool No.6½ is born …the air powered de-burring tool.
This would work equally well in an electric drill and makes short work of de-burring the hundreds of rivet holes in the alloy panels and chassis frame. Also works well as a countersink in softer materials, i.e. aluminium & fibreglass.
