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1st August 2019, 03:43 AM #1SENIOR MEMBER
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Shifting Spanners and YouTube Videos
I know I’m being a bit of a tool snob, but I really hate it when someone (supposedly an expert) on YouTube is telling me how to build or restore something and next thing they’re attacking some really tight nuts with a shifting spanner. To be honest, if I see them approaching a finger-tight nut armed with a shifter, I cringe - even seeing one lying on the bench in the background puts me off.
I wonder if I can campaign YouTube to add a tick-box to their search function to exclude videos where shifting spanners feature. And while they’re busy, what about those woodturning ones where they skip from a hairy as a bears kneecap, tearout ridden proto-bowl to a smooth as a baby’s bottom surface glowing with the first coat of its finish. You just know that there was a lot of work with an 80 grit “gouge” involved in the missing bit, but he’s making money off YouTube likes and you’re practicing your finishing cuts in obscurity.
I know where I got my dislike of shifters - it’s all my Dad’s fault. In his mind, a shifter was a last resort and even then you didn’t use it if you planned to re-use the same bolts and nuts. It would have been used briefly just before the angle grinder, had he ever owned an angle grinder. At the same time though, he never had a clue about sharpening chisels and plane blades, beyond an often repeated comment that they were blunt. I suppose that shows his preference for mechanical fiddling rather than wooden fiddling. And somehow although I’ve managed to teach myself some of the basics of sharpening and at least manage to make the occasional pile of shavings, but I still own a lot more spanners than I do chisels.
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1st August 2019 03:43 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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1st August 2019, 09:04 AM #2
Colin, I had a fitter uncle who had a pathological hatred of shifters, just like your dad. Anyone who pulled out a shifter as a first resort was immediately branded a 'butcher' & relegated to a very low point in his esteem. His dictum was always use a ring-spanner if there was room, or a socket & ratchet if it was in a tight spot. The (correct size) open-ender was acceptable for light work.
However, he did own a couple of shifters (Sidchromes, of course!), because there are always those occasions when even he found them useful (those who know how to make the rules know how the break them, eh? ). But I was so heavily indoctrinated by him at an early age that I still feel sinful using a shifter. The changeover to Metric has caused me endless grief; I could once judge very accurately what size spanner to take to a job, but with the crazy mix of Imperial & Metric sizes rattling around now, I often pick up a shifter as well as the size I think I need, to save walking back to the toolbox several times!
Cheers,IW
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1st August 2019, 09:21 AM #3
In my old trade we called them shitters not shifters.
One particular young guy was named round off for obvious reasons [emoji849].
But I will confess to owning one or two shitters.
Cheers Matt
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1st August 2019, 10:07 AM #4.
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Youtube is full of this sort of rubbish - all the more reason to avoid it.
Shifters do have their place and I have a couple of larger ones as my ring spanners max out at 30mm.
My fave for light stuff light plastic plumbing is a wide mouth (60mm opening) Eclipse.
It has a surprisingly positive jaw action given its size.
Screen Shot 2019-08-01 at 7.03.39 am.jpg
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1st August 2019, 10:39 AM #5
I had a stud workmate who wanted to undo a large nut so he put across the flats a slip head G clamp and wondered why it didn't work.
This is a true story!!Just do it!
Kind regards Rod
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1st August 2019, 03:04 PM #6
Sorry Ian, but while Sidchrome can make adequate spanners and sockets they can’t make a shifter any better than Gripwell or Supertool.
As an instructor at HMAS Cerberus teaching basic mechanical maintenance techniques I used to tell the trainees that the best tool was a 6 point socket, followed by a 12 point socket or ring spanner, and then an OE spanner. There was a practically unused 6” shifter in the wall mounted Sidchrome tool cabinet and I used to go through the many flaws such as non-parallel jaws, the sloppy fit with the moveable jaw able to flop around in every direction and the very coarse threaded adjustment mechanism that wouldn’t really hold a setting. Then I’d reach into my pocket and pull out the Bahco that had lived in my overalls pocket through the last decade and four war zones; despite its age and obvious wear the tolerances were much tighter and had only a fraction of the slop of the Sidchrome. I wasn’t trying to promote the use of the tool, but to point out that the “best” branded tool they would ever be issued with was a piece of junk best suited for weighting bait lines so not to bother unless they were willing to shell out themselves for a top brand.
I agree with Bobl, they have their place. Plumbing and electrical glands are often quite huge but don’t require the torque offered by the correct sized OE spanner. And I have had success undoing rounded off fasteners with a Bahco that had been damaged by an OE spanner. I actually have most sizes between 6” and 24”; all Bahco. They don’t come out very often but are selected when I consider them to be the most appropriate tool for that specific job.Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.
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1st August 2019, 06:50 PM #7
No need to apologise to me, CT, it was my uncle's opinion, not mine.
In his defense, perhaps, I should point out that I'm talking two generations before your time, when there was a much more narrow choice of affordable tools, and Sidchrome still had a reputation for quality stuff. The 3/8" socket set I bought in the late 60s has done yeoman service for me, & is still in remarkably good condition, despite some pretty rough treatment at my hands, so I have no complaints, but that's pretty much the limit of my experience - the rest of my spanners are a motley collection of brands picked up as the need arose....
Cheers,IW
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1st August 2019, 09:31 PM #8
Some years ago I worked on a few HV switchyard construction jobs over in NZ. The guys there refered to shifters as 'Nut F@#kers", describes them perfectly.
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1st August 2019, 10:32 PM #9
Once upon a time I worked in a motorcycle shop. That establishment did not allow shifters at all. This was particularly because motorcycles tend to have smaller bolts than other vehicles and the chance of rounding off a bolt head is increased.
Then I came to Australia where it seemed that there was only one spanner: The ubiquitous shifter. However in industry the chances of round a nut are quite a bit less. Still I am with the rest of you blokes in decrying this tool. Having said that I do have a couple of those wide jaw shifters that Bob mentioned. One I keep in a small pouch that I always carry when at work. It has come in handy many times.
If I use a shifter at home: Yes, I am naturally lazy and I do use them, I check to see if it is slipping. If it looks like slipping I go to the proper tools of which I have many. I try not to be too pedantic.
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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1st August 2019, 10:53 PM #10SENIOR MEMBER
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1st August 2019, 10:59 PM #11.
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Here's another example where long/wide nose shifters are real handy.
Many electrical electronics items are small and awkwardly shaped that makes it impossible to get a ring or other spanner into the limited space provided.
This is the 150mm version of the same shifter as I showed in the previous photo (that's a 250mm version).
I keep this one in my electronics workshop.
Shifter.JPG
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1st August 2019, 11:32 PM #12Member
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I suspect shifting spanners are one area where you get what you pay for. I've never had any problem with high quality Bahcos and the like, not any different from open ended spanners. My real hate is the use of vice grips as spanners, now that will really chew up a nut.
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2nd August 2019, 08:44 AM #13
Horses for courses, Jim - a vise-grip has been my saviour on quite a few occasions when dealing with a rounded nut (probably due to someone previously attacking it with a shifter! ). The extra damage is inconsequential since the nut has to be replaced in any case.
They can also be mighty handy as a third hand, quick clamp when welding, etc., so I'll fess up to owning a couple......
Cheers,IW
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2nd August 2019, 03:06 PM #14
This shifter is the only way I can release the tow ball nut, as I don't own any spanners (auto correct changed it to spandex, which I don't own any of either), and my socket set doesn't go large enough. My dad used to use this on the farm for his tractor.
And when we go on holiday two shifters always travel with us, they may not be the perfect tool, but far better than undoing a bolt with pliers (which i must admit to doing in a pinch).
Having said all that, I'm a really nice guy (I think) despite my tool choice
Remember, hate the tool choice, love the tool user [emoji12].
Lance
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2nd August 2019, 03:17 PM #15.
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I took my Towball nut into a Hand Tool Preservation Society meet and found a suitable size spanner for $2.
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