Under the Choko Tree By Nevin Sweeney

Tools and Gear for Repairs and Maintenance

It is more mundane than solar power, water tanks and food storage, but it is very important to have the tools and equipment to enable you to maintain your house and machinery.  Some aptitude for mechanical work is a good thing to have but most people can perform minor repairs such as changing a tap washer or adjusting the spark plug gap on the car with the right tools and a little instruction .

A place to store tools, spares etc and a place to work makes things so much easier so a garage or garden shed will be a distinct advantage.  If you are pressed for space and do not have such facilities there are other ways to set up  a work area.  At the risk of raising the ire of the lady of the house, the kitchen table can be converted to a work bench (temporarily of course!) fairly easily.

The single most important point to remember is that cheap tools and fittings are false economy.  Where possible, buy only Australian, British, American or German tools, although some Japanese tools are of reasonable quality. Second hand tools can also be of good quality and are always worth a look, espscially if they are going cheap.

Workshop Facilities

Lighting

The area should be well lit by natural or artificial light.  Some artificial light in necessary so work can be carried on at night, bearing this in mind 12v lights, brackets for candles or kerosene lamps or gas lighting should be allowed for when the area is being designed.

Work Bench

This is one of the most important items in a work area. It should be sturdy and solidly braced so it will not collapse when it is hammered on or planed against.  A very heavy work bench can be made from sleepers mounted together and held up by a steel or wooden frame. Another article on this site covers the manufacture of the workbench illustrated below. Portable benches such as the "Bathurst" style folding bench are quite good for most jobs and even the "workmate" style is better than nothing.

A hand made bench can be a thing of beauty

As mentioned earlier the kitchen table can be converted to a bench by making up a 25mm thick piece of particle board or plywood (plywood is better but more expensive) the size of the table top.  On one of the longest sides of the bench top an edging should be secured which goes down over the edge of the kitchen table, this is the side you work from.  The top and working side of the kitchen table is protected and if the opposite side to the edging is clamped down to the table (using "G" clamps) a serviceable work bench is produced.  Vices may be fixed to the working side of the worktop to increase its usefulness.  The underside of the bench top should also have a felt lining to prevent scratching the table.

Power

Normal 240v power points should be located in the work area so power tools can be used when electricity is available. A lot of time and effort can be saved by having a few power tools say, a hand drill, bench grinder and perhaps Orbital sander.  Of those the most useful by far is the hand drill so if you are going to set up a 12vDC system it is worth buying a 12v drill, it will make things much easier when the power goes out.

A hand powered Grinder is a Handy Thing!

Tool Storage

If space permits the peg board or shadow board is the best method of tools storage.  All tools are visible at a glance, it is easy to see if one has not been replaced and when you need a tool you can walk up and take it without spending half an hour looking for it.  The tools also remain in better shape. chisels are not blunted rubbing against files, files do not clog with dirt, saw do not damage tool handles or blunt themselves, as they do when jolted around in a toolbox.  If a tool is getting a bit rusty it can be seen immediately and attended to.

Some tools in boxes  eg. planes, socket sets, screwdrivers or taps and dies may be more easily stored on shelves or in drawers so some allowance for this type of storage should also be made.  If you do need a travelling toolkit the tools are best kept in a cloth or plastic tool roll. this can then be stored in the toolbox.  In a tool roll the tools are kept separated, and are protected but are easily accessible and portable.

TOOLS

Hammers

For wood work a claw hammer and mallet are essential, for metal work medium size ball pen hammer is needed and for general work a l.5 kg club hammer is required.  In the "nice to have" category are - several rubber hammers, a soft face hammer, a tack hammer, cross pen hammer and a sledge hammer.

A selection of hammers

Chisels

A set of four good quality firmer chisels cover most requirements (6 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm, 24 mm wide) a mortice chisel or two are good for heavier work and chiselling out mortices for mortice and tenon joints in wood (funny bout that).  A cold chisel or two for cutting metal drums, sheet etc is also a good idea.

Planes

An all purpose jack plane is all that is necessary for most jobs.  A small block plane is very handy for small jobs and a spoke shave is good for irregularly shaped work.

Planes and a spokeshave

Saws

A tenon saw, rip saw, cross cut saw, (or combination rip/crosscut) will handle most wood jobs but a hacksaw is necessary for metal cutting.  Spare blades are required for the hacksaw as they are very difficult to sharpen and tend to break.  To keep your wood saws in trim it is advisable to have a triangular saw sharpening file and a saw set to maintain the angle of the saw teeth to the blade.  This prevents the saw binding in the cut.

A remarkably handy all-purpose rough work saw is the bush saw , they are ridiculously cheap and very versatile being at home with pruning , fire wood cutting or rough carpentry work . There should be room in any self reliant persons' tool kit for a bush saw and spare blade .

Some of my saws

Screw Drivers

A full set of slot and philips (cross) head screw drivers is available for a reasonable price, produced by Stanley, from most hardware stores.  The quality of steel in cheap screwdrivers is immediately obvious when you go to use them and they bend like case hardened chewing gum!

Twist Drills

I only buy "Frost" brand drills, they are excellent quality, Australian made and reasonably priced but can be hard to get.  A full set from l/16" up to the size of your drill chuck (usually 3/8" or l/2") can be bought as a set or one at time.  A set of frost masonry drills is also worth investing in.

Spanners/Sockets

A set of open ended/ring spanners metric or imperial depending on what type of car you have Japanese/European or Australian/American/English is worth investing in.  Also a set of 3/4 inch or half inch drive metric/imperial sockets is a valuable set of tools if you intend working on cars, bicycles or lawn mowers etc.  A lO" and a 6" shifting spanner (or "shifter") are versatile tools when used properly, they can damage nuts if used improperly.

Measuring Tools

The following are a good basic set of measuring tools -
-    One x 3.5 m tape measure
-    One set of metric or imperial feeler gauges
-    One x 30 cm stainless steel rule .
Nice to have are -
-    One set of inside and outside callipers - 150mm long
-    One x 1 metre stainless steel rule
-    One folding wooden rule
-    One set of vernier callipers .

Marking Tools

-    A carpenters pencil or two
-    One steel scriber
-    A marking gauge used for marking out mortices on wood

Pliers

A set of solid, square nosed crescent pattern pliers 150 to 250 mm long is a good start as they are very versatile, along with a set of long nosed and side cutting pliers make a good basic kit. Nice to have are slip-joint pliers, vice grips, circlip pliers and a set of multigrips. Working in a similar manner but not strictly pliers are a set of offset tinsnips and bolt cutters, both worth having.

Some of my pliery-like things

Files

These are handy for shaping, smoothing, de- burring, enlarging holes etc. For a basic kit a 250 mm half round second cut, bastard and smooth file plus a rasp will cover most situations. A round file, three corner file and square file round out the kit.

Vices

Engineers Vice

There are two basic common types - the all steel engineers vice and  the wood faced carpenters vice. They are measured by the size of the saws ie. a 6" (300 mm) vice has jaws 6" wide. A good allpurpose engineers vice is a 3" (150mm) but for heavy work a 5" (125mm) or 6" (160mm) is needed to absorb the energy of hammer blows without breaking. A wood working vice with 6 - 8" jaws is the most versatile for carpentry use.

Small woodworking vice


Holding Tools

Known as "clamps" in metalworking and "cramps" in woodworking, these tools allow us to hold work together so we can join, screw, glue, sand, weld, paint, fix and generally work on. If you work by yourself without an assistant, you can't hace too many clamps/cramps. There are G-clamps, C-clamps, mitre clamps, pipe clamps, spring loaded clamps, specialy clamps; you name it, it's out there. A good selection of different sized G-clamps is a good place to start and a few (even el cheapo) spring loaded clamps can get you out od a tight spot. I just picked up 5 second hand mitre clamps and have found them useful for making cupboards and boxes as well as picture frames.

Mitre Clamps - mind bogglingly useful

Sharpening Stones

A 150 mm long rectangular combination bench stone will keep most edged tools like chisels and planes sharp. A circular combination axe stone is good for axes and other garden tools.

Welding

The facility for welding in a workshop greatly extends the variety of work you can do. It enables you to join thick pieces of steel, rebuild worn parts, patch holes in metal and build metal structures which are strong and secure. It is a skill which must be learned and is very difficult to pick up out of a book, but there are TAFE courses around
which are very good , teaching both theory and practice. There are two types of welders in common use in the home.

a.   Arc Welders - These come in a range of sizes and allow the handy man to weld steel up to 12 mm thick fairly readily. Rapid, cheap welding of various thickness of steel is the arc welders forte, and when you have bought your welder there is no other cost apart from rods. Arc welders dorequire electricity to run, petrol driven welder/generator sets are available but they are bulky and very expensive. So in most instances when the electricity stops so does your welding. There is a booklet available from Trendline Publishing Co. GPO Box 1889, Sydney, 2001-which tells how to build a portable welder from a car alternator. If you are interested this would be one way of welding without 240v electricity..

My Faithful Arc Welder

b.   Oxy - Acetylene Welding - This uses the heat of the oxy acetylene flame to melt metal and filter rod to form a joint. They are very versatile allowing metal to be cut as well as welded. It is easier that Arc welding and non ferrous metals eg. copper and brass can be welded and brazed as well as steel and cast iron. oxy acetylene uses cylinders of compressed gas and no outside power sources are required, but the cylinders are only able to be rented. So even if it sits in your garage for 6 months at a time unused it will still cost you a yearly rental fee. Also to weld thick steel is expensive in terms of time. effort and gas, but all in all if you want to weld and can only buy one set of equipment, make it oxy acetylene.


CONSUMABLES

Lubricants

-    Engine Oil - you need sufficient for 1 oil change for the car plus any small 4 stroke motors eg Generator, lawn motor, rotary hoe etc.
-    Machine Oil - 2 - 3 bottles of light machine oil for bearings, squeaks , to lubricate sharpening stones etc.
-    All Purpose Grease - A 2 kg tin would be enough for most uses.
-    H.T. Bearing Grease - 500 g for wheel bearings
-    WD-40 or equivalent - 2 TO 3 cans or 1 litre of the liquid and a spray gun.
-    Graphite - To be used where grease or oil picks up dust or and makes the problem worse - 1 bottle .
-    2 Stroke Oil - For use with unleaded petrol if you have any 2 stroke powered machines eg Chainsaw or motor mower.

Tapes

-    PVC electricians tape - Mind bogglingly useful stuff for sealing, joining and generally holding things together. Can be used on electrical gear too! Keep 10 rolls.
-    P.T.F.E. (Teflon) tape - A plumber on a roll! useful when sealing threaded joints especially on plumbing - 2 to 3 rolls.
-    Reinforced Repair Tape - Good for patching up holes in all sorts of things and holding things together, it is a full 50mm wide. 2 to 3 rolls.
-    Masking tape - Comes in 22 mm, 25 mm and 50 mm width 2 rolls of 25 mm is handy.

Glues

-    PVA - is a very useful wood glue although it is not water proof. A 1 litre bottle is handy.
-    Epoxy - (eg Araldite) - Good where a rigid joint is required, it forms a strong bond. Two tubes each of glue and hardener.
-    Contact Cement - Good for gluing rubber, plastic and other flexible surfaces. Two 500 ml tins.

Fasteners

-    Screws - 1 box each of 5/8", 1", 1.25", 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3" long.
-    Nails - These are best bought by weight as mixed nails from hardware sections of department stores or from hardware stores.
-    Nuts and Bolts - A wide selection is advisable but 1/4" diameter Whitworth bolts of varying lengths are very handy.
-    Hinges - a variety .
-    Hooks and Eyes
-    Coach Bolts - 25 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm long.

Spares

It is impossible to keep all the spares that you might need for a long period of disorder. But the more bits and pieces you can salt away the easier you will cope with problems as they arise.

Cars

The amount of spares you keep depend on how long you consider cars would be usable after a breakdown. This would also be affected by the amount of petrol you store.

Spark Plugs (1 set)                    Radiator Hoses
Distributor cap                        Fan Belt
Rotor Button                           Tyre inner tube
Condenser                              Points
Coil                                   Assorted Fuses
Assorted light bulbs                   Air cleaner element
Fuel filter                            Oil Filter
Carburetter Kit                        Fuel pump diagram

Small Petrol Motors eg - Motor motor, Chainsaw, generator

The minimum you should keep is a spark plug for each. If you think it warranted and can make use of it a carburetter kit and points/condenser setup for each motor may also be worth keeping. Also a spare chain for the chainsaw.

Bicycles

Parts for bikes are readily available now and fairly cheap, and bikes may be the transport of the future when the petrol runs out so stock up now.

-    Bearings - 1 pack of each of the major ball bearing sizes - 5/32", 3/16", 1/4" and 5/16". 1 head set bearings and seat.
-    Tyre - 1 per bike
-    Tyre Tubes - 1 to fit each bike plus spare valve and puncture kit.
-    Brake Shoes - 4 per bike
-    Cotter pins - Two per bike if applicable
-    Spokes - 2 or 3 to fit each bike (plus spoke key)
-    Axle - 1 front axle per bike complete with bearing caps
-    Chain - 1 per bike

Lighting

-    1 Glass and wick for each hurricane lamp
-    1 bulb and batteries for each torch
-    Candle wicking for making candles

Plumbing

-    Leather and fibre tap washers
-    50 mm PVC piping for modifying drainage lines plus fittings and cement
-    Yorkshire fittings for repairing water lines

Building repairs

-    Hardwood for shoring up walls.
-    Tarpaulins and black plastic rolls for covering damaged roofs
-    Extra roof tiles
-    Extra bricks
-    Cement in bags
-    Acrow props
-    Corrugated iron sheets

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