Any of THESE in your toolbox?

[FJ and G]

Some quirky tools for quirky jobs.

Top (clockwise)

Duckbilled platypus pliers. Useful for bending metal. Originally used to shape my scratchbuilt duckwork for my basement.

Hacksaw blade holder. Useful for cutting PVC/CPVC and flangeways in the frogs for my turnouts

Nippers. These can cut wires up close

Don't know the name of this tool and never used it yet since I just purchased it because it looked cool. I think this also cuts wires up close. Undoubtedly I'll be using this soon, as no tool goes to waste for long. And more importantly...

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TOOLS!!!!!!!!!!

[lionelsoni]

Those look like end nippers from here. You might consider grinding the blades flat, to fit the web of O27 rails. I have a pair of tongs that do that and find them very handy for reshaping the rails and making small adjustment bends.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Dave, are the ends of the unknown one sharp or dull? If they are dull, it's a tile nipper. They look too wide to be electrical.

[FJ and G]

sharp; hard to see but the end is flat. My buddy said it's for cutting a wire up close to a wall or something

[Dr. John]

Okay - where did you find them?

[lionelsoni]

http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp

[Sturgeon-Phish]

The end cuts are basically wire cutters but where the patricular shape comes in handy is when you are twisting wire, like baling wire. You pull on the lose ends while twisting the pliers and it twists the ends together real tight and neat. I also use them to twist solid conductor wire while holding the end of the stripped section with a pair of needle nose to make a tight twist for a wire nut to run down on. I have a 9" pair and I use them quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Doubt if this is what they were made for originaly, but in the glazing trade they are frequently used for nail pullers.

In removing finish wood stops for glass replacement finish nails often remain in the jambs after they have pulled through the thin stops. With a pair of these in your back pocket you would have them all pulled out before your co-worker would give up sliding off with the claw hammer on the last two or so slight-headed finish nails on his side and be forced to bend over and grab a pair of sidecutters out of of his tool bag to do an operation almost identical to what you just did.

The sharp beveled edge grips good on a traditional finish nail. New, soft, air driven, pin nailers make the tool worthless for that purpose.

[Anonymous]

Almost forgot the important point that they have an amazing amount of leverage for that purpose.

[underworld]

Similar to your platypur pliers is a tool called a hand seamer. It's used in the sheet metal trade and HVAC trade. They are available in straight or offset jaws.
They are nice because the jaws are very smooth....less marring of the surface.

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[FJ and G]

Underworld,

I know some of you think all I like is hi-rail stuff, but for the lowest level of my 4-level layout, I want to design some scratchbuilt tin-plate structures. The duckbills will come in handy for bending sheet metal and I bought myself a riveter to make some rivets. May even use sheet metal screws to give it a real industrial look. But for now, still working on the first level at the top!

[underworld]

Dave Sounds cool! I'm thinking about making a bridge for my tinplate stuff. I have to say I like Hi-rail, semi scale, toy train, tinplate....and all of the scales. Make sure to detail your progress when you start on the buildings! [:)]

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[jwse30]

David,

When you get around to building the tinplate buildings, another useful tool for beding tin is a handbrake. I tried takig a picture of mine, but the picture just shows a black rectangle. The advantage over you hand seamers is that you can buy these up to 24" long. There are two sides for bending. One gives you a 3/8" wide bend, the other gives a 3/4"(?) wide bend. I think I bought the 18" version, and I know it cost less than my hand seamers (I want to say it was about $15)

By the way, hand seamers are useful for straightening out the end rails on the tin Lionel flatcars (2411, I think ), and would probably do a fair job of straightening Marx tin cars too.

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TOOLS!!!!!!!!!!

Especially if you lend them out to family and friends. The most useful tool I own is my engraver. :(

[underworld]

I think my most useful tool is my bat.......but that's only if I know who has the other tool that I am looking for! [:p] I think my Dad used to call a bat a persuader!

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[AlanRail]

You cant take those aboard airplanes anymore.

*** Terrorists..


. . . . I'm expecting a call from the FBI any second now.

[underworld]

No bats????? What do the ball players do?????

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[FJ and G]

handseamer; handbrake;

man, have I got a lot more to learn. Why says toy trains ain't dull. As I said, the lowermost shelf of my 4 level layout will be strictly tinplate; some restored, which I have in several boxes and scratchbuilt.

I've got about 4 giant gatemen that I want to eventually hook up to a control rail and have them pop in and out of their shack. Also, I'd like to dabble w/some erector set type stuff. The beauty of the toy train classical theme is that I can let my imagination run amock without worrying about scale or prototype; not that every rivet is in its place in the upper 3 decks of the layout. :-)

[Anonymous]

I have these tools and I use dental tools also. I try to have the right tool to do the job and if needed I'll buy it or impervise.

[Pennvalley]

Yep, have one of each in my toolbox.

[scottsmith]

Duckbilled platypus pliers. I use to attach my the tabs on my multigauge track.

Scott Smith