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Rhubarb Tau's Sloggy Vlog Blog Bog

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Entries in this blog

Making Better Hose Clamp Pliers, Pt. 3 - A Prototype!

Success! well, sort of.  I've got one prototype made, ready for testing. Figure I'll throw it in the toolbag, try it out for a while, see if I have any notes.  The action of the base pliers is so much better than the KP-2s, but I can't take credit for that piece of the puzzle; The "Masterbilt" or "Masterbuilt" pliers that I bought 2 of are allegedly mfg'd by Irwin, who I believe makes Vise-Grips. I originally ordered 2 Vise-Grips from Tooltron Industries, who claimed to offer a bulk di

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Spring Hose Clamp Pliers Build

Making Better Hose Clamp Pliers, Pt. 2

Mini update, really. After tooling up the lathe a little more and getting some more practice in, I've made a first set of jaws. I ended up making several of the male side first, getting quite a bit more efficient, but until today I didn't have a tailstock chuck for the center-drilling. They're not the work of a pro, and the dimensions may need to be tweaked, but I think they might be serviceable. Next up, unbox and set up the MIG welder I bought a while back

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Spring Hose Clamp Pliers Build

Making Better Hose Clamp Pliers, Pt. 1

Well, I quit. I'm done using crappy hose clamp pliers that frustrate me almost every tie I use them. ERP KP-2's, in particular. As I alluded to in another thread recently on the site, I wish ERP or one of the other KP-2 clone mfgs would build them with actual Vise-Grip pliers, instead of the shitty cheap knock-offs that don't totally lock, or twist their way off the hose clamp making a comical "SPROING!" sound that just somehow makes me even madder but also kinda amused.  Anyhoo...

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Spring Hose Clamp Pliers Build

Testing Knipex 85 51 180A "Spring Hose Clamp Pliers" vs. ERP KP-2 Hose Clamp Pliers

After @Pioneer's recent post looking for recommendations for spring hose clamp pliers, I decided to try what, judging by the price ($67.99, delivered), I figured must be the Cadillac option; the Knipex 85 51  180A (smaller of 2 sizes, 10" big brother are Knipex 85 51 250 A, both of which Knipex describes as  "Spring Hose Clamp Pliers") tl;dr - They're okay I guess, but I think they're intended for single-wire spring hose clamps, not the double wire type that we typically see in appliances. 

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Tool Testing and Reviews

Testing HSI Ignitor Amps at Low Voltages

I posted this in reply to a Tech Forum post (linked below), but thought I would cross-post here to keep track of it, as well as to have a place to post any follow up testing I did a quick test of Hot Surface Ignitor amps at different voltages, and what I measured was way more linear than I expected. See graph below. I used a variac to vary supply voltage to a brand new Robertshaw 41-205 rectangular HSI ignitor. I measured the ignitor current at 5V steps after a little settling time until th

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Science Try-Its!

Wire Piercing Probes in Action - Locating breaks in Whirlpool SxS Lower Hinge Wiring

I put this in a Dojo post, but thought I might just post it to my just-created Appliantology blog to make it easier to find I made a video the other day on a callback for broken lower hinge wiring on a Kitchenaid SxS. Earlier in the week I had spliced all of the breaks I could find, found two wires with multiple breaks along their length, some concealed inside unbroken insulation, advised the customer that it was a temporary fix, and was relieved when the icemaker finally passed its harvest

Rhubarb Tau

Rhubarb Tau in Wiring Repair

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