O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.

In particular, the two chisels which I would have thought would
be for ripping off old mufflers and such -- both sort of 'V' profile,
one symmetrical and the other with one wing shorter and thinner than the
other -- both have rounded corners, which strike me as difficult to get
started under the end of the muffler's clamp. I am tempted to go to the
grinder and sharpen them -- but before I do this, I would like to know
how they *really* are supposed to be used.

I guess that the rounded corner could be started in a drilled
hole for ripping sheet metal (body work). One is just a narrow cone
which would be nice for driving out taper pins or dowel pins. One is a
wide chisel with a groove in the center. And the final one is just a
plain chisel. Both of these last two do have somewhat of an edge,
though far from "scary sharp" (which I would hardly expect to survive
the first five cycles anyway). :-)

So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Thanks all,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

OOH, a HF $4.99 special? I bought one for wood carving but I have a
good Chicago Pneumatic for real metalwork.


Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.


So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

In Chinglish, of course? Try the descriptions on these sites, Don:
http://www.become.com/shop?q=air+chisel

http://www.granitecitytool.com/howtochiselhammeruse.cfm

Or try auto-body books: http://tinyurl.com/ytetog


1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

No, put a couple drops in the inlet connector on the chisel. That way
it doesn't blow out when you connect the hose. (Those turkeys!)


2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Leave it on and only loosen it one turn (if you have to) to remove or
install chisels.


Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

FIRST, learn to keep your hands off the chisel and out of the spring.
DAMHIKT. Then, once you've got that mastered, you can put on a
padded glove and gently help guide the chisel while you work.

--
Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.
-- Harold Bloom, O Magazine, April 2003

According to Larry Jaques :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

OOH, a HF $4.99 special? I bought one for wood carving but I have a
good Chicago Pneumatic for real metalwork.

No -- a couple of notches better than that. The brand is AmPro
-- sold by the local auto parts chain "Advance Auto Parts".

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.


So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

In Chinglish, of course?

Actually, the English was pretty good. They just assumed that I
knew what the chisels were for, and focused on the instructions (such as
they were) for the air hammer itself.

Try the descriptions on these sites, Don:
http://www.become.com/shop?q=air+chisel

Hmm ... not enough detail.

http://www.granitecitytool.com/howtochiselhammeruse.cfm

That was one of the ones which I hit looking for information,
but it is specific to use for rock carving, and had no illustrations to
help me identify the chisels which they were listing.

Or try auto-body books: http://tinyurl.com/ytetog

That looks to be what I'm going to need, since nothing really
seems to give any detail about the chisels and how to use them.

I had sort of been hoping for one of the Army tool manuals.


1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

No, put a couple drops in the inlet connector on the chisel. That way
it doesn't blow out when you connect the hose. (Those turkeys!)

Well ... they suggested (strongly) not putting the quick
disconnect on the tool (the vibration probably kills it quickly), so I
got an 18" pigtail and that part of the hose will remain with the air
hammer.

Actually -- I already have an in-line oiler.


2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Leave it on and only loosen it one turn (if you have to) to remove or
install chisels.

Hmm ... I wan't able to get a chisel in or out with that little
loosening -- but I'll try again. I notice some quick-change
replacements for the spring.

Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

FIRST, learn to keep your hands off the chisel and out of the spring.
DAMHIKT. Then, once you've got that mastered, you can put on a
padded glove and gently help guide the chisel while you work.

I was thinking more of the danger to the hand which holds the
grip of the air hammer -- but your advice about the chisel and spring
are good, too.

Thanks,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 12 Oct 2007 04:31:43 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Larry Jaques :
OOH, a HF $4.99 special? I bought one for wood carving but I have a
good Chicago Pneumatic for real metalwork.

No -- a couple of notches better than that. The brand is AmPro
-- sold by the local auto parts chain "Advance Auto Parts".

Ah, a reboxed HF gun. Gotcha.


Or try auto-body books: http://tinyurl.com/ytetog

That looks to be what I'm going to need, since nothing really
seems to give any detail about the chisels and how to use them.

I had sort of been hoping for one of the Army tool manuals.

That might be interesting. I wonder if there is one. Now that you've
mentioned it, Iggy will probably find one for all of us.

Generally, the chisels are used just like manual chisels, but they're
a whole helluva lot faster. Quickest fix: Go talk to a body man at
the nearest body shop. He could show you how to use each chisel in
your set in ten minutes. If you were to take a pizza down at noon, you
might get more help than you imagined.


1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

No, put a couple drops in the inlet connector on the chisel. That way
it doesn't blow out when you connect the hose. (Those turkeys!)

Well ... they suggested (strongly) not putting the quick
disconnect on the tool (the vibration probably kills it quickly), so I
got an 18" pigtail and that part of the hose will remain with the air
hammer.

The MALE portion goes on the air tool, sir. Note that the pigtail has
a male fitting on the loose end. giggle


Actually -- I already have an in-line oiler.

Bueno, bwana.


2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Leave it on and only loosen it one turn (if you have to) to remove or
install chisels.

Hmm ... I wan't able to get a chisel in or out with that little
loosening -- but I'll try again. I notice some quick-change
replacements for the spring.

Stretch that last coil a bit until you get a spring which will hold in
a chisel but move enough to let you manhandle one out of the gun
without having to twist the sprint each time. You'll get used to it
pretty quickly, after maybe a couple dozen uses.


FIRST, learn to keep your hands off the chisel and out of the spring.
DAMHIKT. Then, once you've got that mastered, you can put on a
padded glove and gently help guide the chisel while you work.

I was thinking more of the danger to the hand which holds the
grip of the air hammer -- but your advice about the chisel and spring
are good, too.

Gloves around sheetmetal are pretty much mandatory if you value
fingers. But the air chisels don't do your hand too much damage
without. The impact is primarily focused on the chisel end and air-
damped through the tool body. The stronger the tool, the softer it is
on your hand since you won't have to push very hard to get it to work.

My CP has a long cylinder, the HF a short one. The HF works well on
wood (soft) and stone (brittle), the CP on tough balljoints and
flexy/movable front-end pieces. If I hold my mouth right, it'll
successfully install u-joints.

--
Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.
-- Harold Bloom, O Magazine, April 2003

Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.



DoN, Do your self a favor and look for a Quick Disconnect type of
retainer to replace the spring. Those springs have a bad habit of
breaking and causing some exciting thrills that you really do not need.
The Quick Disconnect look like a jumbo QD for an air hose, They have
the same ball locking arrangement as an air fitting that holds the
chisel in place.


Have fun

Bob

I have used cheap air chisels a few times, and they have gotten me out of
jams. Once I had to remove the bed wood from a truck. In those days they
drilled down through the wood & bed and ran a nut up onto the screw. The
nuts were all rusted on forever tight, so I used an air chisel. Worked
great. I recently used it to cut through spot welds, worked great there
too.

Biggest thing is to make sure you are wearing leather gloves. I got some
nasty cuts and pinches learning that.

I don't know if there is a definitive use for those chisels. That's a tool
you tend to pull out when there isn't any other way, and one of the chisels
looks like it will work.

The chisels aren't all that hard, or mine weren't. I dressed new edges on them
every so often when I was doing that truck bed job.

GWE

In article ,
(DoN. Nichols) wrote:

[...]

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Leather gloves and ear plugs are what I use. I used to use the ear
plugs only if the sound was bothering me, but discovered that some days
I'd still wind up deaf even though it didn't seem loud. Same with the
gloves--used to only wear them if my hands were hurting, but they always
eventually hurt.
Leather gloves don't have a lot of padding, but it seems to have been
enough. Without them I get that odd kind of bruising in my palms that
just leaves them tender for a day or so.
My only sheetmetal chisel is a bent-tip chisel with a notch displaced
in the center of the blade. Hook the notch under the sheet and hammer
away--it'll lift a strip of metal out. Then I have a straight punch,
hammer head, and assortment of long chisels that have been ground into
various shapes. The handiest is a semicircle notch that isn't sharp.
It's meant to grab on and let me push. I use it frequently to push
wrenches around on really tight bolts. Also nice is a hammerhead piece
I welded a bit of pipe to, making a cup, so I can use the air hammer to
drive a regular punch or chisel. And a straight punch I threaded and
put a hunk of brass onto.
Yeah, lots of passive voice, starting with conjunctions and ending
with prepositions.

--
B.B. --I am not a goat! thegoat4 at airmail dot net

According to Larry Jaques :
On 12 Oct 2007 04:31:43 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Larry Jaques :
OOH, a HF $4.99 special? I bought one for wood carving but I have a
good Chicago Pneumatic for real metalwork.

No -- a couple of notches better than that. The brand is AmPro
-- sold by the local auto parts chain "Advance Auto Parts".

Ah, a reboxed HF gun. Gotcha.

Well ... it is nicely anodized a Burgundy color, and it was
nicely polished before anodizing. I've not seen the Harbor Freight
ones (no local branch that I know about here in Northern VA). But I
would not expect a HF air tool to look as nice.


Or try auto-body books: http://tinyurl.com/ytetog

That looks to be what I'm going to need, since nothing really
seems to give any detail about the chisels and how to use them.

I had sort of been hoping for one of the Army tool manuals.

That might be interesting. I wonder if there is one. Now that you've
mentioned it, Iggy will probably find one for all of us.

That would be nice. He is good at that kind of search. I know
that my Army manuals which I have in dead-tree form don't cover these,
though one does cover a much larger air hammer. :-)

Generally, the chisels are used just like manual chisels, but they're
a whole helluva lot faster.

The problem is that the shapes of some of these are not at all
like any of the manual chisels which I have.

Quickest fix: Go talk to a body man at
the nearest body shop. He could show you how to use each chisel in
your set in ten minutes. If you were to take a pizza down at noon, you
might get more help than you imagined.

That sounds like a good choice. Thanks!

1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

No, put a couple drops in the inlet connector on the chisel. That way
it doesn't blow out when you connect the hose. (Those turkeys!)

Well ... they suggested (strongly) not putting the quick
disconnect on the tool (the vibration probably kills it quickly), so I
got an 18" pigtail and that part of the hose will remain with the air
hammer.

The MALE portion goes on the air tool, sir.

Of course. But while the tool is in use, the female has to be
connected to it -- and if the male is screwed directly into the handle
of the tool, that joint between them is going to be rattled rather
thoroughly.

Note that the pigtail has
a male fitting on the loose end. giggle

The pigtail which I got has a male 1/4" NPT on each end.


Actually -- I already have an in-line oiler.

Bueno, bwana.

Makes it harder to forget to lube the tools (except the paint
guns). :-)


2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Leave it on and only loosen it one turn (if you have to) to remove or
install chisels.

Hmm ... I wasn't able to get a chisel in or out with that little
loosening -- but I'll try again. I notice some quick-change
replacements for the spring.

Stretch that last coil a bit until you get a spring which will hold in
a chisel but move enough to let you manhandle one out of the gun
without having to twist the sprint each time. You'll get used to it
pretty quickly, after maybe a couple dozen uses.

O.K. Thanks!

FIRST, learn to keep your hands off the chisel and out of the spring.
DAMHIKT. Then, once you've got that mastered, you can put on a
padded glove and gently help guide the chisel while you work.

I was thinking more of the danger to the hand which holds the
grip of the air hammer -- but your advice about the chisel and spring
are good, too.

Gloves around sheetmetal are pretty much mandatory if you value
fingers.

:-)

But the air chisels don't do your hand too much damage
without. The impact is primarily focused on the chisel end and air-
damped through the tool body. The stronger the tool, the softer it is
on your hand since you won't have to push very hard to get it to work.

O.K. I've been considering getting some of the cushioned
shooting gloves for use with my .41 Magnum. The rest of my firearms are
gentle enough so there is no problem.

My CP has a long cylinder, the HF a short one. The HF works well on
wood (soft) and stone (brittle), the CP on tough balljoints and
flexy/movable front-end pieces. If I hold my mouth right, it'll
successfully install u-joints.

O.K. Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Bob Miller rhmillatenter.net:
Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.



DoN, Do your self a favor and look for a Quick Disconnect type of
retainer to replace the spring. Those springs have a bad habit of
breaking and causing some exciting thrills that you really do not need.

O.K. Thanks for the warning. I had not realized that the
springs were that failure prone.

The Quick Disconnect look like a jumbo QD for an air hose, They have
the same ball locking arrangement as an air fitting that holds the
chisel in place.

Great! Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Grant Erwin :
I have used cheap air chisels a few times, and they have gotten me out of
jams. Once I had to remove the bed wood from a truck. In those days they
drilled down through the wood & bed and ran a nut up onto the screw. The
nuts were all rusted on forever tight, so I used an air chisel. Worked
great. I recently used it to cut through spot welds, worked great there
too.

Biggest thing is to make sure you are wearing leather gloves. I got some
nasty cuts and pinches learning that.

Thanks -- just as I should *not* be (and am not) wearing gloves
when using the power tools (lathe, mill, drill press, shaper).

I don't know if there is a definitive use for those chisels. That's a tool
you tend to pull out when there isn't any other way, and one of the chisels
looks like it will work.

O.K. The ones which have me most puzzled are the ones with a
Y-shaped open end -- and especially the one which is not quite
symmetrical, and with the outer corners rather rounded and the smaller
"wing" thinner than the larger one. The straight chisels are pretty
obvious, and the straight with a notch dead center I would guess is for
popping spot welds. The long tapered round one I figure is for driving
out (and in) taper pins or scroll pins of appropriate size.

The chisels aren't all that hard, or mine weren't. I dressed new edges on them
every so often when I was doing that truck bed job.

I would not expect them to be too hard, or they would be
chipping more than the workpiece. :-)

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to B.B. u:
In article ,
(DoN. Nichols) wrote:

[...]

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Leather gloves and ear plugs are what I use. I used to use the ear
plugs only if the sound was bothering me, but discovered that some days
I'd still wind up deaf even though it didn't seem loud. Same with the
gloves--used to only wear them if my hands were hurting, but they always
eventually hurt.

Leather gloves don't have a lot of padding, but it seems to have been
enough. Without them I get that odd kind of bruising in my palms that
just leaves them tender for a day or so.

O.K. The sort of thing which I was afraid of. I'll certainly
get the gloves -- or I guess that I could get lots of cushioning with
the welding gloves. :-)

My only sheetmetal chisel is a bent-tip chisel with a notch displaced
in the center of the blade. Hook the notch under the sheet and hammer
away--it'll lift a strip of metal out.

That sounds quite useful -- and I don't have one of those, so
I'll have to watch for one.

Then I have a straight punch,
hammer head, and assortment of long chisels that have been ground into
various shapes. The handiest is a semicircle notch that isn't sharp.
It's meant to grab on and let me push. I use it frequently to push
wrenches around on really tight bolts.

Nice trick! Your idea, or did you see others doing it first?

Also nice is a hammerhead piece
I welded a bit of pipe to, making a cup, so I can use the air hammer to
drive a regular punch or chisel. And a straight punch I threaded and
put a hunk of brass onto.

Hmm ... a soft hammer. Another nice idea. (And I'll bet that
causes more of the pounding of the hands. :-)

Yeah, lots of passive voice, starting with conjunctions and ending
with prepositions.

Hey -- good information, no matter what the format. :-)

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Oct 11, 6:57 pm, (DoN. Nichols) wrote:
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

I won't comment on how to use it, people have done a reasonable job of
that already, but I'll describe a job I did recently that I couldn't
have done without an air hammer.

I'm working on rebuilding a 1939 Plymouth roadster, which is a
complete rust bucket now but should be quite a beauty when it's all
done. I wanted to remove the body from the chassis to work on them
separately. They are connected by about 10-12 1/2" bolts, each about
4" long, with a 2" diameter washer under the nut (next to the body)
and a large heavy hex nut. Rust has completely consumed the nut,
bolt, and washer, effectively making them one piece (trust me, I tried
with a 1000 ftlb impact gun, with no success). My procedure was as
follows:
Use plasma cutter to remove as much of the nut as possible. I used an
O/A torch on some of them, but the plasma worked better. In
particular, my plasma torch is smaller, and fit better in some tight
corners. There shouldn't be anything left keeping the bolt from
slipping through (it won't because of all the rust).
Take a 5 lb sledge and hammer sharply 3-5 times on the various
surfaces to loosen the connection.
Use a straight chisel in the air hammer and aim it between the washer
and the chassis. A 1-2 second blast should pop it off.
Now take the pointed chisel and stick it on the top of the bolt.
Hammer the bolt back through the chassis. Repeat for all the bolts,
hook up the chain hoist, and lift the body off the chassis. The
entire process took about 4 hours.
Through experimentation, I found that the air hammer worked much
better than just using a chisel and sledge since the vibration had a
much better effect on the rust.
ww88

On 13 Oct 2007 03:47:24 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Larry Jaques :
On 12 Oct 2007 04:31:43 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Larry Jaques :

Ah, a reboxed HF gun. Gotcha.

Well ... it is nicely anodized a Burgundy color, and it was
nicely polished before anodizing. I've not seen the Harbor Freight
ones (no local branch that I know about here in Northern VA). But I
would not expect a HF air tool to look as nice.

They don't, I assure you.


Generally, the chisels are used just like manual chisels, but they're
a whole helluva lot faster.

The problem is that the shapes of some of these are not at all
like any of the manual chisels which I have.

Yeah, there's that, too. g


Quickest fix: Go talk to a body man at
the nearest body shop. He could show you how to use each chisel in
your set in ten minutes. If you were to take a pizza down at noon, you
might get more help than you imagined.

That sounds like a good choice. Thanks!

They use air hammers on a daily basis and have a complete assortment
of chisel types for you to see.


1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

No, put a couple drops in the inlet connector on the chisel. That way
it doesn't blow out when you connect the hose. (Those turkeys!)

Well ... they suggested (strongly) not putting the quick
disconnect on the tool (the vibration probably kills it quickly), so I
got an 18" pigtail and that part of the hose will remain with the air
hammer.

The MALE portion goes on the air tool, sir.

Of course. But while the tool is in use, the female has to be
connected to it -- and if the male is screwed directly into the handle
of the tool, that joint between them is going to be rattled rather
thoroughly.

I've never seen any problems with any of my tools at that junction.
Well, except the one I dropped directly on the connector from 6' up on
a 4-wheel alignent rack. It bent the connector and cracked the Rodac
tailcap, but a new connector installed with Gorilla Snot fixed it
right up. That's held for 25 years now so I don't think it's going
anywhere.

Note that the pigtail has
a male fitting on the loose end. giggle

The pigtail which I got has a male 1/4" NPT on each end.

I've seen them both ways, with 1 threaded end and 1 male QD fitting
end.


Actually -- I already have an in-line oiler.

Bueno, bwana.

Makes it harder to forget to lube the tools (except the paint
guns). :-)

Right, do not use that line for painting. It looks funny.
Do you use different colored hoses for paint, I hope?


Stretch that last coil a bit until you get a spring which will hold in
a chisel but move enough to let you manhandle one out of the gun
without having to twist the sprint each time. You'll get used to it
pretty quickly, after maybe a couple dozen uses.

O.K. Thanks!

Um, I meant "spring", not "sprint".



But the air chisels don't do your hand too much damage
without. The impact is primarily focused on the chisel end and air-
damped through the tool body. The stronger the tool, the softer it is
on your hand since you won't have to push very hard to get it to work.

O.K. I've been considering getting some of the cushioned
shooting gloves for use with my .41 Magnum. The rest of my firearms are
gentle enough so there is no problem.

Wuss! I take bandaids for shooting my KelTec 9mm. It eats my thumb
knuckle for lunch every time if I don't have one on there.


My CP has a long cylinder, the HF a short one. The HF works well on
wood (soft) and stone (brittle), the CP on tough balljoints and
flexy/movable front-end pieces. If I hold my mouth right, it'll
successfully install u-joints.

O.K. Thanks,
DoN.

Jewelcome.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

On 13 Oct 2007 03:49:50 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Bob Miller rhmillatenter.net:
Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.



DoN, Do your self a favor and look for a Quick Disconnect type of
retainer to replace the spring. Those springs have a bad habit of
breaking and causing some exciting thrills that you really do not need.

O.K. Thanks for the warning. I had not realized that the
springs were that failure prone.

If you control your gun, they're not (Bob.)

I'd seen those QD kits on maybe two guns in my automotive career, and
I worked wrenching at a body shop for 5 years and used air tools daily
for 20. Perhaps they've improved in the last decade or two. I've not
used my air tools nearly as much since '86, but they're sure handy
when I need them.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

On 13 Oct 2007 04:00:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to B.B. u:
In article ,
(DoN. Nichols) wrote:

[...]

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Leather gloves and ear plugs are what I use. I used to use the ear
plugs only if the sound was bothering me, but discovered that some days
I'd still wind up deaf even though it didn't seem loud. Same with the
gloves--used to only wear them if my hands were hurting, but they always
eventually hurt.

Leather gloves don't have a lot of padding, but it seems to have been
enough. Without them I get that odd kind of bruising in my palms that
just leaves them tender for a day or so.

O.K. The sort of thing which I was afraid of. I'll certainly
get the gloves -- or I guess that I could get lots of cushioning with
the welding gloves. :-)

My only sheetmetal chisel is a bent-tip chisel with a notch displaced
in the center of the blade. Hook the notch under the sheet and hammer
away--it'll lift a strip of metal out.

That sounds quite useful -- and I don't have one of those, so
I'll have to watch for one.

I prefer this linked type, as did the bodymen I worked with. They last
longer than the split-tip type. http://tinyurl.com/2y7bza They can
cut deeper, too, which isn't always good. I used one to cut out the
access hole in my truck bed so the HF crane could mount to the frame.


Then I have a straight punch,
hammer head, and assortment of long chisels that have been ground into
various shapes. The handiest is a semicircle notch that isn't sharp.
It's meant to grab on and let me push. I use it frequently to push
wrenches around on really tight bolts.

Nice trick! Your idea, or did you see others doing it first?

A rubber mallet is much easier on the wrenches, I'd think.


Also nice is a hammerhead piece
I welded a bit of pipe to, making a cup, so I can use the air hammer to
drive a regular punch or chisel. And a straight punch I threaded and
put a hunk of brass onto.

Cool.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

According to woodworker88 :
On Oct 11, 6:57 pm, (DoN. Nichols) wrote:
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

I won't comment on how to use it, people have done a reasonable job of
that already, but I'll describe a job I did recently that I couldn't
have done without an air hammer.

I'm working on rebuilding a 1939 Plymouth roadster, which is a
complete rust bucket now but should be quite a beauty when it's all
done. I wanted to remove the body from the chassis to work on them
separately.

Thanks for the example -- giving me an idea what I can use it
for as the need arises.

Thanks again,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Larry Jaques :
On 13 Oct 2007 03:47:24 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Larry Jaques :

[ ... ]

Ah, a reboxed HF gun. Gotcha.

Well ... it is nicely anodized a Burgundy color, and it was
nicely polished before anodizing. I've not seen the Harbor Freight
ones (no local branch that I know about here in Northern VA). But I
would not expect a HF air tool to look as nice.

They don't, I assure you.

I somehow did not expect them to. Whether the works of mine are
as good as the exterior appearance remains to be seen. :-)

[ ... ]

Quickest fix: Go talk to a body man at
the nearest body shop. He could show you how to use each chisel in
your set in ten minutes. If you were to take a pizza down at noon, you
might get more help than you imagined.

That sounds like a good choice. Thanks!

They use air hammers on a daily basis and have a complete assortment
of chisel types for you to see.

Great!

[ ... ]

The MALE portion goes on the air tool, sir.

Of course. But while the tool is in use, the female has to be
connected to it -- and if the male is screwed directly into the handle
of the tool, that joint between them is going to be rattled rather
thoroughly.

I've never seen any problems with any of my tools at that junction.
Well, except the one I dropped directly on the connector from 6' up on
a 4-wheel alignent rack. It bent the connector and cracked the Rodac
tailcap, but a new connector installed with Gorilla Snot fixed it
right up. That's held for 25 years now so I don't think it's going
anywhere.

That sounds good enough. How often is the female on the hose
replaced? That is the part which I would expect to suffer more from the
vibration.

Note that the pigtail has
a male fitting on the loose end. giggle

The pigtail which I got has a male 1/4" NPT on each end.

I've seen them both ways, with 1 threaded end and 1 male QD fitting
end.

O.K.


Actually -- I already have an in-line oiler.

Bueno, bwana.

Makes it harder to forget to lube the tools (except the paint
guns). :-)

Right, do not use that line for painting. It looks funny.
Do you use different colored hoses for paint, I hope?

I will once I start painting. Right now, I'm using the air
primarily for driving various tools. One interesting one which I got
from a hamfest along with a nice screwdriver one is something called a
"Screw-Stick". It has a hex drive at the bottom and a tube to just
clear the points of the hex all the way through the body. What goes in
it is a series of short screws with a hex head, beveled just enough so
it will force the hex drive up when it reaches bottom. There is a
section about half the diameter of the screw thread connecting the head
of one to the screw of the next. When the screw bottoms, it drives only
through the narrow section, which wrings off as it torques the screw
into place, leaving you ready for putting the next screw in the next
hole. I wish that I could find a few more sticks. I'm reluctant to use
these up until I can get replacements. (I've been watching eBay for a
few years and not seen them.)

Stretch that last coil a bit until you get a spring which will hold in
a chisel but move enough to let you manhandle one out of the gun
without having to twist the sprint each time. You'll get used to it
pretty quickly, after maybe a couple dozen uses.

O.K. Thanks!

Um, I meant "spring", not "sprint".

I read it as "spring", given the context.



But the air chisels don't do your hand too much damage
without. The impact is primarily focused on the chisel end and air-
damped through the tool body. The stronger the tool, the softer it is
on your hand since you won't have to push very hard to get it to work.

O.K. I've been considering getting some of the cushioned
shooting gloves for use with my .41 Magnum. The rest of my firearms are
gentle enough so there is no problem.

Wuss! I take bandaids for shooting my KelTec 9mm. It eats my thumb
knuckle for lunch every time if I don't have one on there.

Hmm ... that sounds like a bit of poor design there. The .41
Magnum did not used to bother me, but with 66 years on these old joints,
things are a bit more sensitive now. :-) Sort of encourages me to load
up light loads. :-)

Thanks again,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Larry Jaques :
On 13 Oct 2007 03:49:50 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Bob Miller rhmillatenter.net:
Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.



DoN, Do your self a favor and look for a Quick Disconnect type of
retainer to replace the spring. Those springs have a bad habit of
breaking and causing some exciting thrills that you really do not need.

O.K. Thanks for the warning. I had not realized that the
springs were that failure prone.

If you control your gun, they're not (Bob.)

Arrrggghhhh! Another thread twists to gun control. :-)

I'd seen those QD kits on maybe two guns in my automotive career, and
I worked wrenching at a body shop for 5 years and used air tools daily
for 20. Perhaps they've improved in the last decade or two. I've not
used my air tools nearly as much since '86, but they're sure handy
when I need them.

O.K. Maybe the quality of the springs has gone downhill?
Following one of your links, I saw packs of two springs being sold
together, which does suggest a higher failure rate than your experience
suggests.

Thanks again,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Larry Jaques :
On 13 Oct 2007 04:00:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to B.B. u:

[ ... ]

My only sheetmetal chisel is a bent-tip chisel with a notch displaced
in the center of the blade. Hook the notch under the sheet and hammer
away--it'll lift a strip of metal out.

That sounds quite useful -- and I don't have one of those, so
I'll have to watch for one.

I prefer this linked type, as did the bodymen I worked with. They last
longer than the split-tip type. http://tinyurl.com/2y7bza They can
cut deeper, too, which isn't always good. I used one to cut out the
access hole in my truck bed so the HF crane could mount to the frame.

O.K. This one gives a large enough image to see what it really
looks like. And I certainly don't have one of those with the set.


Then I have a straight punch,
hammer head, and assortment of long chisels that have been ground into
various shapes. The handiest is a semicircle notch that isn't sharp.
It's meant to grab on and let me push. I use it frequently to push
wrenches around on really tight bolts.

Nice trick! Your idea, or did you see others doing it first?

A rubber mallet is much easier on the wrenches, I'd think.

Yes -- but there may be times when it is worth letting an old
wrench take the damage just so you can get the bolt out.

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 13 Oct 2007 22:52:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

would not expect a HF air tool to look as nice.

They don't, I assure you.

I somehow did not expect them to. Whether the works of mine are
as good as the exterior appearance remains to be seen. :-)

Indubitably.


I've never seen any problems with any of my tools at that junction.
Well, except the one I dropped directly on the connector from 6' up on
a 4-wheel alignent rack. It bent the connector and cracked the Rodac
tailcap, but a new connector installed with Gorilla Snot fixed it
right up. That's held for 25 years now so I don't think it's going
anywhere.

That sounds good enough. How often is the female on the hose
replaced? That is the part which I would expect to suffer more from the
vibration.

I've never seen one replaced from that, per se. Most stop sealing (the
o-ring goes out) or they wear out from years of daily use. I won't be
buying any more HF QD fittings. They're just too cheaply made and the
female's doohickey gets cocked sideways in them far too often, letting
the air escape after the male fitting has been removed. It's a PITA.


Do you use different colored hoses for paint, I hope?

I will once I start painting. Right now, I'm using the air
primarily for driving various tools. One interesting one which I got
from a hamfest along with a nice screwdriver one is something called a
"Screw-Stick". It has a hex drive at the bottom and a tube to just
clear the points of the hex all the way through the body. What goes in
it is a series of short screws with a hex head, beveled just enough so
it will force the hex drive up when it reaches bottom. There is a
section about half the diameter of the screw thread connecting the head
of one to the screw of the next. When the screw bottoms, it drives only
through the narrow section, which wrings off as it torques the screw
into place, leaving you ready for putting the next screw in the next
hole. I wish that I could find a few more sticks. I'm reluctant to use
these up until I can get replacements. (I've been watching eBay for a
few years and not seen them.)

Sounds handy for production work.


Wuss! I take bandaids for shooting my KelTec 9mm. It eats my thumb
knuckle for lunch every time if I don't have one on there.

Hmm ... that sounds like a bit of poor design there. The .41
Magnum did not used to bother me, but with 66 years on these old joints,
things are a bit more sensitive now. :-) Sort of encourages me to load
up light loads. :-)

I think the curve is too tight at the back of the frame where it goes
from the grip to the base of the slide. Or maybe my thumb knuckles are
larger from auto work for all those years. Who knows? A bandaid saves
the blister from forming, though. Cheap fix.

And don't worry, Don. You'll find dozens of other uses for the air
chisel once you get using it for a while. There are plenty of
different planishing hammer heads for them if you're into that.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

According to Larry Jaques :
On 13 Oct 2007 22:52:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

[ ... ]

That sounds good enough. How often is the female on the hose
replaced? That is the part which I would expect to suffer more from the
vibration.

I've never seen one replaced from that, per se. Most stop sealing (the
o-ring goes out) or they wear out from years of daily use. I won't be
buying any more HF QD fittings. They're just too cheaply made and the
female's doohickey gets cocked sideways in them far too often, letting
the air escape after the male fitting has been removed. It's a PITA.

O.K. But could the female's doohickey getting cocked have
anything to do with the vibration from the air hammer?

[ ... ]

from a hamfest along with a nice screwdriver one is something called a
"Screw-Stick". It has a hex drive at the bottom and a tube to just

[ ... ]

Sounds handy for production work.

Indeed so. And if I have a lot of something to make, I'll be
sure to design it to be held by the 4-40 threads that these use -- *if*
I can get more sticks of screws. :-)


Wuss! I take bandaids for shooting my KelTec 9mm. It eats my thumb
knuckle for lunch every time if I don't have one on there.

Hmm ... that sounds like a bit of poor design there. The .41
Magnum did not used to bother me, but with 66 years on these old joints,
things are a bit more sensitive now. :-) Sort of encourages me to load
up light loads. :-)

I think the curve is too tight at the back of the frame where it goes
from the grip to the base of the slide. Or maybe my thumb knuckles are
larger from auto work for all those years. Who knows? A bandaid saves
the blister from forming, though. Cheap fix.

As long as it works -- that is what matters.

And don't worry, Don. You'll find dozens of other uses for the air
chisel once you get using it for a while. There are plenty of
different planishing hammer heads for them if you're into that.

I'm sure that I will. I keep picking up new tools (or used
ones) as opportunity presents itself -- and then worry about why I need
them. :-)

I picked up the compressor (an ancient Craftsman from back
before the noisy oilless ones with the magic horsepower numbers) a few
years ago at a yard sale. Two wheels, 20 gallon tank (IIRC). I had to
take the regulator apart and clean it before that would work, but
overall I'm quite pleased with it. I've been picking up various air
tools since, and finally spotted the air hammer with the chisel set
while picking up a wrench to dedicate to the new drill press vise (after
making M10 T-nuts to fit the slots through the drill press table.

A friend had already gotten one of the newer ones before I could
warn him, and I am still amazed at how much noise it makes. It is even
worse when his Newfie chews through the hose. :-)

I also finally got a ceiling-mounted reel for the air hose so O
won't keep tripping over the rubber hose (and getting metal chips in my
hands when picking it up near the lathe or mill.)

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 14 Oct 2007 02:44:28 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

O.K. But could the female's doohickey getting cocked have
anything to do with the vibration from the air hammer?

No, they do it from day one. I think 95%+ of the vibrations go out the
front of the gun on the chisel (If you let the gun do the work like
you're supposed to) and your hands take up 4% more. If there were lots
of vibration, there would be more broken male fittings. I've only had
the one break on me. Others were used daily for 1 or 2 decades.


[ ... ]

from a hamfest along with a nice screwdriver one is something called a
"Screw-Stick". It has a hex drive at the bottom and a tube to just

[ ... ]

Sounds handy for production work.

Indeed so. And if I have a lot of something to make, I'll be
sure to design it to be held by the 4-40 threads that these use -- *if*
I can get more sticks of screws. :-)

Don't wait. Just make them on your lathe, Don. bwahahahaha


Wuss! I take bandaids for shooting my KelTec 9mm. It eats my thumb
knuckle for lunch every time if I don't have one on there.

Hmm ... that sounds like a bit of poor design there. The .41
Magnum did not used to bother me, but with 66 years on these old joints,
things are a bit more sensitive now. :-) Sort of encourages me to load
up light loads. :-)

I think the curve is too tight at the back of the frame where it goes
from the grip to the base of the slide. Or maybe my thumb knuckles are
larger from auto work for all those years. Who knows? A bandaid saves
the blister from forming, though. Cheap fix.

As long as it works -- that is what matters.

Truth!


And don't worry, Don. You'll find dozens of other uses for the air
chisel once you get using it for a while. There are plenty of
different planishing hammer heads for them if you're into that.

I'm sure that I will. I keep picking up new tools (or used
ones) as opportunity presents itself -- and then worry about why I need
them. :-)

That's the way it's supposed to be done. Looks cool? "It's MINE! Hmm,
now what am I going to use it for?" And then I find dozens of uses.
As soon as the tool rests in my shop (or truck, nowadays), uses
automatically develop for it.


A friend had already gotten one of the newer ones before I could
warn him, and I am still amazed at how much noise it makes. It is even
worse when his Newfie chews through the hose. :-)

Crapsman is its own punishment. (As are dogs. My fracking neighbors
have guests so the number of barking dogs in their yard is now
doubled. I'm really, really depressed that I can't sight in my SKS
scope on them.)


I also finally got a ceiling-mounted reel for the air hose so O
won't keep tripping over the rubber hose (and getting metal chips in my
hands when picking it up near the lathe or mill.)

Good show, sir.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:


At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

Thanks all,
DoN.

Even with the proper tools, don't expect it to be very useful for
rivets. Not enough control.

--Andy Asberry--
------Texas-----

According to Larry Jaques :
On 14 Oct 2007 02:44:28 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

O.K. But could the female's doohickey getting cocked have
anything to do with the vibration from the air hammer?

No, they do it from day one. I think 95%+ of the vibrations go out the
front of the gun on the chisel (If you let the gun do the work like
you're supposed to) and your hands take up 4% more. If there were lots
of vibration, there would be more broken male fittings. I've only had
the one break on me. Others were used daily for 1 or 2 decades.

O.K.


[ ... ]

from a hamfest along with a nice screwdriver one is something called a
"Screw-Stick". It has a hex drive at the bottom and a tube to just

[ ... ]

Sounds handy for production work.

Indeed so. And if I have a lot of something to make, I'll be
sure to design it to be held by the 4-40 threads that these use -- *if*
I can get more sticks of screws. :-)

Don't wait. Just make them on your lathe, Don. bwahahahaha

This is a task for a small CNC lathe with a controlled feed
through the spindle -- and probably a cylindrical guide into the
tailstock (or even hex bore rotating in bearings) to keep the weakened
(torque limiting) spots from letting it whip and fly apart.

There just is not enough room between the top of one head and the
bottom of another for standard single-point threading on a manual
machine. Believe me -- I have considered this.

[ ... ]

And don't worry, Don. You'll find dozens of other uses for the air
chisel once you get using it for a while. There are plenty of
different planishing hammer heads for them if you're into that.

I'm sure that I will. I keep picking up new tools (or used
ones) as opportunity presents itself -- and then worry about why I need
them. :-)

That's the way it's supposed to be done. Looks cool? "It's MINE! Hmm,
now what am I going to use it for?" And then I find dozens of uses.
As soon as the tool rests in my shop (or truck, nowadays), uses
automatically develop for it.

:-)

A friend had already gotten one of the newer ones before I could
warn him, and I am still amazed at how much noise it makes. It is even
worse when his Newfie chews through the hose. :-)

Crapsman is its own punishment.

At least these days. Back in the mid 1960s Craftsman tools were
pretty good. I got three tenths vernier micrometers (0-1, 1-2, and
2-3) which I am sure were made by Scherr Tumico.

And I just recently picked up a nice drill press vise with the
Craftsman name cast in the stationary jaw -- but it is basically one of
the Ralmike ones -- quick release, slide of the jaw, and a lever which
cams the movable jaw against the workpiece. I don't know when this was
made, but I am willing to bet that I would not be able to find it in
today's Sears catalogs. :-)

I have other tools from the 1960s which are still in excellent
condition.

But -- I would not buy today's Craftsman branded tools.

(As are dogs. My fracking neighbors
have guests so the number of barking dogs in their yard is now
doubled. I'm really, really depressed that I can't sight in my SKS
scope on them.)

Well -- this dog is over friendly. The first time he saw my
wife (who is 4' 11" tall) he came up to her, put his paws on her
shoulders (ready to lick her face) and toppled her over onto the lawn.
No harm done, and we make sure that she has a prop behind her (often me)
when the dog is free to reach her. And he does very little barking, and
what little he does is low pitched enough so it is not annoying.

However, little yappers are a totally different matter.

We have cats -- not dogs -- even though I am allergic to cats.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Andy Asberry :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:


At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

[ ... ]

Even with the proper tools, don't expect it to be very useful for
rivets. Not enough control.

Thanks for the warning.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 15 Oct 2007 05:26:37 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm,
(DoN. Nichols) quickly quoth:

According to Andy Asberry :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:


At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

[ ... ]

Even with the proper tools, don't expect it to be very useful for
rivets. Not enough control.

Thanks for the warning.

Sure there is. Andy needs to join whassisname in learning trigger
control. (See, I avoided saying the "g*n c*ntr*l" phrase there, just
for you.

Just turn down the air pressure -and- learn some trigger control.
Piece o' cake, duck soup, mon.

--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----

resending this reply, which seems to have gotten lost by Teranews

I don't know of any printed or online material, DoN. I haven't even seen any
quality automotive tool catalogs in years, which might show the various
styles of accessories available.

I'm not sure what you meant by getting the/a (tool) "started under the end
of the muffler's clamp". To the best of my recollection, clamps were always
removed (by other means) before using the chisels to separate the
pipe/tubing joint.

I do know that in the 70s & 80s many offshore manufacturers' accessories
were showing up in lots of tool suppliers' product lines. That means that
the original high quality USA made tools were being cloned/copied. Many of
the offshore products were only somewhat reasonable facsimilies of the
"real" tools.
Many of these imported wannabe/looky-a-like-a tools are a catastrophe in
actual use.

The exaust pipe cutters that I remember back when there were still USA tools
around, were actually several different tools. One set was a pair of; cut
left, cut right tools, kinda shaped like half of a (playing card) club.
Another tool was a cutter for removing an internal piece of an exaust pipe
connection, without ruining the external pipe.

I also remember that a Snap-On panel ripper tool (peels a curl of sheetmetal
out of a panel with very little distortion), worked far better than the
imported parts store rippers.
The generic rippers were generally a waste of money as far as performance.
It's easier on the ripper if they're only used for straight cuts, and if the
hand feed pressure is maintained, to prevent the impacts that occur when the
tool is allowed to hammer in the slot.

Another handy panel tool was the spotweld cutter, it was a slim flat chisel,
with a notch in the center of the cutter edge. The chisel was eased into a
spotwelded seam, and run between the panels, and when a spotweld was
encountered, the metal would raise a bit, then the beveled edge of the notch
would either pop the weld apart, or cut through the spot without much edge
distortion.

One very handy accessory is the hammer head (even though hammers are my
least favorite tools, unlike some guys I know). I figured it would be
worthwhile to pay the extra money for a Snap-On hammer head, too.
The hammer can usually be used instead of a pickle fork for removing tapered
studs, such as tierod ends. If the shock is applied to the part the stud
passes through, perpendicular to the stud center axis, the shock will
usually loosen the taper quickly, and salvage the synthetic water/dirt
shield.
Ordinarily, the hammer accessory is only used with substantially heavy duty
parts. Applied to anything that's not built of heavy duty parts will very
likely break some stuff.

Some air chisels came with a (cheaper) quick-change spring tool
holder/retainer. The sometimes don't retain the chisel, especially when the
chisel slips off the workpiece.

The other type of retainer spring looks a bit like a beehive shape, and used
a second piece inside to adapt the chisel shoulder to conform to the inside
shape of the spring. These types of retainer springs need to be unscrewed
completely to change chisels/tools. This type of retainer spring actually
retains the chisel or tool.
These better retainers used to be sold by the tool truck guys.

Eye and face protection, in addition to gloves are mandatory. Also, don't
forget the ear protection.
I never felt cushioned gloves were required, but I would certainly consider
them now, if I were to use an air chisel frequently.
Some situations almost demand that the free hand is used to guide the
chisel, just try not to get into situations that result in much pain and/or
drainage/loss of fluids.

Speakin of drainage, try to predict what might be in danger down-range, if
the chisel should slip off the target. If the operator is leaning into the
air tool, and slips, the next contact could be with a radiator, oil pan,
hose (or vein) or other fragile item.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.

In particular, the two chisels which I would have thought would
be for ripping off old mufflers and such -- both sort of 'V' profile,
one symmetrical and the other with one wing shorter and thinner than the
other -- both have rounded corners, which strike me as difficult to get
started under the end of the muffler's clamp. I am tempted to go to the
grinder and sharpen them -- but before I do this, I would like to know
how they *really* are supposed to be used.

I guess that the rounded corner could be started in a drilled
hole for ripping sheet metal (body work). One is just a narrow cone
which would be nice for driving out taper pins or dowel pins. One is a
wide chisel with a groove in the center. And the final one is just a
plain chisel. Both of these last two do have somewhat of an edge,
though far from "scary sharp" (which I would hardly expect to survive
the first five cycles anyway). :-)

So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Thanks all,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.
snip

Snap-on's web site actually describes some of these chisels
and has some decent images. See:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....group_ID=84 4

Maybe knowing what they are described as will help a bit.

If you look at the top of the page and backup one category
to "Air Hammer Bits And Accessories" you should be able to
find a bunch of specialty bits for same.

It looks like just their bits probably cost more than your
whole set did

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

According to Leon Fisk :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.
snip

Snap-on's web site actually describes some of these chisels
and has some decent images. See:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....group_ID=84 4

Maybe knowing what they are described as will help a bit.

It would -- except that only one matches what I have -- the flat
chisel. :-)

The double-bladed panel cutter suggests that what I have is a
single-bladed panel cutter, but I'm not sure, yet.

If you look at the top of the page and backup one category
to "Air Hammer Bits And Accessories" you should be able to
find a bunch of specialty bits for same.

Yes -- this gives me a lot of ideas, though none of them seem to
really match what I have. :-) Perhaps the flat chisel with a single
bevel and a groove in the center might be a spot weld cutter. The rest
leaves me with simply a requirement to experiment, I guess.

It looks like just their bits probably cost more than your
whole set did

More than my whole set *plus* the compressor (An old Craftsman
from before the "oilless" noisemaker days, picked up at an estate sale.)

They really seem to be in love with their stuff. (But then,
they always have been. :-) I wonder how much difference in actual
quality the price difference would produce?

Thanks,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.

In particular, the two chisels which I would have thought would
be for ripping off old mufflers and such -- both sort of 'V' profile,
one symmetrical and the other with one wing shorter and thinner than the
other -- both have rounded corners, which strike me as difficult to get
started under the end of the muffler's clamp. I am tempted to go to the
grinder and sharpen them -- but before I do this, I would like to know
how they *really* are supposed to be used.

I guess that the rounded corner could be started in a drilled
hole for ripping sheet metal (body work). One is just a narrow cone
which would be nice for driving out taper pins or dowel pins. One is a
wide chisel with a groove in the center. And the final one is just a
plain chisel. Both of these last two do have somewhat of an edge,
though far from "scary sharp" (which I would hardly expect to survive
the first five cycles anyway). :-)

So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Thanks all,
DoN.


You'll find the air chisel to be a quite useful tool, and if you get the
chance to pick up a quality version you'll be impressed at how much more
pleasing of a tool it is than a cheap one. Sharper impacts, harder
impact for any particular speed and less liable to stall at slow speed.
An air chisel that stalls is annoying as heck..

I've always seen the chisels as pretty disposable but good ones will,
naturally, last much longer than cheap. You'll find that you change the
angle on the chisel for each job (well, I often do) so perhaps there's
little sense in buying too good of quality if you're only going to have
one set.

As far as what each chisel is for, dunno. I just use the one that looks
most likely to do the job at hand.

John

On 16 Oct 2007 01:47:36 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

According to Leon Fisk :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:
snip
Maybe knowing what they are described as will help a bit.

It would -- except that only one matches what I have -- the flat
chisel. :-)

Bummer, you would think that they (importer) could at least
copy a good brand name

snip
It looks like just their bits probably cost more than your
whole set did

More than my whole set *plus* the compressor (An old Craftsman
from before the "oilless" noisemaker days, picked up at an estate sale.)

They really seem to be in love with their stuff. (But then,
they always have been. :-) I wonder how much difference in actual
quality the price difference would produce?

I can't justify their prices either. Maybe if I used the
stuff all day, every day I would feel differently. I do have
a few odd sockets, extensions and such. Stuff I found (along
the road) or came mixed in with something else. It is nice
stuff, but then my old S-K and Craftsman tools work just
fine too (note I said old).

I found a copy of what must be your "manual" on Grizzly's
website. All two pages of it. It was really helpful to look
at, NOT. Craftsman used to have some decent manuals that
went along with most of their tools. Sadly I haven't been
able to find any that you can download for some time now...

If I come across some useful info (read manual) on these
I'll keep you in mind.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

According to JohnM :
DoN. Nichols wrote:
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.

[ ... ]

So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

[ ... ]

You'll find the air chisel to be a quite useful tool, and if you get the
chance to pick up a quality version you'll be impressed at how much more
pleasing of a tool it is than a cheap one. Sharper impacts, harder
impact for any particular speed and less liable to stall at slow speed.
An air chisel that stalls is annoying as heck..

O.K. In playing with this (at 90 PSI) I have not observed it to
stall.

And at least the finish on it (a nicely polished anodized
aluminum housing) is a few notches up from the really cheap ones.

I've always seen the chisels as pretty disposable but good ones will,
naturally, last much longer than cheap. You'll find that you change the
angle on the chisel for each job (well, I often do) so perhaps there's
little sense in buying too good of quality if you're only going to have
one set.

I expect to pick up others (probably starting which a cheap set
or two at the tool table of one of the local hamfests, which is probably
HF grade), since I expect to grind a lot for custom use. Not sure
whether I can make them with the lathe however, since I don't have a way
to spread them out to make blades, (though I might be able to make rivet
setting ones at least). Probably 4140 steel, and some experimentation
as to how hard to make them.

As far as what each chisel is for, dunno. I just use the one that looks
most likely to do the job at hand.

The big problem is that I have no experience (yet) with what the
tool can do for me, and what a particular shape is likely to be good
for. Following posted links to vendors of chisels, I find very few
which look like what I have, which makes guessing what a given one is
for more difficult.

And the links generally have photos which are both too small and
from the wrong angle to see the detail which I would like to see to
compare them to what I have.

Thanks,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Leon Fisk :
On 16 Oct 2007 01:47:36 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

According to Leon Fisk :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:
snip
Maybe knowing what they are described as will help a bit.

It would -- except that only one matches what I have -- the flat
chisel. :-)

Bummer, you would think that they (importer) could at least
copy a good brand name

Maybe they did -- but just not the ones which I have looked at
so far. :-)

[ ... ]

They really seem to be in love with their stuff. (But then,
they always have been. :-) I wonder how much difference in actual
quality the price difference would produce?

I can't justify their prices either. Maybe if I used the
stuff all day, every day I would feel differently. I do have
a few odd sockets, extensions and such. Stuff I found (along
the road) or came mixed in with something else. It is nice
stuff, but then my old S-K and Craftsman tools work just
fine too (note I said old).

Certainly. I've got good *old* tools from Craftsman and I have
somewhere some nice screwdrivers from Snap-On (bought new). Black
handles with a triangular cross-section, which let me get more torque
than any other handles for the same sized blades. (These were from
perhaps around 1970 or so, I think.)

I found a copy of what must be your "manual" on Grizzly's
website. All two pages of it. It was really helpful to look
at, NOT.

Not as good a manual as that which came with mine -- but it does
tell me that I can bend the spring out of the way to change tools, while
mine does not.

There is quite a bit more detail in the manual with mine. Brand
is "AmPro Professional Burgandy Collection" FWIW.

I would type in what is in the manual, except that it is a lot
of typing. I tried their web page -- but it appears to be brand new,
with nothing on it yet. :-)

But it does include the following:


================================================== ====================
Use an in-line mini-oiler to lubricate the tool before and after every
use. Blow out air line to clear dirt and moisture. Place chisel in the
cylinder, the spring retainer must be used to secure the chisel firmly
in too. Properly adjust the speed so that the chisel is not being
driven out of the cylinder by the piston. If the piston strikes the
cylinder wall, it may cause internal damage. Upon starting, hold the
tool away from the work. When finished hammering again, lift the tool
away from work before stopping the motor. If the chisel gets jammed in
the cut slot, always release throttle lever to ease the chisel free. Do
not try to free the tool by starting and stopping the motor. Always
disconnect the tool from power supply before changing chisel and
servicing.
================================================== ====================

And then -- this seems to contradict part of the above:

================================================== ====================
Accessory retainers must be used to prevent ejection or discharge of the
accessory which might harm to people. To avoid injury, the throttle
lever should never be depressed unless the accessory is held securely
against the workpiece. Always remove the chisel when the tool is not in
use.
================================================== ====================

So -- should I start the tool before contacting the workpiece,
or not? The upper part suggests that I should, the lower that I should
not. :-)

Anyway -- there is quite a bit more in the manual, which is
still two sides of a single sheet of paper.

The exploded parts diagram looks quite similar, other than
details in the air inlet and the regulator.

I notice that it comes with a bottle of oil, and with a
quick-disconnect fitting (which is likely to not fit with what I am
already using. :-)

But the *chisels* appear to be identical to the set which came
with mine. Finally -- a match. :-) Now, if only they had bothered to
list the intended function of each of the chisels. But at least, you
can go to the web page and examine the photos of the chisels (which
seems to be better in the separate catalog entry of the set of chisels
without the air hammer, even though the air hammer is still shown in the
photo. :-)

But both the Grizzley and the AmPro manuals say nothing about
the intended functions of the chisels.

Craftsman used to have some decent manuals that
went along with most of their tools. Sadly I haven't been
able to find any that you can download for some time now...

And what I am looking for is specific to the chisels which I
have. The actual hammer is pretty well covered already.

If I come across some useful info (read manual) on these
I'll keep you in mind.

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
According to Leon Fisk :
On 16 Oct 2007 01:47:36 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

According to Leon Fisk :
On 12 Oct 2007 01:57:09 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:
snip
Maybe knowing what they are described as will help a bit.

It would -- except that only one matches what I have -- the flat
chisel. :-)

Bummer, you would think that they (importer) could at least
copy a good brand name

Maybe they did -- but just not the ones which I have looked at
so far. :-)

[ ... ]

They really seem to be in love with their stuff. (But then,
they always have been. :-) I wonder how much difference in actual
quality the price difference would produce?

I can't justify their prices either. Maybe if I used the
stuff all day, every day I would feel differently. I do have
a few odd sockets, extensions and such. Stuff I found (along
the road) or came mixed in with something else. It is nice
stuff, but then my old S-K and Craftsman tools work just
fine too (note I said old).

Certainly. I've got good *old* tools from Craftsman and I have
somewhere some nice screwdrivers from Snap-On (bought new). Black
handles with a triangular cross-section, which let me get more torque
than any other handles for the same sized blades. (These were from
perhaps around 1970 or so, I think.)

I found a copy of what must be your "manual" on Grizzly's
website. All two pages of it. It was really helpful to look
at, NOT.

Not as good a manual as that which came with mine -- but it does
tell me that I can bend the spring out of the way to change tools, while
mine does not.

There is quite a bit more detail in the manual with mine. Brand
is "AmPro Professional Burgandy Collection" FWIW.

I would type in what is in the manual, except that it is a lot
of typing. I tried their web page -- but it appears to be brand new,
with nothing on it yet. :-)

But it does include the following:


================================================== ====================
Use an in-line mini-oiler to lubricate the tool before and after every
use. Blow out air line to clear dirt and moisture. Place chisel in the
cylinder, the spring retainer must be used to secure the chisel firmly
in too. Properly adjust the speed so that the chisel is not being
driven out of the cylinder by the piston. If the piston strikes the
cylinder wall, it may cause internal damage. Upon starting, hold the
tool away from the work. When finished hammering again, lift the tool
away from work before stopping the motor. If the chisel gets jammed in
the cut slot, always release throttle lever to ease the chisel free. Do
not try to free the tool by starting and stopping the motor. Always
disconnect the tool from power supply before changing chisel and
servicing.
================================================== ====================

And then -- this seems to contradict part of the above:

================================================== ====================
Accessory retainers must be used to prevent ejection or discharge of the
accessory which might harm to people. To avoid injury, the throttle
lever should never be depressed unless the accessory is held securely
against the workpiece. Always remove the chisel when the tool is not in
use.
================================================== ====================

So -- should I start the tool before contacting the workpiece,
or not? The upper part suggests that I should, the lower that I should
not. :-)

Anyway -- there is quite a bit more in the manual, which is
still two sides of a single sheet of paper.

The exploded parts diagram looks quite similar, other than
details in the air inlet and the regulator.

I notice that it comes with a bottle of oil, and with a
quick-disconnect fitting (which is likely to not fit with what I am
already using. :-)

But the *chisels* appear to be identical to the set which came
with mine. Finally -- a match. :-) Now, if only they had bothered to
list the intended function of each of the chisels. But at least, you
can go to the web page and examine the photos of the chisels (which
seems to be better in the separate catalog entry of the set of chisels
without the air hammer, even though the air hammer is still shown in the
photo. :-)

But both the Grizzley and the AmPro manuals say nothing about
the intended functions of the chisels.

Craftsman used to have some decent manuals that
went along with most of their tools. Sadly I haven't been
able to find any that you can download for some time now...

And what I am looking for is specific to the chisels which I
have. The actual hammer is pretty well covered already.

If I come across some useful info (read manual) on these
I'll keep you in mind.

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
The one that looks like a cold chisel with a notch across the middle is
intended to cut edge-on into the metal and the notch helps keep it from
sliding off. The one with the little hook on one side is intended to peel a
narrow strip out of a flat piece of metal by driving the hook down thru the
metal and peeling the strip upwards. The one with a long thin pointed end is
intended to be driven between overlapping exhaust pipes to loosen them.

Place the chisel or punch in position before pressing the trigger.

One good use for this tool is to loosen tapered ball joints or tie rod ends.
Use a large flat tool and hammer against the side of the female part, with a
backup if possible. This technique will also loosen pipe fittings and nuts
that are frozen. Works with much less damage than trying to drive on the
end. You can also often free frozen cap screws by hammering directly down on
the head. A very useful tool for fixing things or ruining things.

Don Young

According to Don Young :

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

[ ... ]

The one that looks like a cold chisel with a notch across the middle is
intended to cut edge-on into the metal and the notch helps keep it from
sliding off.

O.K. Not the symmetrical V but the one with a small semi-circular
notch?

The one with the little hook on one side is intended to peel a
narrow strip out of a flat piece of metal by driving the hook down thru the
metal and peeling the strip upwards. The one with a long thin pointed end is
intended to be driven between overlapping exhaust pipes to loosen them.

O.K. This is the asymmetrical V?

Place the chisel or punch in position before pressing the trigger.

O.K. A lot easier to control that way -- having tried it both
ways after reading that manual.

One good use for this tool is to loosen tapered ball joints or tie rod ends.
Use a large flat tool and hammer against the side of the female part, with a
backup if possible. This technique will also loosen pipe fittings and nuts
that are frozen. Works with much less damage than trying to drive on the
end. You can also often free frozen cap screws by hammering directly down on
the head. A very useful tool for fixing things or ruining things.

Thanks -- this gives me a start with the existing tooling.

Thanks again,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

resending this reply, which seems to have gotten lost by Teranews, or a
Vista has taken place

I don't know of any printed or online material, DoN. I haven't even seen any
quality automotive tool catalogs in years, which might show the various
styles of accessories available.

I'm not sure what you meant by getting the/a (tool) "started under the end
of the muffler's clamp". To the best of my recollection, clamps were always
removed (by other means) before using the chisels to separate the
pipe/tubing joint.

I do know that in the 70s & 80s many offshore manufacturers' accessories
were showing up in lots of tool suppliers' product lines. That means that
the original high quality USA made tools were being cloned/copied. Many of
the offshore products were only somewhat reasonable facsimilies of the
"real" tools.
Many of these imported wannabe/looky-a-like-a tools are a catastrophe in
actual use.

The exaust pipe cutters that I remember back when there were still USA tools
around, were actually several different tools. One set was a pair of; cut
left, cut right tools, kinda shaped like half of a (playing card) club.
Another tool was a cutter for removing an internal piece of an exaust pipe
connection, without ruining the external pipe.

I also remember that a Snap-On panel ripper tool (peels a curl of sheetmetal
out of a panel with very little distortion), worked far better than the
imported parts store rippers.
The generic rippers were generally a waste of money as far as performance.
It's easier on the ripper if they're only used for straight cuts, and if the
hand feed pressure is maintained, to prevent the impacts that occur when the
tool is allowed to hammer in the slot.

Another handy panel tool was the spotweld cutter, it was a slim flat chisel,
with a notch in the center of the cutter edge. The chisel was eased into a
spotwelded seam, and run between the panels, and when a spotweld was
encountered, the metal would raise a bit, then the beveled edge of the notch
would either pop the weld apart, or cut through the spot without much edge
distortion.

One very handy accessory is the hammer head (even though hammers are my
least favorite tools, unlike some guys I know). I figured it would be
worthwhile to pay the extra money for a Snap-On hammer head, too.
The hammer can usually be used instead of a pickle fork for removing tapered
studs, such as tierod ends. If the shock is applied to the part the stud
passes through, perpendicular to the stud center axis, the shock will
usually loosen the taper quickly, and salvage the synthetic water/dirt
shield.
Ordinarily, the hammer accessory is only used with substantially heavy duty
parts. Applied to anything that's not built of heavy duty parts will very
likely break some stuff.

Some air chisels came with a (cheaper) quick-change spring tool
holder/retainer. The sometimes don't retain the chisel, especially when the
chisel slips off the workpiece.

The other type of retainer spring looks a bit like a beehive shape, and used
a second piece inside to adapt the chisel shoulder to conform to the inside
shape of the spring. These types of retainer springs need to be unscrewed
completely to change chisels/tools. This type of retainer spring actually
retains the chisel or tool.
These better retainers used to be sold by the tool truck guys.

Eye and face protection, in addition to gloves are mandatory. Also, don't
forget the ear protection.
I never felt cushioned gloves were required, but I would certainly consider
them now, if I were to use an air chisel frequently.
Some situations almost demand that the free hand is used to guide the
chisel, just try not to get into situations that result in much pain and/or
drainage/loss of fluids.

Speakin of drainage, try to predict what might be in danger down-range, if
the chisel should slip off the target. If the operator is leaning into the
air tool, and slips, the next contact could be with a radiator, oil pan,
hose (or vein) or other fragile item.

WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
O.K. My turn to ask a question instead of answering them.

I just picked up an air hammer with a set of five chisels.

Looking at them, I see things which don't look right to me, but
since I've never used these, I don't know whether the problem is in my
expectations or in the actual chisel set that I got.

In particular, the two chisels which I would have thought would
be for ripping off old mufflers and such -- both sort of 'V' profile,
one symmetrical and the other with one wing shorter and thinner than the
other -- both have rounded corners, which strike me as difficult to get
started under the end of the muffler's clamp. I am tempted to go to the
grinder and sharpen them -- but before I do this, I would like to know
how they *really* are supposed to be used.

I guess that the rounded corner could be started in a drilled
hole for ripping sheet metal (body work). One is just a narrow cone
which would be nice for driving out taper pins or dowel pins. One is a
wide chisel with a groove in the center. And the final one is just a
plain chisel. Both of these last two do have somewhat of an edge,
though far from "scary sharp" (which I would hardly expect to survive
the first five cycles anyway). :-)

So -- Is there a good web site or book which will explain the
uses of these chisels, and how they should be sharpened? The extent of
the "manual" which came with the set was:

1) Always put a few drops of oil in the hose before using the
air hammer.

2) Always put the retaining spring on *before* connecting the
air hose or using it.

Absolutely nothing about the chisels other than "with a 5-chisel
set". :-)

At some point, I'll want to make rivet setting tools to go in
this, of course. And get a needle scaler for it as well.

For that matter -- do I need a cushioning glove to avoid damage
to my hand and wrist?

Thanks all,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On 17 Oct 2007 02:48:12 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

old stuff snipped
We almost have this subject beat-to-death, but I found one
more source that may be useful. Wholesale Tools has some
decent listings for these. See:

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...Air_Hammer_Kit

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...Air_Hammer_Kit

A few separate tool bits and descriptions (click on each
entry for a very brief description):

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/13629

Their prices are a whole lot cheaper than those we saw at
Snap-on. Of course the quality probably... should be good
enough for some learning/fooling around though.

If you want to look some more, do a search on /air hammer/.
They have quite a few offerings, actually a few more than
they show in their published catalog. At least the copy that
I have.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

According to Leon Fisk :
On 17 Oct 2007 02:48:12 GMT, (DoN.
Nichols) wrote:

old stuff snipped
We almost have this subject beat-to-death, but I found one
more source that may be useful. Wholesale Tools has some
decent listings for these. See:

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...Air_Hammer_Kit

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...Air_Hammer_Kit

O.K. This second one seems to have identifiers printed on the
pouch by each chisel (until you get them mixed up).

A few separate tool bits and descriptions (click on each
entry for a very brief description):

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/13629

O.K. That gets some of mine better identified. Right now is
not the time to play with the air hammer -- the air conditioning
compressor has died, and even the computer room is running at about 91F,
there is no place to come to to cool off.

Their prices are a whole lot cheaper than those we saw at
Snap-on. Of course the quality probably... should be good
enough for some learning/fooling around though.

Certainly so.

If you want to look some more, do a search on /air hammer/.
They have quite a few offerings, actually a few more than
they show in their published catalog. At least the copy that
I have.

Thanks much,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

According to Wild_Bill :
resending this reply, which seems to have gotten lost by Teranews, or a
Vista has taken place

I don't know of any printed or online material, DoN. I haven't even seen any
quality automotive tool catalogs in years, which might show the various
styles of accessories available.

O.K. Thanks.

I'm not sure what you meant by getting the/a (tool) "started under the end
of the muffler's clamp". To the best of my recollection, clamps were always
removed (by other means) before using the chisels to separate the
pipe/tubing joint.

I meant between the outer layer (usually part of the muffler)
and the inner layer (the pipe itself). Obviously, clamp was the wrong
term to use.

I do know that in the 70s & 80s many offshore manufacturers' accessories
were showing up in lots of tool suppliers' product lines. That means that
the original high quality USA made tools were being cloned/copied. Many of
the offshore products were only somewhat reasonable facsimilies of the
"real" tools.
Many of these imported wannabe/looky-a-like-a tools are a catastrophe in
actual use.

I can believe that.

The exaust pipe cutters that I remember back when there were still USA tools
around, were actually several different tools. One set was a pair of; cut
left, cut right tools, kinda shaped like half of a (playing card) club.
Another tool was a cutter for removing an internal piece of an exaust pipe
connection, without ruining the external pipe.

And based on the illustrations in the on-line catalogs that I
have been pointed to -- I don't have these.

I also remember that a Snap-On panel ripper tool (peels a curl of sheetmetal
out of a panel with very little distortion), worked far better than the
imported parts store rippers.

That sounds like something which I would find useful in general
sheet metal work, not just automotive work. (I expected to find this an
addition to my metalworking tools, not just for automotive work, with is
(thankfully) infrequent. :-)

The generic rippers were generally a waste of money as far as performance.
It's easier on the ripper if they're only used for straight cuts, and if the
hand feed pressure is maintained, to prevent the impacts that occur when the
tool is allowed to hammer in the slot.

O.K. For curved cuts, I would probably use an air driven
nibbler (and shower the place with nasty crescents of sharp metal. :-)

For really straight lines, I would normally use a shear. (I'm
limited to 24" at present.)

Another handy panel tool was the spotweld cutter, it was a slim flat chisel,
with a notch in the center of the cutter edge. The chisel was eased into a
spotwelded seam, and run between the panels, and when a spotweld was
encountered, the metal would raise a bit, then the beveled edge of the notch
would either pop the weld apart, or cut through the spot without much edge
distortion.

O.K. This sounds like my straight chisel with a single bevel
and a central notch like a hole drilled parallel to the bevel.

One very handy accessory is the hammer head (even though hammers are my
least favorite tools, unlike some guys I know). I figured it would be
worthwhile to pay the extra money for a Snap-On hammer head, too.
The hammer can usually be used instead of a pickle fork for removing tapered
studs, such as tierod ends. If the shock is applied to the part the stud
passes through, perpendicular to the stud center axis, the shock will
usually loosen the taper quickly, and salvage the synthetic water/dirt
shield.

O.K. Nice.

Ordinarily, the hammer accessory is only used with substantially heavy duty
parts. Applied to anything that's not built of heavy duty parts will very
likely break some stuff.

Hmm ... how would it work with one of those hammer-driven torque
screwdrivers? (I guess that the screwdriver bit mounted to an impact
wrench would be the better choice.

Some air chisels came with a (cheaper) quick-change spring tool
holder/retainer. The sometimes don't retain the chisel, especially when the
chisel slips off the workpiece.

Warning noted.

The other type of retainer spring looks a bit like a beehive shape, and used
a second piece inside to adapt the chisel shoulder to conform to the inside
shape of the spring. These types of retainer springs need to be unscrewed
completely to change chisels/tools. This type of retainer spring actually
retains the chisel or tool.
These better retainers used to be sold by the tool truck guys.

I notice that there are also supposed quick-change holders with
no external spring.

Eye and face protection, in addition to gloves are mandatory. Also, don't
forget the ear protection.

Good point.

I never felt cushioned gloves were required, but I would certainly consider
them now, if I were to use an air chisel frequently.
Some situations almost demand that the free hand is used to guide the
chisel, just try not to get into situations that result in much pain and/or
drainage/loss of fluids.

Absolutely!

Speakin of drainage, try to predict what might be in danger down-range, if
the chisel should slip off the target. If the operator is leaning into the
air tool, and slips, the next contact could be with a radiator, oil pan,
hose (or vein) or other fragile item.

A good point as well. Especially when a vein is what is in
danger of being drained. :-)

Thanks for all,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

I have also used a balljoint removal tool, which is basically just a
"U" shape on the end of the shank, but the cool thing about the set is
that it is designed to be interchangeble between the air chisel shank
and a regular straight shank (manual sledgehammer) use. This leaves
me with a hardened steel shank which fits the air chisel and a 5/8"NC
threaded end which (usually) threads into the various size "U" tools.
I have threaded various lumps of steel, aluminum, etc to make various
custom tools. My latest tool (still untested) is an attachment to
help me sink a 10 foot long 3/4" solid copper ground bar into the
(packed) dirt so that I can have an RF ground for my Ham radio
equipment. If it doesn't work, it'll be a long day, on a ladder, with
a sledgehammer. Ugh.
Michael