Keith's Law

[kmealy]

Well, I did a repair shift at the furniture bank and made two runs to the car for tools or hardware, then last evening setting up a small theater set, three runs.  One thing I learned early on in on-site repair that I now call "Keith's Law" -- if you think you only need one or two tools for job, take in the whole toolbox.  Otherwise, you'll be making more trips out for additional tools.  Last night, I ended up invoking that law on the third trip and just brought in the whole toolbox.  I also get a kick out of the shop manager who carries in two 5 gal buckets of tools and then has to remember which of the two holds his whatchamacallit and then has to dig in to find it.  First Order Retrievability, Steve!

 

 

[DAB]

hammer, screwdriver, adjustable pliers, duct tape, baling wire.......if those don't suffice, the job needs to be given to someone else.....

[lew]

I have 3 dedicated tool boxes. Electronics, plumbing, mechanics. For carpentry, it's another one but the contents vary on the job and often times requires the addition of one of the previous 3

[Larry Buskirk]

If I ever tried to bring them all in the job wouldn't get done. I'd be making trips back and forth for a week. 

[kmealy]

2 hours ago, DAB said:

hammer, screwdriver, adjustable pliers, duct tape, baling wire.......if those don't suffice, the job needs to be given to someone else.....

+ WD-40?

 

I'm always surprised that often plumbers just use Channellocks to tighten or loosen any nut or bolt.

[lew]

Let's not forget the electrician's hammer

 

 

[DAB]

20 minutes ago, kmealy said:

+ WD-40?

 

I'm always surprised that often plumbers just use Channellocks to tighten or loosen any nut or bolt.

 

that's what the hammer is for.....

[DAB]

15 minutes ago, lew said:

Let's not forget the electrician's hammer

 

 

 

ooohhhh....fancy hammer!!!! rich guy!!!

 

[DuckSoup]

 The first day of my electrical apprenticeship the journeyman that I was working with told me to "grab some pocket tools", I had no idea what he meant. As he started to walk away, I looked at what he was carrying, flat, phillips screwdriver, adjustable pliers, linemen pliers & a 6'stick rule. The day I retired I was still carrying those tools.  

 One thing you'll want to remember about linemen pliers when used as a hammer, never hammer against the logo, you knock the little man off the pole.

[kmealy]

3 hours ago, DuckSoup said:

 The first day of my electrical apprenticeship the journeyman that I was working with told me to "grab some pocket tools", I had no idea what he meant. As he started to walk away, I looked at what he was carrying, flat, phillips screwdriver, adjustable pliers, linemen pliers & a 6'stick rule. The day I retired I was still carrying those tools.  

 One thing you'll want to remember about linemen pliers when used as a hammer, never hammer against the logo, you knock the little man off the pole.

I have seen there is a new electrician's screwdriver, one that compensates for the combination square, Phillips, and slotted heads.  You know, those screws that take any bit, but none very well.

 

Re: those crazy head screws

My philosophy is, if you don't own the right screwdriver, maybe you should not be doing the work.   

Engineering design principle: "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

 

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I wound up buying 2 sizes of those of the snazzy screwdrivers just to reside in my electrical box. Those electrical screws are the most exasperating screws (well, maybe just plain slotted screws can be worse) I've ever dealt with.

[kmealy]

48 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I wound up buying 2 sizes of those of the snazzy screwdrivers just to reside in my electrical box. Those electrical screws are the most exasperating screws (well, maybe just plain slotted screws can be worse) I've ever dealt with.

From what I read #1 is more common for outlets and switches.  Did you find that so?

 

I also mis-read the "4 in. #1" as "four in one" and was wondering what the fourth type of screw head there was.

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

If you use the metal boxes for anything, the ones I've bought usually have those screws, but mostly it's as you said: the outlets and switches.

[JimM]

I once saw an electrician using a neat small screwdriver with a U shaped shaft.  I was like an old brace, and that's how he used it.  It was for those annoying cover plate screws so he didn't have to reposition the slot so often.  I couldn't even find it on Amazon, but maybe I didn't have the correct search phrase.    

[DuckSoup]

 

On 2/4/2025 at 2:34 PM, kmealy said:

My philosophy is, if you don't own the right screwdriver, maybe you should not be doing the work.

  After I retired, I scaled back the tools I would carry in my truck. I had 41 different flat screwdrivers that I bought over the years for different equipment I worked on. Receptacles & switches were a PITA with the square, straight, phillips combination screws.

[Artie]

On 2/3/2025 at 4:53 PM, lew said:

Let's not forget the electrician's hammer

 

 

Absolutely!

[HARO50]

I've always believed that if you have to use a wrench as a hammer, it's time tu buy a new set of screwdrivers!

[JWD]

On 2/5/2025 at 4:30 AM, JimM said:

I once saw an electrician using a neat small screwdriver with a U shaped shaft.  I was like an old brace, and that's how he used it.  It was for those annoying cover plate screws so he didn't have to reposition the slot so often.  I couldn't even find it on Amazon, but maybe I didn't have the correct search phrase.    

I always heard those called speed drivers.  Klein made them but I don't think they do any more.  I have one I found on the road  but never did enough electrical work to purchase one.  There's always some on ebay.

[JWD]

 

Squammer.