I suppose it like when a craftsman introduces his children to the tools of trade – on the job with full safety considerations and careful training in use etc.
Like my Dad taught me carpentry and fitting.
It was the fitting that ‘took’ as I have always been a bit awkward with sharp edges – maybe a touch of paranoia? Carpentry almost always results in a cut of some kind while I can indulge in skilled fitting all day, safely.
My Dad was apprenticed as a carpenter until WWII broke it up. After the war he moved into fitting and was good at it. He had an instinctive knack for the job. Maybe the carpentry gave him the natural skills required in fitting?
So when I grew up, it was the fitting that he was doing that ‘took’ for me instead of the ‘historical’ carpentry?
In any case, he was good at both! I miss him. I did not spend enough time with him while he was alive and am only now, belatedly, appreciating what he did for me and what he could have taught me had I paid attention.
So this is a bit of golden advice – spend more time with your parents and learn everything you can from them It is free education and worth far more than what you can buy from colleges! Do the same at school and college and you will grow up well educated and full of wisdom to pass on to your own family when the time comes…
My Grandfather is fond of saying that any tool you buy and then use was worth it… Now, if I could only get all of mine together in one place so I can find them and stop buying the duplicates
Don’t beat yourself up too hard, some stuff works best in multiples. This explains my collection of 10mm and 13mm combination wrenches. On the bike tool side, I have a lot of 5mm Allen wrenches on the bench, although each is slightly different, plus lots of tire levers and multitools so each bike get its own kit.
Absolutely sweet. Boy, to have had that when I was starting out in the business. And then 28 years later, when I had to replace everything because I’d given my bicycle specific tools away to a kid about to start his first job 20 years earlier – convinced that I was never going to touch a bicycle again.
That happened to me too!When I moved back to England from Shannon, A young man there was ‘into’ using tools, mainly for Motor Cycle maintenance, so I lessened my load by letting him have some of my tools. I hope they were appreciated…
I started working on my own bikes & those of neighborhood kids when I was around 8 years old. Not enough space in our small home for my own set of tools, but my dad showed me how to use his, and to put them back after each use – a rule I still follow today. Yes – Fizz IS old enough, and through proper & responsible adult guidance will get a lifetime of use from them, & many treasured memories!
What would be your choice?
1. AWS-3 2, 2.5, 3mm Y Hex Wrench Set
2. CC-3.2 Chain Checker Chain Wear Indicator
3. CT-3 Professional Screw Type Chain Tool
4. SCW-13 13mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
5. SCW-14 14mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
6. SCW-15 15mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
7. SCW-16 16mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
8. SCW-17 17mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
9. SCW-18 18mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
10. SCW-19 19mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
11. SD-0 Shop Screwdriver #0 Phillips
12. SD-2 Shop Screwdriver #2 Phillips
13. SD-3 Shop Screwdriver Straight Blade 3mm tip
14. SD-6 Shop Screwdriver Straight Blade, 6mm tip
15. SR-11 Chain Whip and Freewheel/Lockring Wrench
16. SW-0 Professional Spoke Wrench
17. SW-2 Professional Spoke Wrench
18. CCW-5 Crank Wrench with 14mm Socket / 8mm Hex
19. CN-10 Cable Cutter
20. CNW-2 Chainring Nut Wrench
21. GP-2 Pre-Glued Patch Kit
22. PPL-1 PolyLube 1000 Grease
23. TL-6 Tire Levers
Those were cut and pasted from the Park Tools’ ‘AK-37 Advanced Mechanic Tool Kit’, sorry…
24. SBS-1 Socket and Bit Set
25. TW-5 – Ratcheting “Click Type” Torque Wrench
I am thinking of small tools that might be able to have pockets in that garment. I admit the full set would be overkill and heavy, but suited to small hands?
She can always hang it on the wall instead of / by the pegboard!
Most of those cones I rarely use. I would just put put another tin of grease in each place. Oh, and you forgot Tri-Flow. And though it won’t fit, a P&K Lie truing stand should be in there .
sometimes I think I’ll bankrupt myself over buying tools. I love anything that helps me create what I need or repair what I own. Fortunately I’m married to a blue collar tradesman who appreciates tools too!
I saw that trotify. Very cute, but not likely to last nor will it fit on a bike with a fender or racks and baskets. Nevermind how it would react to the environment!
And they don’t necessarily have to be expensive name-brand tools, either. While I will buy quality tools when I can (like Park, Snap-on, Stanley, and up until recently, Craftsman) I also have a 5-piece set of inexpensive open-ended metric wrenches that I bought from a local discount store back in the 1970s for roughly $3.98; and they are still working just as well as the Craftsman set I bought about 20 years later.
And one suggestion about tools: if you color-code them — I’ve spray-painted all my metric wrenches and sockets red, for example — you’ll make it easier to grab the right one out of the toolbox the first time.
Now that’s an advent calendar worth having.
This is awesome!
I agree with Zap and Zete above.
I suppose it like when a craftsman introduces his children to the tools of trade – on the job with full safety considerations and careful training in use etc.
Like my Dad taught me carpentry and fitting.
It was the fitting that ‘took’ as I have always been a bit awkward with sharp edges – maybe a touch of paranoia? Carpentry almost always results in a cut of some kind while I can indulge in skilled fitting all day, safely.
My Dad was apprenticed as a carpenter until WWII broke it up. After the war he moved into fitting and was good at it. He had an instinctive knack for the job. Maybe the carpentry gave him the natural skills required in fitting?
So when I grew up, it was the fitting that he was doing that ‘took’ for me instead of the ‘historical’ carpentry?
In any case, he was good at both! I miss him. I did not spend enough time with him while he was alive and am only now, belatedly, appreciating what he did for me and what he could have taught me had I paid attention.
So this is a bit of golden advice – spend more time with your parents and learn everything you can from them It is free education and worth far more than what you can buy from colleges! Do the same at school and college and you will grow up well educated and full of wisdom to pass on to your own family when the time comes…
My Grandfather is fond of saying that any tool you buy and then use was worth it… Now, if I could only get all of mine together in one place so I can find them and stop buying the duplicates
i’d call that idealistic surrealism
@K’Tesh – Like
I have the same problem, i think i have three of almost everything now.
having three isn’t a bad thing….then again I have been collecting wood clamps for a year now….up to 28 and I’m not half way to my goal
Don’t beat yourself up too hard, some stuff works best in multiples. This explains my collection of 10mm and 13mm combination wrenches. On the bike tool side, I have a lot of 5mm Allen wrenches on the bench, although each is slightly different, plus lots of tire levers and multitools so each bike get its own kit.
here we have advent calendars with 24 ‘doors’ to open. is 25 common too ?
Inside the 25th pocket is her first repair ticket.
a subtle introduction to her first internship
Absolutely sweet. Boy, to have had that when I was starting out in the business. And then 28 years later, when I had to replace everything because I’d given my bicycle specific tools away to a kid about to start his first job 20 years earlier – convinced that I was never going to touch a bicycle again.
That happened to me too!When I moved back to England from Shannon, A young man there was ‘into’ using tools, mainly for Motor Cycle maintenance, so I lessened my load by letting him have some of my tools. I hope they were appreciated…
Clever, Rick.
This would be a spendy set. But a lifelong investment. Not sure Fizz is up to the custody of such items by herself yet. Just sayin’.
I started working on my own bikes & those of neighborhood kids when I was around 8 years old. Not enough space in our small home for my own set of tools, but my dad showed me how to use his, and to put them back after each use – a rule I still follow today. Yes – Fizz IS old enough, and through proper & responsible adult guidance will get a lifetime of use from them, & many treasured memories!
Like
Ah. The Zen of bicycle maintenance
On the 2nd day of Chrismas my true love gave to me…
2 Carbon Rims….
Here’s an idea I just thought of – what tools?
What would be your choice?
1. AWS-3 2, 2.5, 3mm Y Hex Wrench Set
2. CC-3.2 Chain Checker Chain Wear Indicator
3. CT-3 Professional Screw Type Chain Tool
4. SCW-13 13mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
5. SCW-14 14mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
6. SCW-15 15mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
7. SCW-16 16mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
8. SCW-17 17mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
9. SCW-18 18mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
10. SCW-19 19mm Professional Shop Cone Wrench
11. SD-0 Shop Screwdriver #0 Phillips
12. SD-2 Shop Screwdriver #2 Phillips
13. SD-3 Shop Screwdriver Straight Blade 3mm tip
14. SD-6 Shop Screwdriver Straight Blade, 6mm tip
15. SR-11 Chain Whip and Freewheel/Lockring Wrench
16. SW-0 Professional Spoke Wrench
17. SW-2 Professional Spoke Wrench
18. CCW-5 Crank Wrench with 14mm Socket / 8mm Hex
19. CN-10 Cable Cutter
20. CNW-2 Chainring Nut Wrench
21. GP-2 Pre-Glued Patch Kit
22. PPL-1 PolyLube 1000 Grease
23. TL-6 Tire Levers
Those were cut and pasted from the Park Tools’ ‘AK-37 Advanced Mechanic Tool Kit’, sorry…
24. SBS-1 Socket and Bit Set
25. TW-5 – Ratcheting “Click Type” Torque Wrench
I am thinking of small tools that might be able to have pockets in that garment. I admit the full set would be overkill and heavy, but suited to small hands?
She can always hang it on the wall instead of / by the pegboard!
she and her friends will stick their head together in awe when she presents her new SD-3 Shop Screwdriver Straight Blade 3mm tip
Most of those cones I rarely use. I would just put put another tin of grease in each place. Oh, and you forgot Tri-Flow. And though it won’t fit, a P&K Lie truing stand should be in there
.
Tencon,
no 5mm wrench.
Seems like 90% of working on my bikes requires a 5mm.
I want one!
Awesome. I need me one of those!
Forget the chocolate, that’s my kind of Advent calendar!
My late father had a cute saying:
“A tool, in the hands of a fool, becomes not a tool, but a duel, between the fool, and the tool!”
Not pertinent to the situation at hand, but tools always remind me of my dad.
Like, thanks for sharing : )
That’s a very clever idea!
sometimes I think I’ll bankrupt myself over buying tools. I love anything that helps me create what I need or repair what I own. Fortunately I’m married to a blue collar tradesman who appreciates tools too!
It’s touching that Yehuda used one of Fred’s old aprons for this. Keep that continuity going.
Well Said Jeff, Like
Totally unrelated to today’s strip, but I thought you all would enjoy this.
http://laughingsquid.com/trotify-a-wooden-device-that-makes-your-bike-clop-like-a-horse/
I thought it would include that with the message. Oh well.
that’s awesome !
thank you !
I saw that trotify. Very cute, but not likely to last nor will it fit on a bike with a fender or racks and baskets. Nevermind how it would react to the environment!
Of course these tools are made of chocolate
That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen on this comic. Well done!
That is fantastic, I want one!!!!
And they don’t necessarily have to be expensive name-brand tools, either. While I will buy quality tools when I can (like Park, Snap-on, Stanley, and up until recently, Craftsman) I also have a 5-piece set of inexpensive open-ended metric wrenches that I bought from a local discount store back in the 1970s for roughly $3.98; and they are still working just as well as the Craftsman set I bought about 20 years later.
And one suggestion about tools: if you color-code them — I’ve spray-painted all my metric wrenches and sockets red, for example — you’ll make it easier to grab the right one out of the toolbox the first time.
Well Said Bill – Like
I just thought of this: That a multi-coloured set would work well in this application too!