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How to: Build a cool tool.

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=79676
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 9:29 AM


Topic: How to: Build a cool tool.

Posted By: forbidden
Subject: How to: Build a cool tool.
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 2:36 AM

Tired of losing all those screws that you take out of the dashboard? Got some old speakers that have blown? Bust off the magnets, take moms favorite metal cake pan, stick the magnets on the bottom and secure with some hot glue. Next add some duct tape to them to keep them from scratching on a leather seat or dashboard. Now you have a nice new magnetic tool tray that keeps all of those screws in one spot, safe and secure and no need to go looking for replacements.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.



Replies:

Posted By: auex
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 5:28 AM
Is a magnetic tray for $7 off the truck too much? JK.

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.




Posted By: spookiestylez
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 9:56 AM
Here's one for ya. Get yourself a peice of hollow peice of tubular metal, and grind one end to a edge, now ya got a nice rubber grommet tool to run ya wire though.(If you dont wanna buy a 2 peice set for $15 off the truck)

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RTFM




Posted By: kgerry
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 10:18 AM
they are called magnetic parts bowls and available at Princess Auto for .50 cent each, plus the magnet is encased in rubber so you dont scratch a dash or console when you take them into the car..... i have about 10 of them on the go in the back of the shop... we load them crimp connects when doing a deck install or dash screws, etc when doing starter installs.....

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Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 11:44 AM
I do realize what they are guys and where to get them of course (althoug here Snap On is $20.00 -ouch). Point is that alot of guys have blown speakers, now they can do something with them. (note the sarcastic take moms favorite cake pan). Keep posting the cool tool ideas here, lets see what we get.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: Ravendarat
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 1:28 PM
If you need to poke a hole in the firewall and cant find your normal tool, just remove the customers antenna and grind the little ball off the end. Now it will slide through like butter and you can just screw it back on when your done. Dont worry though, they'll never notice. And for those that are sarcasticly impared, yes Im Joking about this.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer




Posted By: punkbastard
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 2:01 PM

And for those that are sarcasticly impared, yes Im Joking about this.[/QUOTE wrote:

]

God I was hoping you would put some kind of disclaimer, I could jus


God I was hoping you would put some kind of disclaimer, I could just see somebody doing that and then blaming you for getting them fired!





Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 6:09 PM

We have several of those ground antenna's at work we pulled off of customers cars when they got replacements.  They do work great.

I bought a magnetic tool tray I purchased at Harbor Freight and really never use it.  I usually just use the factory cup holders/cubbies to hold the factory screws.

You can make your own perfect circle using a piece of plexiglass and a plunge router.  Just cut the plexiglass so it will mount on the router.  Now when you need to cut a circle, just use a tape measure to measure from the router bit to the circle radius you desire, and mark this point with a sharpie.  Now drill a hole through the plexiglass and into the center point of the desired hole, but don't take the drill bit out of the wood/plexiglass.  Instead release it from your drill, and it will act as a pivot point for your router. 





Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 6:24 PM
^^^ Hey that was my idea!  - Jasper

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 6:28 PM

Like I say, great Steve's think alike. posted_image

I can't take credit for that though.  It was taught to me a long time ago by an installer I used to work with.





Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 27, 2006 at 6:38 PM

https://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=365-255&DID=7&raid=44&rak=365-255

(Jasper)



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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 12:44 AM
Yeah, I have a set of those now.  They are expensive though, and the plexiglass solution is MUCH cheaper.




Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 5:04 AM
I just use the  customers ash tray to put all the screws in. I clean it out for the customer anyway. As for a use of those old blown speaker mags. I have one stuck to my oil pan. I gave some to my buddy he puts them in the oil bath on the presses he runs.

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Big Dave




Posted By: Insomniacustoms
Date Posted: July 02, 2006 at 2:14 AM
how about one of those situations where you dont have a window crank removal tool and you need to remove a window crank, you can just use a small length of 18 guage shop primary wire to shimmy that stupid annoying little pin out of its home.




Posted By: Ravendarat
Date Posted: July 02, 2006 at 5:00 PM

Insomniacustoms wrote:

how about one of those situations where you dont have a window crank removal tool and you need to remove a window crank, you can just use a small length of 18 guage shop primary wire to shimmy that stupid annoying little pin out of its home.

I generally just use a right angle pick when the window crank removal tool proves uneffective or just decided to hide. (Damn thing runs and hides from me, I swear it)



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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer




Posted By: david n germany
Date Posted: July 03, 2006 at 3:41 AM
Window crank clips can be removed easy withg a shop rag, just slide it under the crank on the open side of the clip and pull it back and forth till the clip catches on the rag popping it off.  usually it will stay stuck in the rag saving precious search time :)




Posted By: auex
Date Posted: July 03, 2006 at 10:30 AM
Fork works best in a pinch.

-------------
Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
Tell Darwin I sent you.

I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.




Posted By: spookiestylez
Date Posted: July 03, 2006 at 12:22 PM

I use a old grinded down antenna alot, that w/ some tape is a good poker/wire routing tool. Our senior installer "J" has a little flexible grabber (claw lookeing thing) he got from sears for a few bucks that works really good too.

Another cool tool I use that everyone used to crack on me about is a LED flashlight that has the head straps, its really comfy and bright and I dont have to fumble w/ a light and can use both hands for work.



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RTFM




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: July 09, 2006 at 5:41 PM
Another cool tool for you fibreglass guys is the resin roller used to remove bubbles from your glasswork. Take a small paint roller, a 1", 2" or 3" works good and remove the roller. Next head on down to the hardware store and buy some washers, lots of them in two different sizes. The sizes need to differ by 1/16" in diameter. Insert the washers onto the roller, alternating between large and small until the roller is full. Figure out a way to secure the washers to the roller. Now you have a great way to roll the bubbles out of your resin. Make sure you clean the gaget throughly in resin after you are done.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: geepherder
Date Posted: July 09, 2006 at 9:31 PM
You mean thinner or acetone.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: July 09, 2006 at 11:13 PM

It should have read, make sure you clean the gadget thoroughly of resin after you are done. And yes, use acetone. Nice catch dude.



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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: advanced_audio
Date Posted: July 11, 2006 at 6:55 PM
Have you ever lost those stupid ford keys for removing factory ford radios? Our shop loses them constantly, so much so tha we chained both keys together with a very long thin chain, but if you can't find the keys you can always use small allen wrenches and use them like the ford keys. not really a cool tool, but hopefully helpful to someone.




Posted By: kgerry
Date Posted: July 12, 2006 at 12:22 PM
i'm surprised no one has mentioned the other uses of left over speakers.... i have an old RF sub here we use to magnetize screwdrivers so they hold screws better as well as a couple of old blown Alpine 6" speakers we use to clean up knibble poop when you enlarge a hole in a parcel shelf etc.... one or two swipes with an old speakers will save you 5 minutes with a shop vac...... same thing when drilling holes under the hood... lay an old bum speaker under where you are drilling and it grabs all the fine metal shavings automatically, making a much cleaner job ......

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Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979




Posted By: Melted Fabric
Date Posted: July 18, 2006 at 11:51 AM
That is a pretty good idea, the magnetic sweeping.

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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.





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