Re: The right tools sure help...

Tools are`extension of your mind--

a couple of my favorite tools
#1 in my books is our Miller Plasma cutter. I'm redoing the "Flintstone 356 Porsche's" rotten floor and all the rest.
We cut the rot off with the plasma and MIG wellding the new sections in.
The upper sections on the unibody Porsche "frame" has solid steel and we make a template with used cardboard boxes material to fit the piece
then use the template to be the guide for the plasma gun while cutting the 18 or 20 gauge sheet steel-
they cut so accurately and it doesn't even start the cardboard on fire.
wonderful invention and almost science fiction on how it works
The plasma cutter makes oxy/acetylene look really dangerous

#2 to me has to be our Snap-On handheld infrared thermometer
I "shoot" everything
each exhaust port/spark plug to see if they are all firing the same
cooling system scan all the places --we found a lot of blockage in the radiator on one old truck once
tires after a run
starter wires and connections
the walls around the exhaust on the boat I run
we found a bad solder joint on a resistor in a marine handheld radio
handy device

keep warm
hank

'57 bug "BlackBerry"
'58 type261 single cab "Ruf"
'86 vanagon syncro "Syncro da Dr.Mayo"
and way too many project waiting

Re: The right tools sure help...

Hank> Whats this plasma cutter?

I always thought of tools as an extension of my hands but I suppose you are taking a step back. We have to envision them first in our minds, and then there are intangible tools like software.

'71 SB(DD only 79K(now 84K miles) & '78 FI Westy (project)
PO of '65 Beetle in '69, '70 Crewcab & '70 Ghia in '77
'71 Super inside rear vents now available
http://www.openroad.ca/volkswebbin/view … p?id=85915