At 8:41 AM -0800 2006-02-04, Richard Chycoski wrote:
> An impact driver (or wrench) is a little different - it supplies 'spikes'
> of rotational force, not vertical impact. They are common in automotive
> work, especially in air tools - the tool that you see mechanics use to
> remove and install tires is an impact wrench.
Ahh, yes -- an impact wrench. Sorry, I didn't make the
connection with driving drywall screws. My cousins were helping to
build race cars for a local dirt track in Memphis before they could
walk, and I've certainly seen my share of races as well. Once you've
heard an impact wrench, you'll never forget the sound.
> There are electrical
> versions of impact drivers too. Go to http://www.harborfreight.com and
> look up 'impact wrench' and 'hammer drill' - they're good for lots of
> other tools too! (I'm not affiliated with them but I am a happy
> customer. Plastic welders, anyone?)
Cool. I'll need to buy a number of replacement tools when I move
to the US,so I'll want to keep companies like this in mind.
> I have (and use) a lot more tools than a typical sysadmin, and this is
> part of the issue - the tools that you need are the tools that you are
> comfortable with. My father was a sheet metal mechanic, boat builder
> and carpenter, and I learned to use a wide range of tools from the time
> I could walk.
My grandfather was a master cabinet maker, and my dad was
technical director of a variety of small university theaters while I
was growing up, and before I was out of grade school I was using 12V
and 14V Makita cordless drills, cold chisels, pneumatic nail guns,
band saws, saber saws, circular saws, router/shapers, etc.... In
high school I was introduced to the oxy-acetalene brazing and cutting
torch, although I still wasn't old enough to use the big honking
table saw by myself.
> Of course, if you're asking what kind of tools you need for a newhire,
> it's unlikely that you're dealing with an 'uber' tool user - when I
> started my first job in computing, I had to tell my bosses what tools
> I wanted to order, not the other way around. They didn't quite understand
> why I needed aircraft tinsnips until they saw how I used them. (:-)
Yeah, I do find it funny that although I'm a software guy, in
many places I end up being the default hardware guy because I've got
more and better tools than most businesses and I'm not afraid to
bring in what I've got.
> I would expect to be using the full range
> of my mechanical skills in a small company, but when you have tens of
> thousands of people working with you, the sysadmins do much less
> mechanical work, hence the need for a small range of tools.
Correct. The smaller the site, the more you would be likely to
need to be a generalist (including hardware), and vice-versa.
--
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755
LOPSA member since December 2005. See <http://www.lopsa.org/>.