A lot of people do, but I try to be conscious of the "big tent" aspects here. A significant percentage of my readers aren't in need of so much as a Crescent wrench.
I have no place to work on a car and no carpentry skills, and I still enjoy the tool posts. There's an alternate reality (mainly, one in which I didn't marry a woman who is even more urban than I am) in which I would have room for a big garage and shop and it's fun to read about what happens in Jack's.
You need not be a shade tree mechanic to find that a good tool saves the day. Something like one of these Chapman kits is valuable if you ever find yourself using a screwdriver. Good tools aren't for professionals. Professionals buy good tools because they save time, effort, and frustration. They'll do the same for everybody.
I do a lot of work on firearms, especially as it relates to mounting optics and working on revolvers. Getting bits that actually properly fit fasteners and screws used to hold a red dot optic on the slide of a handgun is crucially important since most of the fasteners that come with these optics are the cheapest Chinese shit the manufacturer could source and the heads strip out if you look at them funny. On revolvers you need hollow ground bits to prevent ruining the screw heads and marring the revolver. Chapman's set has been an absolute godsend in that regard. I have been using the Mity-Master #1000 set for a few years. It is compact, portable, and I've been able to do everything from mount an optic on top of a Shield + to work on my dearly departed F150 with the set. It's exceedingly rare that I run into a fastener I don't have a bit for.
They do an excellent job of preventing damage to the heads of fasteners and on the more delicate types of fasteners you are often dealing with in mounting optics to firearms, they'll flex just a little bit to let you know you've hit the limit of the torque you should be applying to that fastener.
I'll always have a Chapman kit in my toolbox going forward. If you work on things regularly you'll wish you had bought one sooner.
Thanks, I have a Wheeler engineering kit I’ve been using, but it’s about to be replaced with a Chapman. When I was a young fellow, I never dreamed tools or jeans wouldn’t always be made in America.
A neighbor of mine, the widow of a prominent rabbinical scholar, has operated a kosher food bank for years. Because of their many children (and big parochial school tuition bills), many orthodox families are officially below the poverty level and free food is free food. The private food bank supplements the Detroit Jewish Federation's food charity Yad Ezra. It has some private funding, and food from some local kosher businesses, but most of the food comes from Forgotten Harvest, the Detroit area's non-profit food recycler and distributor and it almost all meets the definition of distressed merchandise. Stuff that's close to or past its best used by date, odd flavors that didn't sell.
One thing that apparently doesn't sell well are canned peaches from China. I understand importing fresh produce from Central and South America, but why on earth is anyone importing canned peaches from China? While it's not quite carrying coals to Newcastle, Michigan is a major producer of peaches and other stone fruit.
Michigan's state government has been encouraging the production of corn ethanol for decades, which also doesn't make sense in light of the state's role as a leading producer of sugar from sugar beets. Making ethanol from corn is pretty much a wash in terms of energy in to energy out. Using the begasse, the waste from sugar cane or sugar beet processing, to make ethanol, is actually energy positive.
Do you have a recommendation for a good punch and hammer set for this kind of work? Right now I’m mostly running in pins with a Knipex pliers wrench, but this isn’t going to work for any sort of disassembly.
I’ve been going back and forth between Wheeler, Real Avid, and Tekton. The Tekton punches are USA-made, but I’m unsure about the quality.
When I was in the H&K Armorer's classes, I think they had Geodre punches that were really nice. Starret punches are kind of the gold standard. I have a set of Grace punches that are performing well in most work for me. But generally speaking I've used all sorts of brands over the years.
The really important thing with firearms is getting the correct size as few pins require real force to get out. Just make sure you use actual roll-pin punches for roll pins. I use a derlin-tipped Grace hammer (available at Brownells) to prevent marring. The head is heavy so it generates a lot of force with minimal swing and the derlin strike face is safe to use directly on the metal of the firearm without damage. Just be sure that the face doesn't get hacked up and embedded with crud. If it does, replace it.
As an all-in-one kit, the Weaver gunsmith's kit includes most of what you need and works fine. The box is a little bulky and the bits/punches aren't the highest quality, but it comes with almost everything you'd actually use and they work well enough for most purposes. (Save for roll pins)
He’s 4. He was enraptured watching a few do flips and jumps around a piddling dirt park near our house.
The trick is getting something he won’t be insta-bored with, is reasonably tough, and isn’t some chintzy toy. As a rule I try to avoid items like that. I don’t know what’s reasonable, a $200 price cap?
Is the HK armorer’s class worthwhile? I’ve been kicking around the idea of attending one for a while now. I don’t want to bother if it’s just a bit of play acting though. Thanks.
If you want to learn to work on one of their weapons from folks who know the tips and tricks to making them work, it's a good option. There are several little details for assessing and working on, say, a semi-automatic clone of an MP5 that are a pain in the ass if you don't know the right way to go about them. Almost everybody who has tried to work on the parts inside the fire control group of the SP5/HK94/MP5 has messed a couple of things up through just not knowing the right techniques. It's not going to make you a gunsmith, but it will give you the information you need to check a weapon out, make sure it operates properly, and replace serviceable parts.
I have had one of their tiny ratchets that you flip over to change direction, with a dozen or so little bits (each with a splined end for grasping) that came in a wildly durable plastic snap case for at least 12 years, and it's still going strong. Fits in a pocket, disassembles a lot of stuff, last forever, doesn't cost much. Like some kind of business model or something....
I have an old set of these that came out of the stuff left behind when my step-dad passed away. They are as Jack described, and EVERY NOW AND THEN there isn't another tool in the shop that can get to that semi-obscured fastener as well as these.
Having never looked at their website, I now see that they offer several things that I don't own but perhaps should. At the minimum, I'll be ordering a few of their bicycle sets for gifts.
Once again, Jack is costing me money. Might have to sell a car or bicycle or something to keep up.
Every gun range or bug out bag needs the small set. It has bailed my ass out on more than one occasion. Probably best bang for the buck. They really make far east made tools look like third world trash.
Oh good, you wrote a piece on Chapman tools, I thought you might get around to it! American made and quite good, they can be invaluable at times when nothing else will seem to do. For me it was replacing the front lower grill on a C6, with its zillion little no-clearance fasteners. Been a fan ever since.
I'm thinking an engraved box set would make a really nice gift for the groom of a young, soon-to-be-wedded couple I know...but that wedding is in three hours, so I'll have to file that idea away for another time. Or maybe a graduation gift for enterprising young people who you'd expect to use such things.
I got a toolbox with my name engraved on it for a graduation present. It's great, I use it all the time and when I use it I think of the guy who gave it to me
They're a solid gift for anyone who is going out on their own. If you go live away from home, odds are you'll need a decent screwdriver multiple times. Well, one of these kits will handle almost any fastener you're likely to encounter out in the world.
Ordered the Ultimate Gunsmith set for my Dad for Christmas. Thought about the sneakers but he'll just outgrow them in a year. Whatever's on sale at Kmart will be fine.
After you wreaked havoc you may look gaze upon the destruction and inquire, "What have I wrought." At least I think you could. Grammer wasn't never my strong suite.
I can't comment or even completely read your other articles, so I'm using this opportunity to comment on something completely different. Sorry. Did you ever race Formula Renault? In a blue-and-white car number 99? That insurance company ran an article on Formula Renault on Nov. 30 and prominently pictured with no captions was said car, the driver of which sported a familiar-looking green helmet. Coincidence?
Yes. I was leading that race when the engine started missing and I was overtaken by a driver who then spun in front of me. When I hit him I broke my wrist.
Unavoidable Contact? Man, your presence is still on that website. They published an article on Dec. 2, "10 reasons Europe’s drivers envy America’s", which has a picture of you, by you (as also pointed out by Mr. Schreiber). So, I was thinking, given the topic of your other column this week, maybe these are subtle indirect comments by the content creators to their corporate overlords... That would be cool.
Or it could be a matter of already owning the publication rights and not having to pay Getty for a generic "young teen with car" photo. The editors are pretty fastidious about clearances and permissions. When I pitch stories, often the question I get asked is "can you get photos?"
I was excited to see the SRF article. It's always nice to see someone give props to one of my personal heros, Roy Lunn. I regret never meeting the man.
Any one of these accomplishments would have made Lunn notable:
Designed the Aston Martin DB2.
Engineered the original Ford Anglia (a critical model to Ford's UK success in the '50s and '60s).
Engineered the original midengine 1962 Mustang I concept.
Ran Ford's GT40 program, which won Le Mans four times in four years.
Worked on the Mustang Boss 429 (which needed the front end completely redesigned to accommodate those wide cylinder heads).
Engineered the most durable American car ever, the original Jeep Cherokee.
Invented the crossover, developing the AMC Eagle for just $6 million.
Designed the Renault racer that's still racing as the SRF decades later.
Goddamnit Jack, I was just going to replace my white, made in Italy Svenssons with another pair of the same and you have to go and show me American versions... for twice the price.
Personally I -like- the tool posts.
But then I'm still something of a gear head and will be buying a set of these shortly.
A lot of people do, but I try to be conscious of the "big tent" aspects here. A significant percentage of my readers aren't in need of so much as a Crescent wrench.
I have no place to work on a car and no carpentry skills, and I still enjoy the tool posts. There's an alternate reality (mainly, one in which I didn't marry a woman who is even more urban than I am) in which I would have room for a big garage and shop and it's fun to read about what happens in Jack's.
You need not be a shade tree mechanic to find that a good tool saves the day. Something like one of these Chapman kits is valuable if you ever find yourself using a screwdriver. Good tools aren't for professionals. Professionals buy good tools because they save time, effort, and frustration. They'll do the same for everybody.
Perhaps, but should the need arise, to protect their knuckles they should know to pull against the jaw.
"If you've ever wanted to steal parts of a public restroom..."
Funny you should mention it. Right now, I'm build a 35-foot-tall Fat Elvis out of old toilets. Apropos, eh?
Well, they appear to have JIS1 and JIS2 bits. Have to look into that! My Honda will thank me.
That was my first question. I'm gonna order a set now
I do a lot of work on firearms, especially as it relates to mounting optics and working on revolvers. Getting bits that actually properly fit fasteners and screws used to hold a red dot optic on the slide of a handgun is crucially important since most of the fasteners that come with these optics are the cheapest Chinese shit the manufacturer could source and the heads strip out if you look at them funny. On revolvers you need hollow ground bits to prevent ruining the screw heads and marring the revolver. Chapman's set has been an absolute godsend in that regard. I have been using the Mity-Master #1000 set for a few years. It is compact, portable, and I've been able to do everything from mount an optic on top of a Shield + to work on my dearly departed F150 with the set. It's exceedingly rare that I run into a fastener I don't have a bit for.
They do an excellent job of preventing damage to the heads of fasteners and on the more delicate types of fasteners you are often dealing with in mounting optics to firearms, they'll flex just a little bit to let you know you've hit the limit of the torque you should be applying to that fastener.
I'll always have a Chapman kit in my toolbox going forward. If you work on things regularly you'll wish you had bought one sooner.
Thanks, I have a Wheeler engineering kit I’ve been using, but it’s about to be replaced with a Chapman. When I was a young fellow, I never dreamed tools or jeans wouldn’t always be made in America.
I figured they would at least keep making FOOD here, you know?
A neighbor of mine, the widow of a prominent rabbinical scholar, has operated a kosher food bank for years. Because of their many children (and big parochial school tuition bills), many orthodox families are officially below the poverty level and free food is free food. The private food bank supplements the Detroit Jewish Federation's food charity Yad Ezra. It has some private funding, and food from some local kosher businesses, but most of the food comes from Forgotten Harvest, the Detroit area's non-profit food recycler and distributor and it almost all meets the definition of distressed merchandise. Stuff that's close to or past its best used by date, odd flavors that didn't sell.
One thing that apparently doesn't sell well are canned peaches from China. I understand importing fresh produce from Central and South America, but why on earth is anyone importing canned peaches from China? While it's not quite carrying coals to Newcastle, Michigan is a major producer of peaches and other stone fruit.
I had the same thought reading the label of a can constisting mostly of corn. Why we would import corn from China still has me scratching my head.
That's almost literally
"coals to Newcastle"
The only reason to import corn from China is if you literally despise the USA and everyone in it.
Because we’re making ours into ethanol so we can have crappy motor fuel. And make Archer Daniels Midland even wealthier.
Michigan's state government has been encouraging the production of corn ethanol for decades, which also doesn't make sense in light of the state's role as a leading producer of sugar from sugar beets. Making ethanol from corn is pretty much a wash in terms of energy in to energy out. Using the begasse, the waste from sugar cane or sugar beet processing, to make ethanol, is actually energy positive.
Do you have a recommendation for a good punch and hammer set for this kind of work? Right now I’m mostly running in pins with a Knipex pliers wrench, but this isn’t going to work for any sort of disassembly.
I’ve been going back and forth between Wheeler, Real Avid, and Tekton. The Tekton punches are USA-made, but I’m unsure about the quality.
When I was in the H&K Armorer's classes, I think they had Geodre punches that were really nice. Starret punches are kind of the gold standard. I have a set of Grace punches that are performing well in most work for me. But generally speaking I've used all sorts of brands over the years.
The really important thing with firearms is getting the correct size as few pins require real force to get out. Just make sure you use actual roll-pin punches for roll pins. I use a derlin-tipped Grace hammer (available at Brownells) to prevent marring. The head is heavy so it generates a lot of force with minimal swing and the derlin strike face is safe to use directly on the metal of the firearm without damage. Just be sure that the face doesn't get hacked up and embedded with crud. If it does, replace it.
As an all-in-one kit, the Weaver gunsmith's kit includes most of what you need and works fine. The box is a little bulky and the bits/punches aren't the highest quality, but it comes with almost everything you'd actually use and they work well enough for most purposes. (Save for roll pins)
Roll pins have been the bane of my existence since I started racing RC cars at 8. Thank you for the suggestion, I didn’t know Gedore made punches.
I still have to follow up on my promise to get my boy an RC car after he saw some Traxxas or other at the park.
In which this dad assigns himself yet another responsibility for maintenance and repair and is completely lost as to where to start.
Traxxas’ dominance and the proliferation kind of ruined the hobby, IMO. Part of the fun was always building the kit.
How old is he? Depending upon what he was looking at, you could likely find the equivalent in an Associated, Kyosho, Losi, or Tamiya.
Proliferation of RTR cars*. Can’t go back and edit, sorry.
He’s 4. He was enraptured watching a few do flips and jumps around a piddling dirt park near our house.
The trick is getting something he won’t be insta-bored with, is reasonably tough, and isn’t some chintzy toy. As a rule I try to avoid items like that. I don’t know what’s reasonable, a $200 price cap?
Is the HK armorer’s class worthwhile? I’ve been kicking around the idea of attending one for a while now. I don’t want to bother if it’s just a bit of play acting though. Thanks.
If you want to learn to work on one of their weapons from folks who know the tips and tricks to making them work, it's a good option. There are several little details for assessing and working on, say, a semi-automatic clone of an MP5 that are a pain in the ass if you don't know the right way to go about them. Almost everybody who has tried to work on the parts inside the fire control group of the SP5/HK94/MP5 has messed a couple of things up through just not knowing the right techniques. It's not going to make you a gunsmith, but it will give you the information you need to check a weapon out, make sure it operates properly, and replace serviceable parts.
I'm a Certified Glock Armorer, because a dead monkey could be a Certified Glock Armorer. It's simpler than a bicycle V-brake.
I have one of the AMG holographics to put on a Kriss Vector (airsoft gun!) this week so I'll keep all of that in mind...
I have had one of their tiny ratchets that you flip over to change direction, with a dozen or so little bits (each with a splined end for grasping) that came in a wildly durable plastic snap case for at least 12 years, and it's still going strong. Fits in a pocket, disassembles a lot of stuff, last forever, doesn't cost much. Like some kind of business model or something....
And I think the tool posts are great.
I have an old set of these that came out of the stuff left behind when my step-dad passed away. They are as Jack described, and EVERY NOW AND THEN there isn't another tool in the shop that can get to that semi-obscured fastener as well as these.
Having never looked at their website, I now see that they offer several things that I don't own but perhaps should. At the minimum, I'll be ordering a few of their bicycle sets for gifts.
Once again, Jack is costing me money. Might have to sell a car or bicycle or something to keep up.
Every gun range or bug out bag needs the small set. It has bailed my ass out on more than one occasion. Probably best bang for the buck. They really make far east made tools look like third world trash.
Just purchased two of the sets. The kiddo will enjoy it and this way he has his own so doesn’t need to borrow/walk away with mine.
Oh good, you wrote a piece on Chapman tools, I thought you might get around to it! American made and quite good, they can be invaluable at times when nothing else will seem to do. For me it was replacing the front lower grill on a C6, with its zillion little no-clearance fasteners. Been a fan ever since.
I'm thinking an engraved box set would make a really nice gift for the groom of a young, soon-to-be-wedded couple I know...but that wedding is in three hours, so I'll have to file that idea away for another time. Or maybe a graduation gift for enterprising young people who you'd expect to use such things.
I got a toolbox with my name engraved on it for a graduation present. It's great, I use it all the time and when I use it I think of the guy who gave it to me
They're a solid gift for anyone who is going out on their own. If you go live away from home, odds are you'll need a decent screwdriver multiple times. Well, one of these kits will handle almost any fastener you're likely to encounter out in the world.
Write them an IOU, "it's just as good as the real thing!"
“That’s as good as money, sir. Those are I.O.U’s.”
Ordered the Ultimate Gunsmith set for my Dad for Christmas. Thought about the sneakers but he'll just outgrow them in a year. Whatever's on sale at Kmart will be fine.
You killed one of my pet peeves! You really *are* a monster, like they said at the bagel shop.
I’ll always have “irregardless”.
Wrought. You could have *wrought* havoc in your high school.
The handles on my Facom screwdrivers— which don’t lead a very hard life— are crumbling after only 15 years or so. So thanks for a timely lead.
In the bathroom I was always reeking havoc!
https://grammarist.com/usage/wreak-havoc/#:~:text=The%20past%20tense%20of%20wreak,nothing%20to%20do%20with%20wreaking.
This is one of those
"Champing at the bit" situations, I think.
After you wreaked havoc you may look gaze upon the destruction and inquire, "What have I wrought." At least I think you could. Grammer wasn't never my strong suite.
I can't comment or even completely read your other articles, so I'm using this opportunity to comment on something completely different. Sorry. Did you ever race Formula Renault? In a blue-and-white car number 99? That insurance company ran an article on Formula Renault on Nov. 30 and prominently pictured with no captions was said car, the driver of which sported a familiar-looking green helmet. Coincidence?
Yes. I was leading that race when the engine started missing and I was overtaken by a driver who then spun in front of me. When I hit him I broke my wrist.
Unavoidable Contact? Man, your presence is still on that website. They published an article on Dec. 2, "10 reasons Europe’s drivers envy America’s", which has a picture of you, by you (as also pointed out by Mr. Schreiber). So, I was thinking, given the topic of your other column this week, maybe these are subtle indirect comments by the content creators to their corporate overlords... That would be cool.
Or it could be a matter of already owning the publication rights and not having to pay Getty for a generic "young teen with car" photo. The editors are pretty fastidious about clearances and permissions. When I pitch stories, often the question I get asked is "can you get photos?"
They don't own the rights to that photo, actually.
But given that Della Torre wrote the SRF article and Nik Berg wrote the other one, I'll take it as a nod of the head.
I was excited to see the SRF article. It's always nice to see someone give props to one of my personal heros, Roy Lunn. I regret never meeting the man.
Any one of these accomplishments would have made Lunn notable:
Designed the Aston Martin DB2.
Engineered the original Ford Anglia (a critical model to Ford's UK success in the '50s and '60s).
Engineered the original midengine 1962 Mustang I concept.
Ran Ford's GT40 program, which won Le Mans four times in four years.
Worked on the Mustang Boss 429 (which needed the front end completely redesigned to accommodate those wide cylinder heads).
Engineered the most durable American car ever, the original Jeep Cherokee.
Invented the crossover, developing the AMC Eagle for just $6 million.
Designed the Renault racer that's still racing as the SRF decades later.
Oh, and he also was a RAF pilot during WWII.
They're also using your photo with the 200SX in another current article.
They way they call out 'inch-pounds' in the Torque Chart is a new one by me, if that's in fact what I'm reading.
FWIW a Milwaukee M18 driver is rated at 1500" lbs. I had to check because I break the Chinese crap bits left and right in mine.
Goddamnit Jack, I was just going to replace my white, made in Italy Svenssons with another pair of the same and you have to go and show me American versions... for twice the price.