What a stoopid I am!

[DIYGUY]

For the last 15 years I have always groaned when having to remove a bit from my P-C 690 router. I always put one wrench in my left hand on the bottom nut and the other wrench in my right hand on the collet nut. To tighten was easy - simply squeeze the two wrenches together as if they were pliers. Worked very well, but loosening was always a challenge because I had to pull the two wrenches in opposite directions which exercised muscles I used infrequently and really did not care to bulk up on.

Lo and behold this weekend I made an amazing discovery. Simply reverse the wrenches making the top wrench in my left hand and the bottom wrench in my right and squeeze just as if I was tightening and the collet would open like a dream. Where have I been and why was this not so obvious to me?? Talk about a lack of brain power ...

[Swingman]

It can be even easier than that. Do the same thing, but position the wrench handles closer together (you may have to flip one over) so that you can comfortably squeeze them together with _one_ hand only.

You can actually exert more pressure that way than you can with two hands and the wrench handles further apart.

[Battleax]

Well not everyone was luckey enough to grow up with Meccano sets :)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Do you have to tighten them that hard?

[Greg O]

15 years? I figured that out in 15 minutes! LOL!! Greg

[J]

I've always made do with one wrench. I thought the other was a spare in case you lost one. Now I can get rid of that bloodstained dish towel I've been using to grip the bits to keep them from turning.

-j

[Leon]

LOL... Kinda simple aint it. I guess those people that swear by holding on to the router some where with one hand and tugging on the 1 wrench with the other hand may not understand how loosing and tightening with 2 wrenches and

1 hand can be so much easier.

[Upscale]

I had a Meccano set. I know that through time, all the parts got lost. Did anything ever come on the market to replace Mecanno?

[Norman D. Crow]

What the devil is a Meccano set? Didn't think my formative years were *that* sheltered. However, I do have two old Erector sets that the Grandsons have spent hours losing the pieces of.

[Ba r r y]

What he said. When I use two hands I pinch fingers.

It works on just about any two wrench collet.

Barry

[loutent]

I have a 2 wrench Bosch for about 12 years now.

I set the router on its side, engage the small inner wrench and rest it against the workbench top, then engage the outer nut and turn in the direction of the inner wrench - the bench acts like a stop.

Easier than any other method I could figure. I must be real smart since it "only" took me a year or so to figure this out (after a few bruised knuckles).

Lou

[Chris Richmond - MD6-FDC ~]

Erector sets were the big competitor. I've still got my Mecanno set in the garage! I tried to get my son interested a few years ago. Wouldn't have anything to do with it. I'm still threatening to set up my Lionel train too. I've got some pretty cool old engines.

Chris

[John Thomas]

[e-mail] (Chris Richmond - MD6-FDC ~) wrote in news:cpa0i0$tjr$ [e-mail]:

Wasn't Erector the original? When I was a wee young'un (mid 60's), we had a really old set; I'd guess it dated to sometime in the '40s by the look of the set and the artwork on the box. Great fun, don't know what ever happened to it, though ...

Regards, JT

[Charlie Self]

Set it up! Your son may not appreciate it now, but the memories down the line will be worth having, probably for both of you.

Charlie Self "Cabbage: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head." Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

[Mike H.]

I have this same problem. Whenever I finally figure out something like that, I always wonder what else there is in my life that I am senselessly wasting countless hours and energy on. Then I get mad.

[Chris Richmond - MD6-FDC ~]

He's 17, has a real car (in the shop), a girl friend, and plays PC games online A LOT. Its not his bag. My and the wife would probably have more fun with it. Its just one more thing I don't have time or space for just now. Later will be better as the kids move out. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't an oncoming train. Although I was out in the light for a few months, and two kids moved back in, so I had a set back. :^)

Chris

[NoOne N Particular]

I found that one fairly quickly with my PC 690. I am usually good at figuring out things like that fairly quickly. But once in a while I will be struggling with something and my wife will come walking by. "Why don't you just do it this way?", she says. "Shit!", I says.

Wayne

[Charlie Self]

Chris Richmond responds:

I sometimes think dynamite is the only cure for excessive PC gaming (by which I mean more than one hour a day, about equal to a rational amount of TV watching).

But I've been where you are now, other gender child, almost praying for the day of the empty nest. Then, it comes. It's marvelous. Finally, you glance around. You now realize you are the storage depot for two out of the three kids. We are still trying to clear all the stuff from the eldest out, so let's not talk about the youngest, who has only been out, if not on her own, for 11 years or so.

Those set-backs are bad for the heart and the wallet. When they come home--regardless of Tom Wolfe, you CAN come home again, at least until your parents give uyp the ghost--they're used to doing things their way, and resentment tends to triple when they're asked/told to change back to childhood ways.

Charlie Self "Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to." Mark Twain

[Upscale]

Then save it for your grandchildren to be. You might also consider selling it. I might be mistaken, but I believe mecanno sets in good condition are worth something. Much better than all the plastic stuff that's on the market these days.

[Mike H.]

PC games are super addictive to some people, literally. It actually raises serotonin levels in the brain. That explains why I have probably spent _years_ of time in front of a console. With that said, I think video games used to be my OxyContin.

But you would never want to use dynamite to solve the problem... the sudden withdraw would be too severe. Check him into a clinic where skilled professionals can gradually reduce his playing time.