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The "tool that you don't know what it is" thread

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The "tool that you don't know what it is" thread

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Old 07-15-22, 01:23 PM
  #1  
Andy_K 
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The "tool that you don't know what it is" thread

I'm guessing I'm not alone in possessing tools that I have no idea what they are for, right? About six months ago, I bought a bunch of tools on the sales forum here. There was one tool in particular that I wanted. I conned @gugie into splitting the lot with me. He took a few that he wanted, and I tossed the rest in my tool box. There was one tool in particular that I've looked at several times since and scratched my head trying to figure out what it could possibly do. I bet a bunch of you will recognize it, but it was a complete enigma to me. It's an older version of this:



It screws onto something. I thought maybe it was meant to hold a splined tool like a freewheel remover in place, but it looked to me like it would completely cover it. I was stumped. I even discovered today (looking at the old sales thread) that at the time I had looked it up and had at least the name of it, but it turns out that it you don't apply information soon after you learn it your brain discards it.

Then today I was trying to remove a stubborn bottom bracket fixed cup. My 36mm fixed cup tool is a little munged, so I couldn't really apply much force without it slipping. I needed something to hold it in place. I tried to think what I had in the garage that might work for that. Suddenly....



Clever guy that J.A. Stein.

Anyone else have an experience like this? What tool did you have around for a while before realizing what it was for?
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Old 07-15-22, 01:34 PM
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Where there you go again Andy, you've negated your thread title before the first post is even done. Cool tool tho

I am afraid of the unknown, so I don't buy tools with unknown uses.
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Old 07-15-22, 01:35 PM
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Yeah, that Stein tool is an essential part of my kit. Once you lock the fixed cup tool in place, you can whale on it with a hammer.
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Old 07-15-22, 01:38 PM
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Oops.
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Old 07-15-22, 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs
I am afraid of the unknown, so I don't buy tools with unknown uses.
I like the joy of discovery, so I'm happy to collect things that I don't know what they are. Plus, my brain tends to discard information pretty frequently, so even this tool may one day soon go back to being a puzzle.
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Old 07-15-22, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
Yeah, that Stein tool is an essential part of my kit. Once you lock the fixed cup tool in place, you can whale on it with a hammer.
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Old 07-15-22, 01:55 PM
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Old 07-15-22, 02:58 PM
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I'll cheat and put one in that I made, but wonder if anybody else can guess what it is. (Sorry Andy, I know what all my tools do.)
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Old 07-15-22, 03:12 PM
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I have that JA Stein tool and have never used it - I've never thought to pull the drive side BB cup while everything is still installed. I've always left it to last, and brought out the VAR cup remover for proper whaling action.

Originally Posted by gugie
I'll cheat and put one in that I made, but wonder if anybody else can guess what it is. (Sorry Andy, I know what all my tools do.)
Fork braze-on drilling template?

-Kurt
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Old 07-15-22, 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by cudak888
Fork braze-on drilling template?
Nah, doorstop.
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Old 07-15-22, 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
Nah, doorstop.
Doubt it. I bet @gugie's doorstop looks like a mini custom-built decaleur.

-Kurt
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Old 07-15-22, 03:24 PM
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Originally Posted by cudak888
Fork braze-on drilling template?
-Kurt
Originally Posted by SurferRosa
Nah, doorstop.
Originally Posted by cudak888
Doubt it. I bet @gugie's doorstop looks like a mini custom-built decaleur.
-Kurt

The Atelier has no doorstop. When open, the garage door is up, and the door to the house is closed per SWMBO order.
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Old 07-15-22, 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
The Atelier has no doorstop. When open, the garage door is up, and the door to the house is closed per SWMBO order.
Oh, I see. The doorstop has a wedding band.



-Kurt
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Old 07-15-22, 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
I'll cheat and put one in that I made, but wonder if anybody else can guess what it is. (Sorry Andy, I know what all my tools do.)
Chainring drillium jig..
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Old 07-15-22, 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
I'll cheat and put one in that I made, but wonder if anybody else can guess what it is. (Sorry Andy, I know what all my tools do.)
The spacing looks about right for disc brake tabs. The jagged edge looks more like prison hacksaw.
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Old 07-15-22, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Roger M
Chainring drillium jig..
Originally Posted by Andy_K
The spacing looks about right for disc brake tabs. The jagged edge looks more like prison hacksaw.
I'll give you guys a hint.

@rhm
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Old 07-15-22, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
I'll give you guys a hint.

@rhm
Hint? Giveaway.

Suntour S1 derailleur hanger positioning/brazing jig.
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Old 07-15-22, 04:49 PM
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I’m at work so no pics but I bought a small pile of tools because I wanted/needed a few. There are a few that I think are coaster brake tools or some such thing. I doubt they’ll ever get used….
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Old 07-15-22, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
I'll cheat and put one in that I made, but wonder if anybody else can guess what it is. (Sorry Andy, I know what all my tools do.)
Hey, two can play at that game:
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Old 07-15-22, 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted by scarlson
Hint? Giveaway.

Suntour S1 derailleur hanger positioning/brazing jig.
That's that one-off derailleur on the chainstay correct?
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Old 07-15-22, 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by gugie
I'll give you guys a hint.

@rhm
Brooks saddle rivet placement thingy...?

Cockroach friends playset?
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Old 07-15-22, 05:02 PM
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Originally Posted by jdawginsc
That's that one-off derailleur on the chainstay correct?
Yep!
See this post:
https://www.bikeforums.net/21597544-post19.html
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Old 07-15-22, 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by scarlson
Clever!

Building a bike around a one-off derailleur Suntour dreamscaped! Epic!

They shift interestingly though. Actually a clever idea.
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Old 07-15-22, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by scarlson

Looks crude as heck, but pretty precise. I used my flat table to check parallelism and correct offset from the inner drive side dropout face




Some say why?
Rudi sez why not?





The jigsaw cutouts were done with a cutting wheel on a angle grinder to clear the chainstay where the tool crosses over.
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Old 07-15-22, 07:18 PM
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Well I know what this tool is, but it might show up in someone’s pile so consider this a public service:


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