My shop has a variety of air tools and electric tools for grinding, sanding and polishing, in addition to a variety of sanding blocks for block-sanding. Here are
a few observations about a few of the tools that are often used.
When choosing any tool, the price is a lot less important than the quality. I look for the best tool for the job, regardless of price. Good tools end up being a
better value in the long run.
Air compressors
They're loud, they generate heat, you have to take care of them, and they wear out and break down, but there are so many useful air tools available with no
electric equivalents that a compressor is pretty hard to do without. When you're choosing a compressor, get something with the biggest motor and the biggest
air tank you can afford. If you have the room for it, a second air tank fed by the first one is nice to have. To keep the noise down, our compressor is
installed in a cabinet with air vents.
Air D/A sanders
Avoid the cheap D/As that vibrate so much they make your hands go numb. With a good D/A, that should never happen. The best D/As I've used were all made by
either Dynabrade or Hutchins. These are American-made precision tools that with a bit of care can last a lifetime.
Electric D/A sanders
An electric D/A (dual-action) sander is a really handy tool to have. Although it has a longer stroke than what would be ideal for really fine finishing, the
Porter-Cable 7335 is the best five-inch electric D/A that I've found.
When you use an electric sander on metal, remember that fine steel (or whatever metal you're sanding) powder can easily find its way into the motor, where it
will build up and eventually destroy the brushes.
Die grinders
A 90-degree die grinder is one of the handiest tools in the shop. Most of them are designed to operate a lot faster than what's called for in fine, precise work.
I'd like to find a high-quality, low-speed, 90-degree die grinder. Almost all of my work is done with a variety of abrasives, rather than carbide cutters. Even
with fine abrasives, precision work like porting a cylinder head involves very slight cuts, and a relatively slow speed provides better control. A high-speed
hand drill often works well for this.
I sometimes use a conventional, high-speed air die grinder with the air turned down so it turns slowly, but this is an inefficient way to work. When you take a
20,000-rpm die grinder and choke it down to run at 500 rpm, the grinder loses most of its torque and stalls easily. When you do this, the compressor runs almost
constantly, so you might as well put a flexible shaft on the compressor's motor and take the air out of the equation, in which case a half-horsepower motor would
be more than enough, as opposed to the five-horsepower motor on the compressor.
Files
There's a drawer in my toolbox that has about twenty files in it, along with a file card to keep them clean. To make them easier to clean and to help keep them
from rusting, I give them a light coat of Gibbs Brand.
Paint brushes
Using an air gun to clean your work puts a lot of metal filings into the air and they end up landing all over the place, creating more of a mess than you
started with. A two-inch paint brush is great for cleaning parts you're filing or sanding. There's always at least one of them on the workbench, as well as a
larger brush.
Sanding blocks
The sanding blocks I use the most are pieces of hardwood that I cut to the size needed for a particular job and then sand flat on a piece of glass. Hardwood
sanding blocks are some of the most important tools I use.
In the future I hope to be able to find the time to add some articles about block-sanding and what I call precision metal polishing. In the meantime, there is
some information about how I do this work on the page about my
496-inch engine project.
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Abrasives manufacturers
3M
http://www.3m.com/
CHA — Cylinder Head Abrasives — carbide burrs, cartridge
rolls, hones, and seat depth testers
http://www.ruffstuff.com/
Eagle Abrasives, Inc.
http://www.eagleabrasives.com/
Klingspor Abrasives
http://www.klingspor.com/
Mirka Abrasives
http://www.mirka.com/
Norton Abrasives
http://www.nortonabrasives.com/
Norton Automotive Refinishing Products
http://www.nortonautomotive.com/
Standard Abrasives
http://www.standardabrasives.com/
Walter Abrasives
http://www.walter.com/
Abrasive Resource
http://www.abrasiveresource.com/
Brightworks, Inc. — polishing supplies
http://www.bright-works.com/
Lake Buchanon Industries, Inc. — the Barrel Blaster
http://www.barrelblaster.com/
Tar Heel Parts, Inc. — polishing supplies
http://www.tarheelparts.com/
TP Tools & Equipment — abrasive blasting cabinets
http://www.tptools.com/
Automotive tool manufacturers
Links to race car computer software manufacturers are on the
Race car design software page.
Actron
http://www.actron.com/
Advanced Racing Technologies — race car chassis setup tools
http://www.advancedracing.com/
Airjack
http://www.airjack.com/
All American Race Car Jack
http://www.allamericanracecarjack.com/
Behm Design — plans for garages
http://www.behmdesign.com/
Biondo Racing Products, Inc.
http://www.biondoracing.com/
Brunnhoelzl Racing — impact guns
http://www.brunnhoelzl.com/
Channel Lock — pliers
http://www.channellock.com/
Cleaning Technologies Group — ultrasonic parts cleaning tanks
http://www.ctgclean.com/
Cornwell Tools
http://www.cornwelltools.com/
Dremel International
http://www.dremel.com/
Dynabrade, Inc. — some of the finest air sanders made
http://www.dynabrade.com/
Dzus Fastener Company, Inc.
http://www.dzus.com/
Eastwood Company
http://www.eastwood.com/
D.J. Edman and Company — Wheel Lug Gauge for measuring wheel bolt patterns
http://www.wheeltool.com/
Emglo — air compressors
http://www.emglo.com/
Hansen Global — socket trays
http://www.hansenglobalinc.com/
Hazet — nice hand tools, especially their small wrenches and Allen wrenches
http://www.hazet.com/
Bill Hirsch
http://www.hirschauto.com/
Hunter Engineering Company — tire mounting and front end alignment equipment
http://www.hunter.com/
Hutchins Mfg. — some of the finest air sanders made
http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/
Intercomp — pyrometers, tire pressure gauges, and weight scales
http://www.intercomp-racing.com/
Jancy Engineering — tubing benders
http://www.jancy.com/
Kastar Hand Tools
http://www.kastar.com/
Kobalt Tools
http://www.kobalttools.com/
Kwik-Way
http://www.kwik-way.com/
Longacre Automotive Racing Products
http://www.longacreracing.com/
Marchant Machine — metal shaping tools
http://www.marchantmachine.com/
Mechanix Wear — heat-resistant gloves and arm protection
http://www.mechanix.com/
MotoTools LLC
http://www.mototools.com/
P-AYR Products — replica engine blocks and heads
http://www.payr.com/
Portatree — Christmas trees
http://www.portatree.com/
Precision Epoxy — coatings for shop floors
http://www.precisionepoxy.com/
Pro Tools — tubing benders and metalworking tools
http://www.pro-tools.com/
Quick-Wedge — screw-holding screwdrivers
http://www.quickwedge.com/
Racedeck — interlocking tiles for shop floors
http://www.racedeck.com/
Rebcoo Performance
http://www.rebcoperformance.com/
Ringers Gloves
http://www.ringersgloves.com/
S&H Industries
http://www.shindustries.com/
Safe Shop Tools, Inc.
http://www.safeshop.com/
Scribner Plastics, Inc. — shipping containers for engines, transmissions and rear ends
http://www.scribnerplastics.com/
Sierra Racing Products — pit jacks
http://www.sierraracing.com/
SmartCamber Products — camber adjustment tools
http://www.smartcamber.com/
Snap Lock Industries — interlocking tiles for shop floors
http://www.snaplock.com/
Snap-on Tools
http://www.snapon.com/
SPX Service Solutions — hand tools for mechanics
http://www.spxservicesolutions.com/
Storic — storage systems
http://www.storic.com/
Superwinch, Inc.
http://www.superwinch.com/
Waterloo Industries
http://www.waterlooindustries.com/
Wurth
http://www.wurth.com/
Zero Rust
http://www.zerorust.com/
Dollies, lifts, and stands
Accessible Systems, Inc. — automotive rotisseries
http://www.accessiblesystems.com/
Autotwirler — carts and dollies
http://www.autotwirler.com/
Backyard Buddy — lifts
http://www.backyardbuddy.com/
Brunnhoelzl Racing — racing jacks
http://www.brunnhoelzl.com/
Time-Shaver Tools — work stands
http://www.timeshavertools.com/
US Jack — "100% American made" jackstands
http://www.usjack.com/
Wizard Auto Tools — dollies for cars, engines, and transmissions
http://www.wizardautotools.com/
Dynamometer manufacturers
DTS — Dynamic Test Systems, Inc.
http://www.dtsdyno.com/
Dynapack
http://www.dynapack.com/
Dynojet
http://www.dynojet.com/
Dynotech Engineering — dampers and driveshafts for dynos
http://www.dynotecheng.com/
Land & Sea, Inc.
http://www.land-and-sea.com/
RevSearch
http://www.revsearch.com/
Engine builders' tools
Altalab Instrument — weather stations
http://www.altalabinstrument.com/
Audie Technology, Inc. — measurement tools and flow bench
meters
http://www.audietech.com/
Axe Equipment — hot tanks and pressure testers
http://www.axeequipment.com/
BHJ Products, Inc. — tools for engine builders
http://www.bhjproducts.com/
DCM — cylinder head machining centers
http://www.dcm-tech.com/
Goodson — tools and supplies for engine rebuilders
http://www.goodson.com/
J-B Weld
http://www.jbweld.net/
King Electronics Co. — electric test equipment for engines
http://www.4king.com/
Magnaflux
http://www.magnaflux.com/
Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool
http://www.mittlerbros.com/
Powerhouse Products
http://www.powerhouseproducts.com/
Stroppini Enterprises — professional engine stands
http://www.stroppini.com/
Sunnen
http://www.sunnen.com/
Tavia Performance — tools for engine builders
http://www.tavia.com/
Machinists' and fabricators' tools
Baileigh Industrial, Inc.
http://www.baileighindustrial.com/
Black & Decker
http://www.blackanddecker.com/
Bridgeport Machines, Inc.
http://www.bpt.com/
Chicago Pneumatic
http://www.cp.com/
Craftsman
http://www.craftsman.com/
Craftsman Industrial
http://www.commercial.sears.com/
Daytona MIG — welding equipment
http://www.daytonamig.com/
Drill Doctor — twist drills
http://www.pletting.com/
Facom
http://www.facom.com/
Flexible Fixturing Systems, Inc.
http://www.flexiblefixturing.com/
Foredom Power Tools
http://www.foredom.net/
Glove Connection
http://www.gloveconnection.com/
Grip On Tools
http://www.gripontools.com/
Haas Automation, Inc.
http://www.haascnc.com/
Hardinge, Inc. — Hardinge lathes
http://www.hardingeus.com/
Hougen Manufacturing — cutting tools including the Rotabroach
http://www.hougen.com/
HTP America, Inc. — welders
http://www.htpweld.com/
Ingersoll-Rand
http://www.ingersollrand.com/
Irvan-Smith, Inc.
http://www.irvansmith.com/
Kingsbury Corporation — CNC machining centers
http://www.kingsburycorp.com/
Leatherman — pliers
http://www.leatherman.com/
Lincoln Electric — welders
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/
Mac Tools
http://www.mactools.com/
The Magnet Source — magnetic tool strips
http://www.magnetsource.com/
Matco Tools
http://www.matcotools.com/
McMaster-Carr — over 370,000 products
http://www.mcmaster.com/
Miller — welders
http://www.millerwelds.com/
Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
http://www.milwaukeetool.com/
Mitutoyo — measuring tools
http://www.mitutoyo.com/
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
http://www.mscdirect.com/
The NgraveR Company — tools for engraving
http://www.ngraver.com/
The Old Joint Jigger — to fishmouth the ends of frame tubes
http://www.jointjigger.com/
Osborn Manufacturing — "SOFTOOL" power brushing
http://www.osborn.com/
OTC Tools
http://www.otctools.com/
Proknee — trick, custom-made kneepads
http://www.proknee.com/
Rottler Manufacturing — boring, surfacing and honing equipment
http://www.rottlermfg.com/
SK Hand Tool Corporation
http://www.skhandtool.com/
Skybolt Aeromotive, Inc. — fasteners and hardware
http://www.skybolt.com/
South Bend Lathe Company
http://www.southbendlathe.com/
Speed Bleeder
http://www.speedbleeder.com/
L.S. Starrett Company — measuring tools
http://www.starrett.com/
Surplus Record Machinery & Equipment Directory — find used machinery
http://www.surplusrecord.com/
Torchmate — CNC cutting systems
http://www.torchmate.com/
TP Tools & Equipment — air compressors, buffers, HVLP paint spray systems, restoration tools, and welders
http://www.tptools.com/
Welding Direct — over 5,000 welding items in stock
http://www.weldingdirect.com/
Williams Lowbuck Tools, Inc.
http://www.lowbucktools.com/
Materials for machinists and fabricators
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Company — supplies for fabricators
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/
Airparts, Inc. — 4130 sheet and tubing
http://www.airpartsinc.com/
Hexcel Corporation
http://www.hexcel.com/
Machinist Materials
http://www.machinist-materials.com/
Robert & Sons Aluminum, Inc. — plain and anodized aluminum sheet
http://www.rsaluminum.com/
TW Metals — aluminum, chrome-moly and magnesium plate, sheet, and tubing
http://www.twmetals.com/
Metal shaping tools
C. Cook Enterprises — metal shaping tools
http://www.ccookenterprises.com/
Ron Covell Creative Metalworking — English wheels and metalshaping DVDs and videos
http://www.covell.biz/
Creative Billet — English wheels
http://www.creativebillet.com/
Dagger Tools — metal shaping tools
http://www.daggertools.com/
Fournier Enterprises
http://www.fournierenterprises.com/
Metalcraft Tools — metal shaping tools
http://www.metalcrafttools.com/
Pullmax
http://www.pullmax.com/
Sunchaser Tools — heat shrinking discs
http://www.sunchasertools.com/
TM Sheet Metal Forming Technologies
http://www.tinmantech.com/
Van Sant Enterprises — metal fabricating equipment
http://www.tricktools.com/
All text and images on Roadsters.com
are Copyright 1996-2013 Dave Mann
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