[Blue Fox]

I was just thinking that with a lot of new members here and a lot of people looking for gift ideas for Christmas, that this may be a good time to list a few stocking stuffers. All you have to do is print the list, cross off things you already have and leave it lay in the pile of dirty laundry. Wait, maybe prop it up behind a nice fillet and glass of wine that you have prepared for her/him. That will probably get better results. There is nothing too expensive here, I would think the whole lot could be gotten for less than $100, and most of that would be the Dremel tool. Everyone feel free to add things that I have forgotten to list.







Here is the list:



1. Seafoam gas treatment

2. PB Blaster penetrating fluid

3, Electronic contact cleaner

4. Starting fluid

5. Micro butane torch (this one is Harbor Freight for $6)

6. JB Weld

7. 0000 Steel wool

8. Small Vise Grips (the smaller work better for loosening screw heads, get a blunt jaw. Don't get a "off brand")

9, Assortment of dental picks and scrapers (my dentist gave me all of these for the asking. We don't care if they are worn out)

10. Honda Moly 60 paste. (This will have to come from a Honda auto or bike dealer)

11. Razor blade scraper

12. Dremel tool. (This one is variable speed, but a two speed is just fine. Get some cutoff disks if they aren't included)

13. A good #2 screwdriver. (Expect to pay $8-10 for a good one and then take care of it. Snap-On brand is great, but overpriced)

14. Tube of Dielectric grease. (Auto parts store will have this)

15. Set of continuity and test light probes. (Harbor Freight again is fine. Should be about $5)

16. Multimeter. (This one is also Harbor Freight, $4, but works OK for the causal user)

17. A couple of hemostats. (Best quality is hospital grade, but Harbor Freight is OK here too.)



I didn't list a impact driver, but they are handy too. I just use the bits and end on my air impact and dial down the wrench very low. That seems to work better than beating on one with a hammer. I know you also need a good set of 6 point sockets, open end wrenchs, etc, but this is just a "goodie" list for the stockings.



I hope everyone has a happy holiday season.

 

[DakotaMK]

The girlfriend/ daughter/ sister happens to be the MC owner....



here is HER list



1. Gas cards

2. Polish

3. Guardian Bell



and, um, that's all I can think of at the moment.. LOL

 

[Cobram]

Here is the list:



1. Seafoam gas treatment

2. PB Blaster penetrating fluid

3, Electronic contact cleaner

4. Starting fluid

5. Micro butane torch (this one is Harbor Freight for $6)

6. JB Weld

7. 0000 Steel wool

8. Small Vise Grips (the smaller work better for loosening screw heads, get a blunt jaw. Don't get a "off brand")

9, Assortment of dental picks and scrapers (my dentist gave me all of these for the asking. We don't care if they are worn out)

10. Honda Moly 60 paste. (This will have to come from a Honda auto or bike dealer)

11. Razor blade scraper

12. Dremel tool. (This one is variable speed, but a two speed is just fine. Get some cutoff disks if they aren't included)

13. A good #2 screwdriver. (Expect to pay $8-10 for a good one and then take care of it. Snap-On brand is great, but overpriced)

14. Tube of Dielectric grease. (Auto parts store will have this)

15. Set of continuity and test light probes. (Harbor Freight again is fine. Should be about $5)

16. Multimeter. (This one is also Harbor Freight, $4, but works OK for the causal user)

17. A couple of hemostats. (Best quality is hospital grade, but Harbor Freight is OK here too.)

Hmmm, could make for an interesting Christmas. Most folks with fireplaces hang their stockings over them.

Has the makings for "CX500 Christmas Vacation."



Stuff 1. Seafoam gas treatment, 2. PB Blaster penetrating fluid, 3, Electronic contact cleaner, 4. Starting fluid, 6. JB Weld, 7. 0000 Steel wool and 14. Tube of Dielectric grease Into stockings and hang over fireplace.



Use Item 5. Micro butane torch to light the fireplace. Lube the fireplace flue with 10. Honda Moly 60 paste, it works well in this application.



Leave Grandpa alone in the room, he feels cold and decides to put the equivalent of half a rain forest in the fireplace and nod off in the recliner.



Use item 17. A couple of hemostats, to close off any bleeders on grandpa after the explosion. Remove the flaming toupee from his head with 8. Small Vise Grips.



Use the wires from 15. Set of continuity and test light probes and 16. Multimeter to tie off any extremities which may have been lacerated by flying #9. Assortment of dental picks and scrapers and 11. Razor blade scraper.



After grandpa goes to the emergency room, you'll have time to use 13. A good #2 screwdriver to dig 12. Dremel tool, out the ceiling it's embedded in. Gives you something to do while you wait for the insurance adjuster and get your story straight.



Merry Christmas.

 

[showmedude]

Has the makings for "CX500 Christmas Vacation."

Two words: Movie rights!

 

[Ohm]

I made it simple, gave the list of tools to my Dad and another list to my Mom that included a gift card to the local Honda shop

 

[Blindstitch]

I always ask for money when it involves parents. Because they may mean good but sometimes they pay way to much for cheap crap or get something that is totally useless.



As for Melody. I don't know exactly what she's going to get be but I told her to keep it under $20. I'm pretty sure I have most of the stuff in the picture but never have I got my dremel stuck in the ceiling.

 

[Panther]

I'm pretty sure I have most of the stuff in the picture but never have I got my dremel stuck in the ceiling.

Give it time, with the trailer build, I'm sure you can accomplish this soon.

How is that going btw?

 

[marshallf3]

Snap-On brand is great, but overpriced)

Perhaps, but I always like two things about their screwsdrivers. The fit is so exact their Phillips ones will hold on to a screw just from the fit, also they come with a free lifetime blade replacement warranty. I use their 4", 6" & sometimes 8" ones so often that after a year or so I hit up the Snap-On guy to fit them with new blades at no charge of course. Craftsman is pretty good about replacing the entire screwdriver but their tools haven't been of the quality they used to be, matter of fact they've created a new line called "Craftsman Industrial" tht's being sold at WW Grainger.



I might add that a good assortment of polishes and waxes are always nice. DuPont #7 liquid and Semichrome paste are essentials if you can find them.



A Snap-On catalog and price list is nice and also free. The best way to find a dealer is to ask your local garage when the guy comes around, sometimes someone that works there will also know his phone number and he can call you when he gets theer on his weekly rounds or you can just keep your eye out for the trucks.



A hand held hammer-driven impact is also nice. A Cheap one with several screwdriver bits is inexpensive at Harbor Freight and does work, a real one with 1/4" drive from Snap-On will set you bak a bit but works better and is a lot more versatile. You'll have to buy 1/4" drive screwdriver bits for it but it will also work with sockets.



Kobalt tools from Lowe's are really pretty darn good, they've actually amazed me for the price.

 

[Blindstitch]

Give it time, with the trailer build, I'm sure you can accomplish this soon.

How is that going btw?

It's stopped at the moment. All I need to do is get the removable box and weld up the gooseneck. But it pulls fine so no problems there. Almost seems like the wiring was the hardest part. I should have checked the flasher first because that was the problem.



I have been thinking of an even smaller one but haven't made a move on it yet.

 

[marshallf3]

She being a total newbie to the internet I actually had to order my own gift from my mom to myself so I do know I'm getting my wish:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001431



About all I've got to look forward to. New girlfriend but I've only dated her a few times, now I've got two old ones wanting back but I don't expect to get anything from any of them. Odd how women work, when you don't have one there aren't any to be found, find one and women start crawling out of the woodwork. I'd far rather be with the one I had been with for 5 years but after the way she totally dumped me for another after I was diagnosed with the cancer it's going to be a long time until I'd ever trust her again. The other one is, well, one of those occasional friends so to speak but I'm concentrating on the new one lately.



Not the best monitor in the world, I'd rather have had one with LED backlighting such as the Apple ($1,000) Dell ($1,000) or an Asus ($350 but it has a history of problems) all + shipping but a price limit was set. I (she) got this one for $289 / free ship. I've been using a 19" Hitachi Professional CAD monitor here at home and it's absolutely perfect as far as picture and geometry go, also have a 21" Mitsubishi Professional CAD monitor stashed at work but it takes two people to handle and this 19" already takes up too much room and puts out too much heat. Had to go with the 27" because as you move to the 16:9 format from 4:3 it would have taken about a 24" to have the same vertical size as this 19" does. I do hope it can approach the resolution, accuracy of color and perfect geometry that this Hitachi has.



I've been a photographer all my life, not a pro like Don but I'm still rather picky about what I look at.

 

[Blindstitch]

That's nice. But those people who have the actual apple monitors are spoiled. I use to use them in school and they were great.



I have had better luck at color correcting in dark environments. Then you don't have to worry about ambient light corruption.



I do a lot on my macbook just fine but if I really need to see things I hook it up to my hp20 inch.

I think this is the one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-S2031/14170444



I think it's 4 years old so it's not as good as the current monitors but pretty decent.

There are also some pretty good crt monitors out there being thrown away for upgrades that can do the job. Color sync tools are always a good idea. A bit costly for just one person but in a group buy it wouldn't be bad. I think the last time I did mine I used the spyder one.

 

[marshallf3]

Yea, I like the Apple one but I don't have $1K to throw into it just to type e-mails and view the occasional picture on. I'm running off my Lenovo/IBM laptop right now, have been for a few months but here at home I've got it hooked up to a regular monitor, keyboard and mouse. I don't like the keyboards on a laptop nor the pointing pads. I redid my main desktop PC a while back but haven't moved it back in here yet, sure will be a lot of files to transfer over that I've picked up but that's no big deal when you've got network ports and wireless all over the house.



I haven't even bothered to turn on any of the media system I've got in this room. It's built from scratch in three cases, about 30 TB of storage in two of the boxes (all RAID-5) and the other box is set up as the media player with a high end video card going directly to my Sharp LED TV. I rarely watch anything other than reruns and old movies on TV anyway but it's nice to have if someone wants to watch or have a copy of a movie. Just as with Napster I became a Pirate Bay addict and pulled down an incredible amount of stuff with a ton to go but the only way to do it right involves being careful with how much bandwidth you stress your ISP's network with. I rarely pull down any of the newest stuff, most everything I have has been on TV at one time or the other or is out of print so I figure it's fair game.



While I'm still saddened over the almost total demise of real film cameras it sure is easier to take a small digital on vacations. Can't do the effects I could with my Canon A-1 what with all the lenses and filters but I certainly still have all of it and the darkroom stuff you can hardly find chemicals for anymore. Shoot - I used to buy film in 100' rolls.



I'll agree on the monitor throwaways too, last I got were the two Mitsubishi 21" Pro CADs for free, sold one and kept the other. All you have to do is watch Craigslist and you can often hit a bonanza. Being an old photo guy it isn't hard for me to calibrate a monitor that has the capability and these CAD specific ones all do. I've also got some old Sencore equipment specifically designed for that purpose but I haven't bothered with it.