For the Tool guys?

[sageadvice]

A adjustable wrench, some call it a Crescent wrench but i call it a adjustable wrench, and a pipe wrench are designed to be used a certain way, in one direction. My helper, insists to put the wrenches on backwards and use them against their design strength.

I must have told him 100 time these past couple months to turn his wrench over and now recently he says that he's to old, he's 52, to change. He today told me that he's left handed so that's why he always puts the tool on backwards, upside down, the wrong way.

I say i'm paying his check, a good wage, those are my tools, anybody that knows anything about using tools can see he's doing it wrong, and i want them to be used the way that they are intended to be used.

We seem to have a standoff. Decent help is hard to find. Do i need to chill?

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[elkassassin]

So?

He's still an Apprentice?








[font color="red"]From My Smokin Cherry Red Hot Barrel & My Dead Cold Hands I Shall go down Fighting for American Pride & Rights!
I Know I'm Out Numbered by Pusssies & Brainwashed Democrats that'll Throw Their Hands in the air & I know I can't Lick the U.S. Military by Myself when they Turn on us but I'll make
you one Guarantee,They'll be Enduring a Situation where I Hope to Hell All Americans become True Americans once again & Stand up for their Rights!

 

[sageadvice]

As a plumber, yes. He has his own little auto repair shop that's not busy, does handyman stuff around town, and can crawl places that i couldn't dream of getting to. I pay him $25. Hr

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[elkassassin]

Damn sage!

I need to find me somebody like that!









[font color="red"]From My Smokin Cherry Red Hot Barrel & My Dead Cold Hands I Shall go down Fighting for American Pride & Rights!
I Know I'm Out Numbered by Pusssies & Brainwashed Democrats that'll Throw Their Hands in the air & I know I can't Lick the U.S. Military by Myself when they Turn on us but I'll make
you one Guarantee,They'll be Enduring a Situation where I Hope to Hell All Americans become True Americans once again & Stand up for their Rights!

 

[sageadvice]

So your saying that i should give up?

He'll put a pipe wrench on a pipe the wrong way knowing which way he needs to turn it. The right way, the wrench digs in and turns the pipe. As he does it, he fiddles around until he finally gets it adjusted perfect and even then the wrench is slipping off the pipe but he won't turn the wrench around, says the way i do it won't work!

He does the same thing with channel locts too, all the time...

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[elkassassin]

Never Give Up sage!

Seen a guy try and tighten/thread a piece of existing 3" Pipe in to a fitting far enough He thought He'd Wind it out of the Opposite end!(A 6' Piece that was already installed between 2 fittings!)

Used an 8' Cheater on a 48" RIDGID until they couldn't turn it any more!

Then they got the Backhoe against the Cheater!

Then the 48 Broke!

I still Shake my head about it today!















[font color="red"]From My Smokin Cherry Red Hot Barrel & My Dead Cold Hands I Shall go down Fighting for American Pride & Rights!
I Know I'm Out Numbered by Pusssies & Brainwashed Democrats that'll Throw Their Hands in the air & I know I can't Lick the U.S. Military by Myself when they Turn on us but I'll make
you one Guarantee,They'll be Enduring a Situation where I Hope to Hell All Americans become True Americans once again & Stand up for their Rights!

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-14 AT 10:14PM (MST)[p]Thanks Bess! Someone must have told him to get it tight!

I like the guy. He hustles for me and as long as he's not doing any real plumbing with the tools, he's pretty good, and as you know, a guy like that can be handy.

My old Boss, he chewed my tail out many times but i never did it on purpose and i certainly never debated the issue with him. Even way back, when i figured that i had a tool on the wrong way, i'd switch it around and look over my shoulder to see if anyone saw my mistake. Most everybody puts a tool on wrong, uses it opposite it's strength, once in awhile. My guy does it that way on purpose because he thinks it works better that way.

I'm not too anal about very many things and i don't think i'm being anal about this. I think using the tools the right way should go without saying.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[wileywapati]

Back in the day I did a ton of finish carpentry work.
My boss would tell me how he wanted things done,
Well being the plick that I am I always thought I could
Figure out a way of doing things faster.

One day we were hanging doors, to cut the doors to length
You'd tape over the veneer and cut through it with a utility knife.
I made the decision to just tape it and go at it with the worm drive.

Needless to say, 60 seconds later I was the proud owner
Of a three o seven o door.

I'd tell dude do it the way I tell ya or be prepared to scratch a check
For any damaged tools or materials.




"The future is large scale auction tags.
The majority of the tags should go up
for auction anually. It MIGHT even be
good to allow second sales of auction
tags as in outfitters purchasing tags
and then re-selling them to the public."
TRISTATE 8/17/2012

 

[sageadvice]

Thanks Wiley! I did the same kind of thing once with a fiberglass tub-shr unit. Was my fault, at least my boss only charged me his cost on the thing! lol

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[ZIGGER]

I would insist on the pipe wrench and let him look stupid with the crescent......

 

[1911]

Once upon a time I was selling tools. I had some knucklehead come in serious as a heart attack and asked for a metric crescent wrench.

Aside from that, this post needs pics.

 

[zekers]

+1 Zigger. He's just tearing sh#t up using a pipe wrench backwards.

 

[nfh]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-16-14 AT 06:04AM (MST)[p]MAybe he doesn't understand how the teeth work on a pipe wrench or a pair of Chanalocks. I have had this happen with an apprentice. so I busted out the tri-stand. Got a stick of rigid conduit with a cuppling and told him to make it tight using the chanalocks backwards then doing it the right way. It clicked for him that way.... i explained over and over how the teeth work one way on pipe wrenches and chanalocks

 

[John_The_Bastard]

There is a fair chance that if the guy did not have this small "flaw" he would command $50 or $75 an hour and be your competition. Men are like tools in more than 1 way. I would work with him!
J_T_B

 

[eelgrass]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-16-14 AT 07:38AM (MST)[p]52 is not too old to change. I don't understand how working a pipe wrench backwards is doing quality work. At best, it's slower and harder, and hard on tools. It has to be your call though Joey. You have to weigh the pros and cons of keeping this guy.

To put some perspective on it, I spent the last 20 years of my saw filing career working for an owner who had just the opposite problem. For comparison, he insisted on using the pipe wrench backwards. You could explain to him how turning the wrench around was faster, did a better job, and much easier on the wrench. He would say BS!!!! The bottom line for me was, the boss ain't always right, but he's always the boss. I did it his way.

Eel

 

[2lumpy]

sage old buddy, there's a lot of ways to get the shingles on the roof. As long as they get up there, without breaking bank or causing anyone else extra work, I look the other way and let the guy walk up the ladder backwards with the shingles in his lap.

If you like the work this gent's doing, if he's not costing you money, if the customers like him and his work, set your principles on the shop work bench and let him make you money.

Hell, if he strips the teeth off a pipe wrench every now an again, buy him a new one.

Personally I have not idea how he can tighten anything using a pipe wrench backwards but if he's determined enough to get it done, look away so it doesn't hurt your eyes.

Peace bro.
DC

 

[BeanMan]

Crescent wrenches are banned in my farm shop. If you want to round off nuts, do it on our own time. I guess for a plumber it may be a catch all tool so you don't have to drag too much stuff around and aren't putting a lot of torque on them.

Not in my shop, that's why we have combo wrenches.

 

[Devlin]

Probably puts his hacksaw blades in backwards also.

 

[sageadvice]

Thank you guys, all of the replies were good, i appreciate your taking the time to make them.

Hacksaw blades? Maybe not but he does put sazall blades in backwards, says he can get into places better that way. In my 30+ years in the trade, I've had to turn the blade the other way maybe 3 or 4 times.

When we work together, we get stuff done and i'm teaching him as we go. I only wish my old Boss would have done that for me. If i turn him loose on his own, things i think should take half an hour take a couple to several hours and even then might still not be done or not done right to my, or any other decent plumbers, standards.

I guess what bugs me is the guy has a great opportunity to learn a trade that can make him money the rest of his days but he just doesn't seem to me that he's interested in learning more than what he already does and what he knows now, is how to work, not plumb, not at all other than what most other hacks out there think they know.

I now know that i don't have the perfect guy helping me but again, good help is hard to find, especially guys who can crawl and work in a 12-14" workspace under a house.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[nfh]

>Probably puts his hacksaw blades in
>backwards also.


I work with a lot of people that do it that way. I tried and didn't like it....

Before I came a electrical foreman when I worked on big commercial jobs a lot of guys said you must use a hacksaw. I said to hell with that when ya got saw-zall, porta-band and metal blades for circular saws now... And since I like using power tools to make my job easy they pretty much would not talk to me anymore cause a lot of older guys are set in THEIR WAYS and refuse to change for the better

 

[Stonefly]

Hey Sage, Just feel lucky that its only hand tool deficiency. When I was a kid I worked in my Dads metal shop. there was a guy that wanted to earn some extra money, and wanted to work in the shop at night. First night he got a metal shard in his eye, said he didn't put his glasses on just that one time. A week or to goes by and he smashes another guys thumb in a brake. Finally he cut 3 fingers off on the shear. he called from the hospital and had my Dad bring the fingers down to get sewed back on.. I don't think he ever came back after that.

 

[sageadvice]

I think he's down the road. I called him this morning and he didn't care to do what i had in mind today so i asked him if he knew somebody that wanted to work, to get paid well with a opportunity to learn a trade. I told him the right guy had to know basic use of tools and be willing to learn.

My guy said he'd look around.

I think that he's down the road!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[eelgrass]

That's too bad Joey, especially for him. I think you'll be better off though.

It amazes me how hard it is to get good help. You'd think someone would love the opportunity to learn a good trade.

Best of luck, Joey!

Eel

 

[sageadvice]

Thanks Bud!! I haven't closed the door on him, I'll let him think about it for awhile and maybe he'll come to believe that what i ask of him isn't so much to take after all. If not, it's a small town, i'll do my best to at least remain buds!

In the mean time, i've a nice cash flow job, replace a sewer line from house to street, lined out for Monday and the first guy i called jumped at the chance to help...

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Hardway]

Dyslexia is a beotch.

 

[sageadvice]

"Dyslexia is a beotch."

Hardway, believe me, i've wondered if he has some of that!

I think that its more likely that he's just got a ornery streak in him. Couple things i do know, his home State is Utah and he didn't get much education at all, not that those facts should hinder a guy from wanting to learn or being competent with hand tools.

Thanks for all the comments guys!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"