see four-point sockets

Fire hydrant ?

Leatherman Multitools

My wave has a 5 po> >

My craftsman tool set came with a few square sockets. I haven't checked, but I would assume that they also sell them individualy.

--------------- Alex

Phredd sed: "perhaps that is why you cant find them"

Just like I said "A couple sets came with my Craftsman 900 pc set". Alex seems to have the same set. Is there a problem?

According to Roger :

This has been going on for so long that I can't resist a "tool gloat". Two years ago I picked up at a fles market 3 new old stock 9 piece 1/2" drive 8 popint socket sets for $25. Don't bother they are all gone except for the one I kept.

Chuck P.

BF oxy acetylene, LF dremel :)

What're BF, BFH and LF?

The Monk

Well B is big, F is not for polite conversation, H is hammer, L is little. Hope this (F) helps :)

5-point bolt heads (and other strange and wonderful fastener designs) are often found holding things closed that they don't want the average induhvidual off the street to get into, the Leatherman Tools are one good example They'll fix it for you for free if you send it back for service, so you don't need the special 5-point Tamper Torx driver. Controls unauthorized mods that could cause injuries.

Or things that aren't supposed to come apart at that point, like those motor mounts. Sounds like that's for the 'backup bolt' on the mount, meant to keep the engine from falling totally out of the car if the rubber mount fails - and there's always some fool who will remove the bolt "To save weight" and then act surprised when the engine falls on the freeway at speed...

(And then they'll sue the manufacturer of the 'defective' motor mount - and win. Look up "Chutzpah" in the dictionary.)

Things like the lids of Power Utility manholes and handholes, where there are seriously hazardous voltages lurking inside... Which is the reason I need to get a few of those 5-point sockets, so when I get called out on an outage I can confirm whether or not it's dead in there. And secure the lid properly if someone else didn't.

It's one of those "Kids, Don't Try This At Home!" things.

Occasionally (two small associations we service) they tap HOA owned streetlight poles straight from the Edison handhole with a simple inline fuseholder and pay a flat-rate for the power - which is cheaper than installing a meter pedestal and paying the monthly minimum for a meter. And I very occasionally need to get in there and pull the fuse so I can work on the pole without the excitement factor.

I do my darnedest to make sparks only when I'm welding. On purpose type welding. With a MIG torch in my hand. Oh heck, you get it... ;-P

-->--

It sure (F) cleared things up for me :^)

The Monk

You weren't trying to loosen the hood ornament were you? ;-)

Taht takes a good "Monkey Wrench". I haven't ween one of those for years either. I think every really old Ford came with one.

Headers?

You must work on some really "old" cars Enjoy,

I ended up with a complete set of (as in every 8 point socket Craftsman makes) many years ago now. I have them all together on one of those 'socket rail' gimmicks hanging way up on the back edge of the peg board.

I probably on average have a use for any of them every other year or so, but can recall them 'saving the day' a few times... mostly dealing with old square head lag bolts, and turning big 1/2" easy outs doing plumbing work. A good friend/neighbor had borrowed and used them more than I have, but doing the same kind of things. They're probably at least 30 plus years old now, and still look new...

The 'lead in chamfers' are a bit excessive on most of them... seems every time I do use them I think I'd like to do something about that.

Erik

That Makes sense.

Steve

the other thing about specialist tools is a bit of a liability issue

you CAN work around them but unless you know where and how to find the right tool to tear apart something that shouldnt be tampered with odds are you shouldnt be tampering with it

you CAN rig up a manhole Lidlifter for example but there is a reason manholes are not easy to lift

12 feet underground in a flooded area that just been pumped with high voltage is not a friendly place for untrained people and thats just a telecom manhole let alone a sewer or hydro one.

Stephen H wrote:

Good GAWD, I need a new keyboard, or should get a good night's sleep before trying to type. Either that or I should quit drinking Vernors while trying to type.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)

Yeah - cause they're also really hard on your toes if you drop them. It's like a Rigger, you have to keep your feet out of the "No Zone". And steel-toes don't help at all if it's your ankle in the way.

Actually, voltage concerns are not a big problem with telecom manholes - everything down there is Class 2 Current Limited. Some of the carrier circuits have 300V or more on them, but most is -48V DC.

Bad air from oxygen depletion or hydrogen sulphide and explosive vapors are a much more imminent hazard, and all you need to do to get killed by them is climb inside without testing and ventilating the space first. I was a construction splicer for 8 years.

Everything involved with telephones is bonded and grounded 47 ways from Sunday. The only holes we had to worry about power were ones located directly under the path of a high-tension transmission line, and they simply wanted us to keep the bonding straps connected at each cable end at all times, and hook up temporary grounds to the racking (instead of leaving them open for the day) and setup our work positions sitting on a rubber blanket with HV Lineman Gloves at the ready "just in case" we had to bail out in an emergency.

-->--

I USE "FARMER BOLTS' !!!

And they're damn hard to find these days. Of course, I use 'em on a ship that was designed 103 years ago... I use 8-point sockets or a cresent wrench on them, but they're 10-32 & 1/4" and pretty easy to get at.

Harry

Roger wrote: