Tips and tricks for those less-dextrous hands...

[G6Tanuki]

As I become more and more vintage myself, I find a noticeable loss of manual dexterity and strength; I wonder how othes have addressed this issue when working on vintage gear.

It's not that I can't still lift an AR88, more that fitting a 6BA nut and washer onto their screw when it's down amongst a few components or feeding ends of components into solder-tags/valbe-sockets is getting to be more time-consumingly fiddly and frustrating than it used to be.

Locking artery-forceps are a useful help here, and I've already been doing the blu-tack in the nut-runner trick to retain the nut while you wangle it into position. [another useful one being a length of rubber tube pushed over the end of a bit of thin dowel so you can stick a screw in the end to work it into position].

Screwdrivers - I've got a set with T-shaped handles that are easier than round-handled ones to grip when applying torque if you have an wrist that is prone to going CLICK in a very painful way!

What other suggestions do you have to make the mechanical side of repair easier to those of us who are getting a bit ooo-aaartrhrickety?

[SiriusHardware]

When working on something which is suspected of harbouring one or more springs, get a large transparent plastic bag and work with the workpiece and your arms inside the bag. That way anything which comes flying out won't get far and you won't have to try to hunt for it on the floor.

[TonyDuell]

I must say that if I ever see the remnants of blu-tack on nuts or in screw head slots I immediately think that 'the Phantom' or 'M0RON' has been at work in said set

There are some very useful screwdrivers where the blade is made as 2 pieces of spring steel each with a wedge cross-section, they can be squeezed together by a collar and this makes the blade thicker. As a result they will hold in the slot of a screw. Said tools will not stand much torque, so you loosen the screw with a normal screwdriver, then put the holding screwdriver in, push the collar down and extract the screw. Reassembly goes in reverse, you grip the screw with the holding screwdriver, fit it into the hole about finger-tight, and then use a normal screwdriver to fully tighten it.

A magnet-on-a-stick is very useful for finding and picking up small steel parts on the workshop floor, but don't use it near magnetic storage media, including audio or video tapes.

Buy a range of sizes of nuts, bolts and especially e-circlps. Then if you do lose something it is not a disater, you have a replacement.

A good set of spring hooks makes fitting and removing springs a lot easier than using pliers or tweezers.

If you need to get a washer onto a threaded stud in an inaccessible corner of the chassis, don't waste time trying to use pliers or tweezers to handle it. Instead, slide it up a suitable rod such as a screwdriver blade. Hold the washer against the end of the handle, then put the tip of the blade on the end of the stud. Let washer go, it will fall down the blade and onto the stud.

[G6Tanuki]

I'm familiar with the plastic-bag trick when dismantling gearboxes [which always seem to have detent springs/balls/plungers, needle-rollers and sprung synchro-cones that fly off in all directions unless restrained].

Biggest nuisance recently was reassembling a small motor; it took me about an hour to get the brush-carrier/end-bearing-plate fitted without in the process dislodging one or more rollers from the bearing or trapping a brush. Making a cone of stiff card and duct-tape to go round the commutator outer end and provide a 'ramp' for the brushes to go up helped.

[Leon Crampin]

A pair of slip joint pliers with two strong rubber bands wound around the handles makes an excellent "bench vice" for holding small items whilst you work on them.

Paper clips are really useful when bent into odd shapes to aid assembly. A recently fixed Marconi generator (blue tant plague) was full of M3 pan head screws with wavy washers, securing the boards. A paperclip fitting tool formed as to allow the screw/washer assembly to be lowered to the board amongst the components was a great aid to assembly. Losing washers is definitely not a good idea.

Leon.

[Bazz4CQJ]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

As I become more and more vintage myself, I find a noticeable loss of manual dexterity and strength; I wonder how othes have addressed this issue when working on vintage gear.

It's not that I can't still lift an AR88, more that fitting a 6BA nut and washer onto their screw when it's down amongst a few components or feeding ends of components into solder-tags/valbe-sockets is getting to be more time-consumingly fiddly and frustrating than it used to be.

100% agree; exactly what I'm finding. Spent ages last week trying to get a small, short terminal screw in the back of a Japanese meter. I bought that meter back in the 60's and don't recall having problems then.

Also, and more worrying, my typing skills (never very good) are deteriorating rapidly; I spend ages making corrections .

B

[joebog1]

Well, what can one say ?. I struggle with severe rotor cuff syndrome, so lifting anything heavier than about 5 kilos is past me now. Especially if its lifting it onto the bench. I dont have so much trouble down low.

The ideas of using screwdrivers to slide washers and nuts down the shaft is a trick I have been using for years. BUT, I have made the screwdrivers from brazing rod. Its not magnetic as most of my screwdrivers are. Not to the extent they can pick anything up, just enough to prevent the washer/nut from sliding, OR once you have the washer in place, the screwdriver DOES pick it up. GGGRRRR

Scews, nuts, washers and standoffs are all in plastic boxes obtained from the local thrift store and have about 18 compartments to keep them all nicely separated. Makes picking the bits required very easy, rather than a stiff cardboard box that most hardware comes in. I have a small cast iron bench vice that clamps to the edge of the bench when sawing pot shafts for instance, or soldering large aircraft style connectors. The small aligator clip style "helpers " are most frustrating I find.

Joe

[Julesomega]

From age 50 everyone's ocular accommodation starts to weaken, so you will need correction for fine work. I was severely myopic - great for fine work - until I had cataract surgery including corrective lenses almost a year ago. Now I use an assortment of reading glasses, headband magnifiers and loupes. The extravagantly bright lighting I fitted as the cataracts developed is still very helpful on the workbench.

Like Joe, I have always relied on the clamp-on bench vice for almost any job, they reduce the number of hands needed to three or fewer