Our Name In Tools

Fixit Coach Steve White designed a Fixit Clinic logo out of tools. As he writes in his accompanying email:

The F is a Monkey wrench that I bought in Malaysia in 1979.  These were the first adjustable wrenches made.  They were used by "grease monkeys" - so called because they had to climb all over those big early machines to get to the lubrication points - in the days before oil pumps.  And they got covered in grease in the process.  Later on the Crescent Tool Company realized that if they put the jaws at a 30 degree angle, and you turned the wrench over every 1/12th of a turn, you could tighten a hex head bolt when there was limited clearance.

The first I is a scribe I made in 1962 in an 8th grade shop class.

The X is a pair of needle nose pliers.  I don't remember when/where I got them.

The second I is a 1/4" drive flex handle and socket I got in 1977 when I was a mechanic working for the city of Beverly Hills.

The T is a crate hammer that I got from my dad.

The first C is a clamp - don't remember where/when.

The L is a square - don't remember where/when.

The 3rd I is a hex drive screw driver & bit that I got in the 1980's when I was working at Electrical Appliance Parts Co. in San Francisco - across from the Cal Train station.

The N is a folding rule that I've had since I was a kid in Wisconsin.

The 4th I is a metric box/open end wrench that I bought in 1973 when I was living in Munich, Germany.

The 2nd C is a clamp (one of 6) that I made in a welding class in Santa Monica in 1977.  The body was cut with a torch from 3/4" scrap.  Top "grip" is 1/8" steel plate, arc welded.  Bottom is a pair of 5/8" nuts, arc welded.  Uses 5/8" all thread with a ball ground on the end.  The "pivot grip" is the end of a 5/8" bolt with a hole drilled to fit over the ball on the all thread.  It is held in place by a split/lock washer with a 5/8" OD.  I bent it open/closed to get it around the neck of the ball and then flame welded onto the grip.  The other end of the all thread, not shown, has a 5/8" nut welded in place.  You need to use a wrench to tighten the clamp, but you can also use another wrench on the pivot grip to prevent the clamp from disturbing the alignment of your work while you tighten the clamp.  It was a great welding class - they let you bring in all sorts of projects if you wanted to.

As you can see, there are lots of good memories to go with the tools in the picture.

Steve's even incorporated it into his Fixit Clinic badge:

Thanks Steve for this wonderful design and your enthusiasm for Fixit Clinic.