Scrench mod and carry

[Gravy]

Is this like your wrench?

View attachment 1139494

Posted by @Franny K in one of the threads I referenced, 2 pages back.

Philbert

Yes, Phil, very close. Thank you for bringing the thread back to serious discussion. My saws have never been prone to fouling spark plugs, so that style works for me. I still wouldn't like to get stabbed by it, but I don't hang it by a string. Mine is shorter, so overtorquing the nuts really isn't a concern.

I really just wanted to know if anyone had found a better solution than I have.

 

[Philbert]

In another post, in one of those threads, it is noted that there can be different screwdrivers used on a chainsaw in the field, depending on the brand and model:

- narrow, flat blade screwdriver to reach recessed, side tensioner screw, through the side / clutch cover.

- wider, flat bladed screwdriver, to install and release spring loaded, top covet screws, on later model STIHL saws;

- very small, carburetor adjusting screwdrivers;

-T27 Torx drivers.

My battery powered chainsaws, with tool-less chain adjusters, don’t need any!

Some people want to carry things they regularly use, with them. Some leave tools in a bag or box in the truck.

Figure out what works for you.


Philbert

 

[Gravy]

In another post, in one of those threads, it is noted that there can be different screwdrivers used on a chainsaw in the field, depending on the brand and model:

- narrow, flat blade screwdriver to reach recessed, side tensioner screw, through the side / clutch cover.

- wider, flat bladed screwdriver, to install and release spring loaded, top covet screws, on later model STIHL saws;

- very small, carburetor adjusting screwdrivers;

-T27 Torx drivers.

My battery powered chainsaws, with tool-less chain adjusters, don’t need any!

Some people want to carry things they regularly use, with them. Some leave tools in a bag or box in the truck.

Figure out what works for you.


Philbert

That's not really what I asked about, and I know about all those things, but I'll try to let it go at that.

 

[HansFranz]

And by the way, I know my memory isn't perfect, so if I have contradicted myself, call me on it.

It was an equivalent argument. "Done it for years, so it's safe".

Maybe you could actually respond to the original question.

Is it worth carrying a dull t-handled pushknife on your body just waiting to stab through important parts of you if you slip and fall? Especially dangling from a cord?

Epic...this thread just keeps GIVING.

Gravy, did you know that almost 43,000 people got killed in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. in 2022 alone?
That's more than 117 people killed EVERY DAY.
I dunno about you but screw driving to work...I'm hiding under the bed all day!

I'll try to let it go at that.

No you won't.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

So, the solution is to simply not slip and fall…problem solved.

I’ve had the scrench on the saw handles for over 30yrs. They don’t get in the way, even on wrap handles. They can’t jump out and stab me even if I fall.
that open box wrench with ground into screwdriver end should work great for just the bar nuts and tensioner. However, as Phil has pointed out, the scrench serves more purposes that require a bit more screwdriver torque. I’ve used mine countless times for other than nuts and tensioner.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Going out on a limb here.

But I bet more folks in the woods hunting and cutting. Have slipped and shot themselves or others and cut themselves falling onto chain. Then stabbing themselves with a scrench.

 

[Philbert]

. . . the scrench serves more purposes that require a bit more screwdriver torque. I’ve used mine countless times for other than nuts and tensioner.

Like, poking holes in the foil seals on bar oil jugs?

Philbert

 

[Gravy]

So, the solution is to simply not slip and fall…problem solved.

I’ve had the scrench on the saw handles for over 30yrs. They don’t get in the way, even on wrap handles. They can’t jump out and stab me even if I fall.
that open box wrench with ground into screwdriver end should work great for just the bar nuts and tensioner. However, as Phil has pointed out, the scrench serves more purposes that require a bit more screwdriver torque. I’ve used mine countless times for other than nuts and tensioner.

It's probably too late to mention this, but I was only ever referring to the risks of carrying a scrench dangling from a freaking string or a pocket or some such, with no protection from getting impaled on it if you should slip and fall. Not on a saw handle carrier, not in a scabbard on a belt, not in a toolbox or on a tractor.

But some people sure had fun inventing an imaginary guy who should be hiding in terror under a bed somewhere.

That's OK. I've been a mechanic for a long time, and known plenty of guys that sneered at all of the unnecessary safety crap. Let's see, there was Stumpy, and Tripod, and One Eye, and several deaf guys, and...

Yeah. Slight exaggeration there. Just like the guys making fun of me.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Some of us have all our limbs, and still get called tripod.

 

[Gravy]

Going out on a limb here.

But I bet more folks in the woods hunting and cutting. Have slipped and shot themselves or others and cut themselves falling onto chain. Then stabbing themselves with a scrench.

I bet you're right. But all three of those probably got themselves hurt doing dumb stuff, like leaning a loaded shotgun against a fencepost while stretching the barb wire to let the dogs through, or carrying the saw bar forward on slippery muddy slopes, or carrying a scrench on a string while carrying a running chainsaw across a rocky slope. I've known people in my life who got hurt doing at least one of those things

 

[Gravy]

Some of us have all our limbs, and still get called tripod.

Really short legs, huh?

 

[Gravy]

Epic...this thread just keeps GIVING.

Gravy, did you know that almost 43,000 people got killed in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. in 2022 alone?
That's more than 117 people killed EVERY DAY.
I dunno about you but screw driving to work...I'm hiding under the bed all day!

Ya know, I don't know you very well, but if you routinely react to situations that exist only in your head, that may not be a bad idea for you.

 

[Gravy]

Hey guys, I see this place like a bunch of guys sitting around a campfire, trading stories, ideas and insults. Plenty of good stuff, some not so good. Sometimes it gets a little off balance, but it usually works out. While I'm serious about wanting a safe way to carry a scrench, and/or a better scrench for how I work, I've enjoyed the rest of the conversation, insults and all.

And Happy New Year to the whole bunch of you!

 

[bwalker]

Please, please, please- somebody- anybody! Someone please research the number of A&E admissions for scrench related epidermis puncture wounds versus chainsaw related ones....... PLEASE!

When I logged I always carried mine in my back pocket. Never received a puncture wound!

 

[Gravy]

When I logged I always carried mine in my back pocket. Never received a puncture wound!

That's probably not a terrible way to carry one, as long as the pointy part went down. It would take some doing to get a really deep puncture wound that way. Our thighs don't usually bend way back unless something really bad happens, like dislocating your hip (or if you are a contortionist) Might scrape or poke your ankle if it wore a hole in your pocket and fell through and you squatted down. I think I'd still maybe put some kind of sleeve or scabbard in the pocket if only to keep the scrench from poking through. If you carried it pointing up, maybe you've never seen anyone fall while leaning back. Kidneys are right there, and lungs aren't that much higher.

But it's all good. All the guys saying "I've done it this way for years and nothing bad ever happened" remind me of a few new mothers who said the same thing.

 

[bwalker]

That's probably not a terrible way to carry one, as long as the pointy part went down. It would take some doing to get a really deep puncture wound that way. Our thighs don't usually bend way back unless something really bad happens, like dislocating your hip (or if you are a contortionist) Might scrape or poke your ankle if it wore a hole in your pocket and fell through and you squatted down. I think I'd still maybe put some kind of sleeve or scabbard in the pocket if only to keep the scrench from poking through. If you carried it pointing up, maybe you've never seen anyone fall while leaning back. Kidneys are right there, and lungs aren't that much higher.

But it's all good. All the guys saying "I've done it this way for years and nothing bad ever happened" remind me of a few new mothers who said the same thing.

Heavy end down, pointy end up. However, there are alot of clumsy morons out there.

 

[Gravy]

Heavy end down, pointy end up. However, there are alot of clumsy morons out there.

Ah, for years you've carried a scrench pointed tip pointed upwards at your kidneys or maybe lungs if you get knocked back wrong, but it ain't killed you yet, so it's OK and you won't be a clumsy moron until something big hits you unexpectedly. And nothing has ever hit you unexpectedly.

Just because you've gotten away with it doesn't mean it's a good idea. All of the people defending the ways they have gotten lucky for years is entertaining.

You guys do know there is a reason that sheaths and scabbards were invented, don't you? Many of you probably use them on your saws even when they aren't running, but some of you are offended at the idea of using one for a tool that can penetrate at least ten times deeper than a stationary saw chain.

We humans are inconsistent and funny. Myself included. Have a good evening.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Your suppositions and assumptions about the hazards of carrying a scrench simply aren't equal in weight to the combined hundreds or maybe even thousands of years of lived experience represented by the people on this forum.

You'll understand when we don't take your whining seriously.

 

[Gravy]

Your suppositions and assumptions about the hazards of carrying a scrench simply aren't equal in weight to the combined hundreds or maybe even thousands of years of lived experience represented by the people on this forum.

You'll understand when we don't take your whining seriously.

Yeah. Sure. Carrying screwdriver-like tools that can impale you while running chainsaws is enormously less hazardous than carrying them while building houses, working on heavy equipment, doing metal fabrication and such. Virtually never happens, right? Glad to hear it. Because I've seen people in all of those trades get stuck with tools. Exactly what is it about chainsaws that confers immunity from punctures from tools? I never claimed that ERs are overflowing with victims of scrench wounds. Just that carrying them unprotected seems like a bad idea to me. But lots of folks here seem very offended by that idea and keep deflecting to arguments that don't actually prove that it's a good idea.

I expected a more sensible answer from somebody who evidently likes practical stuff like old MB diesels and Toyotas. I do too. And I'm not unreasonably afraid of screnches. I just think carrying them on a string or in a pocket without some kind of sheath is a bad idea, because I've seen people get unnecessarily hurt by similar things. People slip and fall down.Tough guys can scream really loud with a chunk of metal through their hand. But some folks here seem antagonized by that idea. I really don't get it.

Not suppositions and assumptions. Real-life experience, and ability to learn from seeing other people bleed. Nope, I've never seen someone impaled by a scrench. But when you see a mechanic with a chunk of metal in his bleeding eye because he thought safety glasses were for sissies when he was only hitting a punch with a hammer, or a carpenter with a nail through his foot because he disabled the safety on his nailgun because it slowed him down, and just momentarily lost his balance, Or another mechanic looking down in disbelief for the fingers that were in the kitty litter on the floor, you learn to extrapolate, and think hard about how a tool can likely hurt you.

That last mechanic always said that all that safety crap was for sissies and fools, and all you have to do was pay attention. But one day while working on a running Chevy with a flex fan and no fan shroud, he apparently got distracted or slipped. I saw all of those.

Pretending that something is safe just because you've gotten away with it so far or nobody has yet seen it hurt you isn't a great idea. Any reasonable person knows that carrying a screwdriver on a string or in your pocket while doing strenuous work on uncertain footing isn't a good idea. But folks here keep vociferously defending the equivalent for some reason.

Oh yeah. We picked up Jay's fingers just before the shop dog got to them. Brenda put them in a carton of cold milk and the ER doc sewed them back on. A few years later, he had some feeling and could bend them about halfway. Good thing it was his left hand. But he worked a lot slower and didn't make as much money.

So maybe I have a little different viewpoint about tool safety. And maybe I'm not wrong, or a sissy, or an idiot.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

But when you see a mechanic with a chunk of metal in his bleeding eye because he thought safety glasses were for sissies when he was only hitting a punch with a hammer, or a carpenter with a nail through his foot because he disabled the safety on his nailgun because it slowed him down, and just momentarily lost his balance, Or another mechanic looking down in disbelief for the fingers that were in the kitty litter on the floor, you learn to extrapolate, and think hard about how a tool can likely hurt you.

But were any of the things that caused THOSE injuries hanging of the injured parties belt loops on a piece of string before they jumped up and caused the injury?