Simple free hacks -post em' up!

I Keep all of the junk mail solicitation credit cards and expired cards and use them as small body filler or epoxy spreaders. 

What ya'll got?

That is better than what I do.  I load the junk mail into the provided postage paid envelope and send it back to them.

If you garden in the nude, your neighbours will build a privacy fence at no cost to you.

Maybe not where you were going, but it's the first one I can think of off of the top of my head:

If you've got a phillips head screw that is very tight and/or imperfect, put a dab of valve grinding compound on the tip of your screwdriver. It will increase the "bite" and prevent slippage. Sounds hokey, but works really well. 

In reply to Noddaz :

Same here. My buddy once claimed he clipped the postage-paid bar code from an envelope and taped it to a cardboard box with a few lbs of used kitty litter and sent it back. I like to think that would work, and that I'll do it one day. 

LIFE HACK!! Did you know that keeping your food in the refrigerator will keep it cold? 

Sorry, the phrase "life hack" annoys me for some reason. 

Double your money by folding it in half and putting it back in your pocket! 

Haha Ok I get it,  this thread was a bad idea.

How to never get cut again? - Always cut away from yourself

Plans for a free solar powered clothing dryer - put your clothes outside on a rope 

z31maniac said:

LIFE HACK!! Did you know that keeping your food in the refrigerator will keep it cold? 

Sorry, the phrase "life hack" annoys me for some reason. 

 

That's because "life hack" used to mean things like how living on a 28 hour day-schedule makes you somehow more productive and gives you more weekend. That's a genuine "hack".

Now it means stupid E36 M3 that, while you may in fact be one of today's lucky 10,000, isn't particularly Earth shattering.

You know the phrase Life Hack annoys you. You click on said thread. You become annoyed.

Life hack: Stop being annoyed by not clicking on threads you know will annoy you. 

Motojunky said:

Maybe not where you were going, but it's the first one I can think of off of the top of my head:

If you've got a phillips head screw that is very tight and/or imperfect, put a dab of valve grinding compound on the tip of your screwdriver. It will increase the "bite" and prevent slippage. Sounds hokey, but works really well. 

You can also use water-soluble valve lapping compound to deglaze noisy old belts. Smear a little on any surface that contacts a pulley and let the engine idle for a minute, and then rinse it off.

Then there's the old water down the throttle body trick...

DarkMonohue said:

Motojunky said:

Maybe not where you were going, but it's the first one I can think of off of the top of my head:

If you've got a phillips head screw that is very tight and/or imperfect, put a dab of valve grinding compound on the tip of your screwdriver. It will increase the "bite" and prevent slippage. Sounds hokey, but works really well. 

You can also use water-soluble valve lapping compound to deglaze noisy old belts. Smear a little on any surface that contacts a pulley and let the engine idle for a minute, and then rinse it off.

Then there's the old water down the throttle body trick...

For belts that get noisy after getting them wet or coolant on them or something, rub them with a crayon with the engine running.

Harbor Freight yellow crayons fit in a 13mm or 1/2" deepwell socket that you can stick on a long extension, so you can do this without putting your snausages near a running engine's belt.

Tired of twist drills 3/4" or larger drilling triangular holes when used in a drill press?

Peck drill to get a dimple then fold up a blue shop towel and place it between the work and the drill. Drill through the shop towel and the work.

I don't know the reason why but the blue towel keeps the drill from chattering and making a triangular hole.

Scotty Con Queso said:

Double your money by folding it in half and putting it back in your pocket! 

This!

OjaiM5 said:

How to never get cut again? - Always cut away from yourself

aka: Don't get bloody, cut toward your buddy. 

Appleseed said:

You know the phrase Life Hack annoys you. You click on said thread. You become annoyed.

Life hack: Stop being annoyed by not clicking on threads you know will annoy you. 

Because I wanted to see if there was an actual "hack."

Keep earplugs on your keychain so you always have a pair handy.

David S. Wallens said:

Keep earplugs on your keychain so you always have a pair handy.

I thought to myself how?  So i googled.  huh cool

https://www.amazon.com/Ouligay-Waterproof-Portable-Earplugs-Container/dp/B0DK6LTLV6/ref=asc_df_B0DK6LTLV6?mcid=dd55b1a8468d32169f877035ae233ec6&hvocijid=7145116649921382531-B0DK6LTLV6-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7145116649921382531&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014969&hvtargid=pla-2281435177378&psc=1

You know those "grenade pins" that come in new hydraulic timing chain/belt tensioners?  The ones with little plastic buttons make great tiny screwdrivers  after a little grinder work.  Any of them also make good depinning tools with grinder work.

i have one of the big ones from a Honda V6 on my keychain.  I'd like to say that I use it for poking holes in remarkably tear resistant snack bags, but mostly it sits next to my house key so I can find it quickly.

A lightswitch cover makes an excellent gasket scraper for aluminum parts.