Finesse or brute force?

[AZjeff]

Are you a finesse guy or a brute force guy? I guess I've always been a finesse guy, if I encounter a stuck nut or bolt or things aren't going together correctly I'll slow down and try work the problem out. I've worked with guys who will twist the nut or bolt until something gives and deal with the outcome. Either it lets go or breaks, no time for penetrating oil or heat. Or, pound or pry things into position never mind what it looks like, just get er done. This came to mind the other day when I was dealing with the handiwork of a former coworker.

Of course there are times you have to do what you have to do, and I can see where the overpowering force technique gives an instant result with a 50/50 chance of being good.

 

[Trav]

It depends some things require finesse others brute force. Living in a rust belt poses all sorts of problems with fasteners, if it would otherwise require drilling, taping helicoils, etc you bet I go the finesse route. If its a nut and bolt that goes through parts, brute force will do or a smoke wrench.

 

[CT8]

You need to be able to discern.

 

[Simon22]

I'd also say it depends. On tractors, generators, or any old small engine, it's brute force. If I can't break it loose by hand I reach for the Snap-On impact wrench. I might spray some PB or Kroil if it's nearby.

But under the hood of something more complex, I'm careful. Especially when there's plastic, which I often end up breaking just by working next to it. I tore up all kinds of crap on my old Benz, which is why I'm more careful now.

 

[SeaJay]

Sufficient persuasion will get results.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Every tool is a hammer.
What's finesse?

 

[Jethro_Bob]

If it's a planned repair, I'll spray everything down with penetrating oil the night before and the morning of the repair. After that I'll brute force anything that dosen't yield.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by AZjeff
Are you a finesse guy or a brute force guy? I guess I've always been a finesse guy, if I encounter a stuck nut or bolt or things aren't going together correctly I'll slow down and try work the problem out. I've worked with guys who will twist the nut or bolt until something gives and deal with the outcome. Either it lets go or breaks, no time for penetrating oil or heat. Or, pound or pry things into position never mind what it looks like, just get er done. This came to mind the other day when I was dealing with the handiwork of a former coworker.

Of course there are times you have to do what you have to do, and I can see where the overpowering force technique gives an instant result with a 50/50 chance of being good.



It truly depends on what I am doing.
-When I work with expensive optics on my rifles...out come the feeler gauges, torque wrenches, micrometer, and silence. I'll even turn the HVAC off. Bright lights on.
-When I work with taper pins and gas blocks, out comes a 5# hammer and the cup-tip punches and some Metallica.

 

[Leo99]

I guess I'm brute force. Those little plastic pins give me fits.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted by CT8
You need to be able to discern.

You're my kind of guy. I feel likewise.

Scott

 

[FT92]

100% brute force

 

[Kira]

Trav, CT8 and SLO_Town have the big picture correct.
Both have always been involved. Having to pick one over the other as a "workstyle question" is, frankly, foolish.

Also, speaking of observing coworkers handiwork, who out there, (the non-cavemen, that is) honestly thinks a penetrant can work overnight?

Spraying juice on a rusted fastener and immediately grabbing a wrench makes me shake my head.

That they think they know what they're doing is irksome. This goes double for the boom-boom muscle boys.

No self-importance here. I've simply worked with the BEST and the WORST and I use anti-seize whenever I can.

 

[SteveSRT8]

For sure this goes both ways. Discernment is the key.

If I'm taking the pitman arm off my son's car at 200k miles then it's BFH time! If I'm re-soldering the lights in an AC control box then I need all the finesse.

Both styles have their place IMO...

 

[Skippy722]

I start with finesse, and escalate my way up

 

[bunnspecial]

Having spent my fair share of time at the watchmaking bench, "brute force" will leave with a pile of useless parts. That also translates into my day job, as an mass spectrometer or FT-IR doesn't usually appreciate being hammered on. My newest/best GC-MS has a glass top over the vacuum chamber, and it can be a bear at time to get loose(especially there's even a little bit of residual vacuum).

On the car, a lot of parts require finesse. Sometimes, though, 50 year old British steel isn't that ready to come apart.

There's also often a bit of a cost/benefit analysis with me removing parts. If I know I'm going to be replacing the part anyway, and cutting it or otherwise "brute forcing" the old one off won't damage surrounding stuff and saves me a lot of time, I'll do it. One of my first encounters with that was replacing the leaf springs on the MG. I spent a week trying to finesse the front bolt out, using PB blaster, heat, etc to try and get it to push out. Finally, I called the guy who had sold me the springs for suggestions, and he said "Oh, I didn't tell you? I don't know of anyone who ever gets those to come out. Sawzall it and I'll drop the replacement bolts in the mail." I spent a week working on one side, and the other side took me about an hour-primarily because I just grabbed the Sawzall to cut the front bolt rather than even try to take it out.

 

[Silk]

I'm small and petite...or I was once. I have been a truck , tractor and heavy equipment mechanic, and never had a problem with the heavy work. You just need to use your brain and not your body. Mechanics who use brute force are those with muscle and joint problems later in life. I'm 66 and still working on trucks and tractors.

 

[AZjeff]

Thanks for the replies. Having grown up and lived in NW Pa for 48 years I'm too familiar with dealing with nasty corroded frozen fasteners under cars and anything else exposed to the elements. Early on I learned the penalty for trying to force things as I never had access to the proper tools to extract broken studs or thread stripped holes. Luckily I had friends with dads who had the tools to rescue me and get my junk fixed.

 

[Shannow]

Proper fitment of socket or (ring) spanner, or blade for screws, proper alignment and take it from there...up to and including impact drivers.

If it doesn't fit, or alignment is wonky, then you aren't being effectice, and will burr or break something with nealy no effort.

Yep, have used nut splitters and dremels.

 

[AZjeff]

Shannow, my dad had a drawer full of straight blade screwdrivers he'd "sharpened" the tips with a file, they'd ruin a screw from a foot away, no effort needed, but he couldn't throw them away. I did.

Some have hinted to going right to 11 on the dial as SOP, not sure if they're serious.