Veeeeery cool Steve(s), Don't worry about shop bought, it is as they say fit for purpose - very much so - I like the colour!! You gotta do what you gotta do. Very nice... John -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gregory Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 10:47 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] FW: [TN] Swage Tooling Identification...I made me a swage tool holder! Hi Everybody! Well, I made me a swage tooling holder. It's kinda' crude, doesn't look all that fancy, but I think it will serve it's purpose. I took Steve Mikell's idea and ran with it. Steve is right, when you need something but have limited resources, you learn to make do with what you have. What's that ol' saying; "Necessity is the mother of invention"? What I did was take a section of a 2 X 8 and drill a grid pattern of holes in it. The holes are a just a tad larger than the swage tools. I then labeled each hole with a number and the three colors corresponding to that number (I used the basic resistor color code). I then bought a Testors enamel paint kit for $7.00 and painted each of the tools with it's appropiate colors on the surface of the tool where there is not going to be any wear either from inserting the tool into the press, or the actual swaging operation. I figured the colors will stay there with no problem, and the enamel paint is pretty darn durable. I've only got the labels taped on the holder, but I'm having our conformal coat operator spray it with some urethane coating this afternoon after he gets through spraying some boards. That should keep the labels put. So now we have a holder that is easy for the operators to see where to find the tools they need, and easy for them to put the tools back where they belong when they are done. Those that aren't quite up-to-speed on their resistor color codes might even find that this will help them a little more to learn them. I know this don't look "store bought", but I think it will serve us well. Take a look at: http://stevezeva.homestead.com/files/Swage_Tooling_Holder.jpg Thanks again Steve Mikell for your wonderful suggestion! -Steve Gregory- -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Mikell Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 2:51 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] FW: [TN] Swage Tooling Identification Richard said: "If I understand correctly, you can live with a hole inside the shank end of the anvil, correct? If so, is there a way to thread a piece of wire through a very small hole and use the wire to attach an identification tag without having the tag interfere with the operation?" Richard; If only it were so. That gets to the fundamental problem with many tools, these in particular. There is no way to attach a tag, and if there were, it would go missing just before the ISO audit. The steel on the older tools is very hard. It is difficult to mark. The tool slips into the receptacle on the press, bottoms out, and is held with a setscrew. About half of the tool is buried in the press; the tag would dangle on the board under work. (watch out, here come the ESD police!!) I like the tool case with the cut foam. But I still have to uniquely identify the tool at all times. These tools last approximately a hundred years or so, or at least some of the ones I've inherited over the years seem that old. In an ISO-9k environment, I always had to prove the tool was correct, even if it was in a marked container. Often, we could never find any original purchase documentation to prove we had the "right" tool. Stuff happens over time, especially in a contract shop. What you say.... Control of tools through a tool crib.......... Love it, been there, done that!!!! What's that you say... tool crib attendant was laid off, and now everybody has access to the crib. Damn the bad luck... curses, foiled again... Steve Gregory lives in the contract-manufacturing world... Think CHEAP, small contract houses simply don't have the profit margin an OEM has in order to be fancy... and the OEMs are feeling that pressure more often Ideas must be based on what's at hand, and costs next to nothing, or less. Ideas must be effective, easy to maintain, easy to communicate at the sixth grade education level... Idea must be capable of withstanding unimaginable abuse, employees, etc... Please remember the following (from 25 years experience in shops from 20 people to 500 people): The box the tool came in will be gone in less than a year. Tags will be removed... "They got in the way, etc..." New boxes cost money Excel requires a computer Steel die stamp sets, fine if you already have them I have access to a drill, a file, and several colors of ink. Alway remember, don't buy anything you can make instead because: "People are free, because they were going to be here anyway, I don't have to spend anything extra." operating philosophy at Slaves Chained Inside aka So Cheap Incorporated. Don't like colors?, do narrow and wide grooves with black ink. Use Morse code, or UPC codes. Again SteveG, good luck..... And don't pay for it out of your pocket, ... again Steve Mikell [log in to unmask] -- ___________________________________________________ Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/ --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------