Christmas gift ideas for the Model A owner
- Thread starter ModelA29
- Start date
Chuck Dempsey
Well-known member
Ho Ho Ho, as Santa would say. Thanks for posting.
jwmckenzie
Senior Member
My horn really needs oil from time to time, but just a drop or two.
Ahoooga.!!!
Ahoooga.!!!
Bruce of MN
Well-known member
For the Missus, make a set of earrings from these:
https://stillplayingwithblocks.com/Ford-Model-A-Keychain-p354658378
https://stillplayingwithblocks.com/Ford-Model-A-Keychain-p354658378
ModelA29
Well-known member
My wife has a pair of these
Attachments
Y-Blockhead
Well-known member
Bruce of MN
Well-known member
I lovingly got my wife a similar pair at the store at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum about 40 years ago. She tells me that she is broken hearted to report that they have been lost, probably stolen by a wicked burglar!
Ray in La Mesa
Well-known member
Engine blocks might be a bit heavy for ear rings! Oh yea, I guess they're smaller.
Y-Blockhead
Well-known member
Sorry to hear that. Similar things like that happen to numerous items I have bought for my wife over the years. I can't figure it out...
alexiskai
Well-known member
This is a joke thread but here are a few things that would be great gift ideas for any Model A workshop:
And I'll add two "splurge" items:
- Permatex 99070 kit – two tubes of their Right Stuff gasket maker, widely considered the best silicone gasket on the market, and a dispenser gun
- Rubber grommet variety pack – good for antique cars, fans, anything over 80 years old
- 12V lithium-ion jump kit – works for 6V too, goes anywhere and holds charge for months
- Machinist's precision marking rule – mark lengths on metal more accurately
- Benchtop plier rack
- Socket organizers – you know you ought to get those organized this winter
- 2-pack of soft vice jaws – you'll be amazed how much more useful that vice can be
And I'll add two "splurge" items:
- Benchtop variable power supply – great for testing horns, lights, anything DC
- Clamp multimeter – great for checking current flow safely, plus you can test condensers. Almost as good as a Fluke and much cheaper.
David in San Antonio
Well-known member
Back around 1960 my Uncle Carl noted that my Aunt Frieda’s old arthritic knees hurt when she scrubbed the floors. He knew just the right gift to show his gratitude for her decades of being a faithful helpmate, giving him four healthy, smart children, running the household on a small budget while he built his business, and never complaining. For several weeks he had a sparkle in his eye and dropped little hints about the big surprise to come. No amount of cajoling could convince him to say any more than “Just you wait!” The big day came. First the grandkids opened their presents. Then the adult children. My uncle was almost bursting as the moment arrived when it was finally time for his devoted wife to open his special gift. Wrapped in festive paper with a gold ribbon, it was long, wide, and flat. Wider, longer and thicker than a large book, my aunt opened the box and was truly shocked. She held it up for everyone to see: a dark red rubber pad, the Woolworth’s price tag still attached. She looked at Uncle Carl, uncomprehending. “It’s to kneel on when you’re scrubbing the floors so your knees don’t hurt!” She gasped and ran into the bedroom, followed closely by my mother and all the other ladies. There followed the sound of Aunt Frieda wailing and screaming in a mixture of English, Hungarian, and Yiddish. The Hungarian swearing was particularly terrifying. Every so often there was a fear-inducing silence. Then a loud shriek and sob and it began again. Still clueless, Uncle Carl pleaded, “What? I was just kidding! What’s she so mad about?” The ladies emerged from the bedroom, giving Uncle Carl murderous glances, and announced the party was over. We filed out of the house in silence, leaving Uncle Carl to his fate.
I don’t know how this all affected Uncle Carl and Aunt Frieda in the long run, but within a week Frieda had hired a cleaning lady, took Carl’s beautiful black 1957 Ford Fairlane and he started driving her much older Dodge, and they took a vacation to Puerto Rico.
The moral of the story: save the gag gifts for your buddies.
I don’t know how this all affected Uncle Carl and Aunt Frieda in the long run, but within a week Frieda had hired a cleaning lady, took Carl’s beautiful black 1957 Ford Fairlane and he started driving her much older Dodge, and they took a vacation to Puerto Rico.
The moral of the story: save the gag gifts for your buddies.
Last edited:
Been looking at the benchtop power supply choices on Amazon and have a question: In addition to checking horns and lights, I think I noticed where you can also use it to charge batteries, for electrolysis rust removal, and light electroplating. I'm interested in buying one but want to be sure I select the right one. I'm checking out the 30 volt/ 10 amp units. Would that be a good choice to handle those tasks too?
alexiskai
Well-known member
I personally wouldn't use this one to charge batteries because dedicated battery chargers have a whole set of instructions built into them about how to vary the applied voltage based on what the battery is feeding back. A benchtop power supply doesn't do anything dynamic like that, it just sits there feeding power.
For the other uses you mention, I'm not sure, it'll depend on how much resistance is offered by the medium. This unit has short protection built into it, so if it doesn't detect a lot of resistance it will shut itself off. I learned that you can't use it to do coil testing, because as soon as you connect it across the coil it thinks there's a short. I don't know exactly where the cutoff is in terms of ohms. Doesn't seem to say in the manual.
It is possible to disable the short protection but I've left it on because I don't want to risk damaging the unit. Possibly you could connect a light bulb in the circuit or something to provide nominal resistance.
I was especially interested in using it as a power supply for electrolysis rust removal. Battery chargers don't seem to like being used for this kind of duty and consequently they don't last long. Being able to fine-tune the voltage and current seemed like the answer. I'm certainly no electrical device expert, so any advice about this topic is very welcome.
alexiskai
Well-known member
I Googled around and it seems like this unit would work great for electrolysis. You might need to disable the short protection, but the voltage and amperage specs seem to be well-suited for it.