home made tools and equipment...

Just built this metal bender from some pipe and scrap metal. The pipe diameters are 2.5, 4, and 5.5 inch by 4 foot long. The pipe assembly rotates and can be indexed in 3 positions. It's hinged to swing against the wall when not in use.
Should be handy for making trans tunnels, etc.

 

Yeah buddy!!! Looks great

 

I like that one end is fixed to the wall, helping it stay in place and rigid.

 

Not made by me, this hammer came to me as part of a ebay auction, I thought the shape of the crowns could be useful. The handle is slightly loose, already has a metal wedge in the top, any suggestions on tightening it ?

 

Try soaking it in water.

 

Epoxy, maybe.

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Mix up some fiberglass resin, pour it around the top, it'll last for years. All my axes are done this way.

 

The glue around the top of one of my fiberglass hammers was going bad so I refilled it with JB Weld (had it handy) and it's been good for around 2 yrs.

 

Hey, James, I had to smile when you said “ soak it in water” ! My dad always soaked most any thing with handles in water to tighten them up. We had real tight handles...... but real rusty axes and stuff! Lol. He told me when he was a kid, on our ranch, they would park the horse pulled wagons in the pond to swell up the wooden spokes into the tires. ( that’s steel tires, not rubber) . He said that’s where he learned that soaking the handles trick!






Bones

 

Any head for a handle,,,
Be it a hammer or axe must be a tapered elliptical or rectangle opening with the narrow end to your hand and the wide end at the top.
A larger wooden wedge gets driven into the handle’spilt spreading East to west and then 2 steel wedges are driven cross wise north to south. That fills the taper.
Without the taper (as that hammer looks) it’s just going to be loose aka constantly needing tightness.

 

If you don't like rusty tools and having to repeat this, you can soak it in concentrated antifreeze, it will not evaporate like water.

Rune from Norway

 

Wanted a heavy press, but didn't like the ones I could actually afford. When I finally got enough scrap together last winter I got it build. Working on a press finger brake now, while going to night school for precision machine. I didn't like the return springs right in your face, so moved them outside with safety cables in them.

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A few years back I built a frame rotisserie out of a couple of engine stands, pie cut the uprights and welded them back up so they stand straight, added a universal joint from a camaro that was lying around so it would swivel and not bind, you know - that old chestnut.

Today I spent the afternoon at a buddies helping him adapt the frame rotisserie to his A frame (I built it for my 34 and used it on my 41). The A is narrower up front so I had a neat idea, take a couple pieces of pipe that he had lying about and build adjustable sleeves to fit a myriad offering of frames. Weld on a nut and add a bolt to set them and a washer in the end with a nut welded to the back to mount the frame and there you go. Cost of rotisserie $0.00. Cost of adaptation $0.00 Friends helping friends inside while it is snowing outside... Priceless.


another view

The rear spreader is wide enough that we sat the spreader bar in the spring pocket and drilled the bar all the way through so we could bolt the frame to it (using the body mount holes) with no other adaptation but it would be easy enough to do the same to the back.

 

How are the rubber wheels holding up. I was thinking of doing the same to my large press, but all I have is rubber wheels, and am afraid that they will distort because of the weight of the press.
Bob

 

Dent puller that my dad made . The screw broke off during my last banging session. I'll splice it together with a nut for more welding surface.

 

question for anyone who built a bead roller, has anyone thought or think it could be worth the effort to put a love joy or universal on the upper shaft to keep the gears riding true?
part of my reason for asking this is im cheap and i can get shafting for free but there to short for the size i wanna make but figured i could do that to connect on the top shaft, then just use a coupler on the bottom one. if not i will have to keep pricing, cheapest i have found the shafting is like 120 for both .... i wanna make mine with a 48inch depth. and i found a nice bison dc gear motor at work and drive so i will be making it work off a foot pedal.

also looking at making the height between the diesa bit higher then most at like 1.5 inch or maybe even 2 inches. i will make all my own dies so im good that way

 

mark, not sure where you're located but I'd suggest looking around for a scrap metal place to pick up your shafting. I work at one and shafts come in often and you wouldn't have to pay anywhere close to $120.

 

definatly will look into that

 

The wheels are not true rubber. If you go to surplus center .com you can find lots of wheels that fit various casters. ( I paid about $4 a wheel). I dumpster dived for the set I have and rebuilt them. The casters on my press were rated for 500 pounds per wheel or so. And they have been on there for a year or so and no issue, roll great.

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@Bandit Billy
You didn't show the off topic u-joint but I'm assuming that it is on the rotating part on the far end in your picture. That seems like pretty ingenious idea to me.
If you put one on both ends, would you have to keep them in phase? What about keeping the angles parallel as in the numerous drive shaft threads?
JK but it is a great idea!

 

Now that is good HAMB'n right there! I used my tremec app on the iPhone to set the angle of the dangle but there is still a slight vibration if you spin the frame really fast.

Seriously, I actually laughed off a small piece of ass on that one! Well played sir, well played indeed!

 

Not sure why these loaded twice, but here is my homemade Gingery lathe and a much modified drill press. It started out as discarded because the column support for the table was broken, so I cast a new one out of aluminum. It has a 5/8" Chuck but had a low speed of 700 rpm and only five speeds. Now it has a low speed of 40 rpm and twelve speeds plus forward and reverse. I also made a milling attachment so that I can also use it as a milling machine.

 

The milling arm and a couple of flycutters, along with the Gingery four jaw Chuck. Had a lot of fun making these, and got a lot of use out of them over the years!

 

Thanks, I was searching through my pile of "stuff" and I found a set of rotating cast wheels that even have locks, so my problem is solved.
Bob

 

In my own digs today and working on my new welding cart creation. A couple weeks ago I built an upright to get my welding cables and plasma cables off the ground. Today I added a basket to keep my gloves and tool kits in.

A buddy said he had his old newspaper delivery rack off his Schwinn so he brought it over and said I could hack off one side. Which I proceeded to do.

And used the clamps that so many hate to attach it to my cart

Yeah, pretty cool huh? I also welded some bolts on the front to hang my brush, plasma glasses, etc. And some hooks on the side that I bent out of steel that I had lying about to hold my helmet, clamps and the cables - welding on one side, cutting on the other. Basket is mounted high enough to open the welder service door.

I added a lower shelf a few weeks back for my plasma cutter,

And hooks on the side for the 220 plugs and some clamps.

Now that's a welding cart!

 

Love this thread. Tons of great info.
In an attempt to bring a little levity to this topic, here are 2 of my custom tools. We've all heard of the left handed screwdriver and my first picture is an offset screwdriver. I found this unicorn at the bottom of a gas fireplace I was working on.
Picture 2 is an alternative to the expensive right angle drill. While those tools are incredibly handy for the right job, they can be expensive. Here's a right angled drill bit. Direct from the ever famous cheap import store....

 

here is the welding "station" I built over the weekend. I started with a harbor freight tool cart and removed the wheels. I made a longer new chassis that spread the wheels apart. I then bent up 3 parts, a angled shelf with a notch cut out for the tank, a cabinet end angled at the top and a tray to hold the welder. I matched the paint and primed and painted all the pieces.

 

I then bolted it together. this was designed for a larger shop. my original plan was to delete the opening lid and mount the welder on top which would have made it smaller.

 

Nice !!