home made tools and equipment...

That's a killer bead roller too. Very nice!

I powered mine several years ago. Best thing i ever did!

 

@mgermca nailed it... and Thank you!
It is a bulls-eye pick. It's about 21 inches between the tip and the hinge and around 9 inches from the tip down to the bottom of the frame.

 

i got beady eyed watching this..nice hack...

 

Nice video! I want to power this one as well. Spending all my spare cash on the Pontiac at the moment. I used to have problems with the frame twisting on mine. The Pexto style frame completely cured that problem.

 

Heres a small modification I did to my chop saw. Makes it easier to keep the guard up wheen changing wheels. Its also useful when you need to keep the guard up some while cutting. Be sure to wear your safety glasses if you move the guard up when cutting.

 

Here is a trick I use on my bandsaw to help me cut straight. Put a line on each side of the cut. Might be my imagination, but I swear I can cut straighter lines when I do it this way.

 

Here is something that I did years ago. When you want to hold a piece of tubing.
I took my 2 sets of vice soft jaws and drilled and countersunk two sets to 4 different sizes to facilitate holding tubing, they are always there and no hunting for a flaring tube holder to clamp in a vice so both hands are free. Frank

 

If anybody wants 'Em I have the templates for the bead roller frame back in post 4079. Also, Steel and Metal Services in Minersville Pa. has the parts in their cad file. Ask for Tom. I could easily mail the templates if we want to pass them around. This roller uses the common Harbor Freight/ Northern Tool type guts.

 

Well, It's nothing fancy but, if you've ever had to pull the seat-back off of an early Ford pickup, You know the retaining pins are difficult to access.
I started looking at installing my new third brake light assembly in my '46 pickup and needed to remove the seat-back for wiring access and mounting the light. But first, I decided to make a tool to help remove the retaining pins. Needed something that makes accessing them easier and won't gouge up the upholstery in the process. A 5mm wrench and old punch sacrificed themselves to make this. It works by slipping over a pin, between the seat bracket and behind the head of the pin, then tapping the tool with a hammer, driving the pin out of the bracket.

Those pins are tricky to get out....not anymore!

 

^^^good stuff^^^

Now, how in the heck do you get them back in?

 

Ha! First start the pin in with needle nose pliers, then use the tool to drive them back in. The pins have a rounded head that will self center into the face of the little crows foot on the tool. Easy peasy!

 

I have been thinking about making a shrinker/stretcher machine. I have some new HF ones that have been sitting in a drawer for years. My knees are old and they don't care for a lot of pushing activity any more. I got to looking for a way to make a powered one using a DC motor. Didn't find anything but I stumbled across this guys video. He's pretty smart and entertaining. He came up with an air powered one that I really like. He also has some other good videos.
Additionally I found one from Ron Covell on making an adjustable stop for a shrinker/stretcher. Since he sells them, you will need to look on Utube for his video and see how it works. I plan to just make one that doesn't have the movable jaw. I figure I can just put something "C" shaped in place that has a slot in it for mine. Anyway, here is what I found to be a very interesting video, and though I would share it with everyone. Hope you like it.

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Another Channel to follow! Love the idea, may have to give this a shot. I have 2" receiver tubing mounted vertically in the corners of my work bench to adapt various tools (vice, beading machine, etc...) so I may have see what the height would be.

 

Has anyone made their own bearing splitter?

 

When I am using my shrinker/stretcher I need to control the amount of motion very precisely. Sometimes (usually) I only want to arch the flange a micro amount. I couldn't depend on any powered actuator to do it right for me.

I made a dual headed stand for mine, and the pedals require a very small amount of pressure to operate. Granted it would require you lift your foot a half foot up, but it's easy to operate.

Mine is very similar to this one: https://www.zoro.com/dayton-shrinkerstretcher-18-gauge-with-stand-45j329/i/G7489781/

 

Yeah, I made my own strinker/stretcher stand with foot pedals.
Longer pedal stroke seems to help with control.
I used an old Ford torque tube for the post.
I will get a pic and post it later...

 

As you mention, there is often some finesse involved in using any sheetmetal tool. When Ido something manually, I get tired more easily these days. Also, my son has bad arthritus in his knee and has had some operations to delay a knee replacement as long as possible. He's only 41.
The thing is that most of the shrinking and stretching doesn't require too much finese. Basically step on the pedal and try to use muscle memory to replicate what you just did. It works fine. When you need to finese it a little, then just use a little less pressure. The air operated set up can also be adjusted for finese. Do the common work and get something close, then adjust the clevis on the rod from the cylinder a little and you have less presure and more finese.

There isn't anything wrong with doing it manually, but I think someone can finese with the power unit as well. Like I said, a lot of old guys like myself don't have great knees anymore, so this is just something they might be interested in.
If someone wanted that inth degree of finese manually, all they need to do is pull the pin to disconnect the air cylinder and stick a longer handle in the shrinker/stretcher and finish the part. Very easy and quick.

 

A friend came round today with a modern cylinder head with bent valves. We tapped the valves down so the springs could be compressed. Because of the design none of my compressors would go down far enough to reach. I just cut a piece of tubing about 1" long and took about 90 degrees of wall out of it and we used that to extend the compressor and get the job done. Funny enough the compressor was an ancient one that was given to me by a very old man when I was a very young man.

 

I posted a video and pics of a cnc plasma table I made about 10 years back. It was only a small table. Have built a bigger table earlier this year. Here is a short video of it. Will post build pics soon.



Mtw fdu.

 

As promised my torque tube shrinker stretcher traditional style.
I found some reo bar that has its impressions in a thread arrangement so a nut will turn on to it.
I used a piece of this reo bar near to my pedals, should I require any adjustment.
I stuck with the original patina, truth is I never did get around to painting, although my intentions were good.
Kinder used what I had...

 

Here are some pictures of my cnc table build.

Mtw fdu.

 

For my shrinker/stretcher base, I decided to go a bit differently as I didn't need the foot pedal setup at this time, so using some scrap and 2 fender bolts I made this setup that clamps into my vise, and the whole bracket is about the size of my hand, if I need the stretcher - I swap the units by unbolting. I also made a dolly system for my engine hoist so I can move it across my gravel driveway - I'll post pic's of it soon.

 

Here's a few pics of my manual (hand-operated) setup. My bench has receivers for 2" square tubing on each corner as well as one in the middle of the working side. This allows me to have all my tools that would take up space (bead roller, vice, grinder, shrinker/strechers etc.., movable, but also easily repositionable 90 degree at a time.

 

Simple tool for installing the firewall insulation pad hold downs.



Brake hold down spring tool made from a freeze plug.

 

Thanks for the likes guys.

Here is a pic of my old table. Some of you may remember from a while back.

The table was half the size physically but the overall cutting size was 650mm x 450mm. Now it is 1350 mm x 650mm.

I still need to add a rotary axis similar to the other one but it will be over the table instead of at the end.

Mtw fdu.

 

Some dies I made to emboss the rings around the gauges, lights and switch on my dash.


Speedometer: Starter housing, PCV pipe, aluminum scrap, plywood and straps to center it
.

The cutter to groove the aluminum receiver: Hole saw mandrel, aluminum scrap, butt end of a drill bit shaped into the cutter.


Top left: Headlight switch / Top center: Turn signal indicators / Top right: High beam indicator
Lower: Gauges
Various tubing & exhaust pipe and a fuel pump eccentric from a ?. Hole saws to cut grooves. Small ones took the most tries and time to get right.
A vise was enough to emboss the small ones in. Took the press to emboss the speedometer ring.

 

That is impressive X-Cpe, you should do a how to thread in more detail for us all.

 

Impressive job on the embossing dies. You need to get yourself a lathe!
Mart.

 

Looks great.