home made tools and equipment...

I was looking for some pictures for a friend & found a misplaced camera chip. Here are some pictures of a double headed recrocating machine I custom built on order back awhile ago. I has dual 3/4 hp motors runs on 110 power with variable speed vfd & foot controls. The foot controls a hanging up in these photos. Nice thing about the dual headed machine is you can go from one step to the next with out switching tooling. Here it is set up to shrink on one end & smooth & planish on ther other. Tooling changes takes about 90 seconds per side & has dual height adjustability & 24 inch throats.

 

That's a sweet looking setup Danny!! Who's is it?

 

all that talking about curves & french curves got me to thinkin, i have quite a bit of refrigerator magnets (the ones that fit in the magnetic door seal) that i use to hold plastic sheet on my projects, those magnetic strips bend easily and can be used to make curves for tracing flame patterns or similar. i was also a draftsman and i had a long flexable magnetic strip that was used for the same purpose of making curved lines.

 

The guy lives in eastern Washington he just plays with his 55/57 chev pu's & stuff on his farm.

 

Lemme catch my dues up on the board.
(1)
I cut a one ton dump truck down, frame and bed, the last part of the truck bed made a excellent heavy duty shop table.. hydraulic power pack is used on home made bender and hyd roller. (I'm dying to wire up one turn signal on the truck bed to mess with my alcoholic buddies)
(2)
Needed to build a tipping roller that did not require a ratchet or close to panel rolling.. (pizza cutter like wheel that rolls a break in metal to fold over) it is over a Northern Tool urethanec caster, which works well.
(3)
Needed to build a welding fab-positioner to roll driveshafts and other things slowly while I tig weld them.. Used a 82:1 gear-motor and old lathe chuck bought at auction, mounted on a large bearing I tore out at a sewage plant job. A buddy with a welding helmet works to roll as you weld, but very few friends come around any more..
I did a harley frame about a year back, tacked it up in the jig, then put a rod in chuck and tack welded it to the rear axle mount, rolled it over to weld instead of standing on my head. Bought a guitar waa-waa pedal and wired it into the VFD, it controls "speed and stop-start" of the 3 phase motor.. I use a old copper battery strap to make ground on the driveshafts as it rotates. (usually only goes one rotation) . a Vee pipe stand on the other end.
(4)
GO cart slick-bend roller.. forms a roll bend, driveshaft tunnels, slight curves, on the end of the C-press frame with acme screw-hand wheel adjustor. That C-press is the handiest thing I have ever built for my shop, will function as a ewheel too when pressed in center to stiffen it.
(5)
Radius roller "center" for ewheel frame allows to roll a "bump" for air cleaners or other circular projects.. (full stainless hubcaps) It bolts under the lower anvil cradle, you adjust the "center" in and out with the acme screw on the end.
(6)
CHEAP slappers, made from one ton truck spring. plasma cut, then you grind the rough shaky hand cut out.. I've gave away all the finished ones to newbie metal shapers. Bend a slight offset in it so you don't rap your knuckles.. POLISH.. it transfers a slick surface to metal you are forming.
(7)
Why do you need a 2x2 trailer hitch on your ewheel frame? To mount all the neat tools to save you a step from the dolly-sandbag-stump-tucking forks.. Note the 90 adapter I made, when I started doing this I could not just do sideways or vertical socket mounts, I did both. Note the 3" weld ell? it is a perfect dolly for fender shaping.
(8)
and I put them 2x2 mounts on everything.. used this brake-bender on the back of a service truck to bend copper bus bar in a switch yard..
(the bad? now my buddies are doing the same thing and want to borrow tools) I can drag the tools outside on a pretty day, on the back of the truck or a post dolly with 2x2 socket on top.

 

Welding positioner picture did not "take" for some reason??

Here it is.. it too is on a 2x2 mount, can rotate vertical or horizontal.

 

Thanks for posting.. Great stuff!

 

wow, what an awesome thread

i'm loving the red vice and the wooden based sander, and I'm defiantly going to make the vice door skin picker and the neato grinder vice mount too

I only have a small garage, so there isn't room for a nice english wheel etc (even if i had the skills to make one ... )

 

whoops, double posted that ...

content:

this thread has remonded me that I have this smallish motor kicking about:

which I'll try and use now, rather than letting it take up room on a shelf

 

made my own 'grinder bench'





it's in primer at the moment, waiting to dry

the grinder i have has the switch on the side, so one of the side plates needed 'clearancing'

 

Great Idea ... Im going to make one of these.

 

Me too.
Looks just like what I need.

 

turning ball:
video

 

Here is my favorite home made tool, I have a thread on it that i need to update and will probably do now. I can hammer and beat the hell out of anything on it. Also added a bender on it for smaller stuff, check it out!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521614

 

Doing an old chevy truck project now....
Need to remove the bed and cab....
There's a guy on the 67-72 truck forum that sells plans for a one man cab/bed lift....so I ordered the plans, bought the metal and made it - then painted it.



After that I designed some dual purpose dollies to:

Set the frame of a truck/car onto and wheel around. It can be adjusted for width and height.

OR

Bolt in the uprights (in picture) and set the truck cab, truck bed or car body onto it. Also has adjustable for height and can use different length bars.

Yes, it was more work than I intended but this should be real useful.

 

2 more brackets and its a roatarie (sp)

 

Do u have any build pics of the grinder holster? I want to copy it, if you dont mind

thanks,
Douglas Johnson
"Skrach"
www.VividlyVintage.com

 

Tire changer wouldn't brake the beed on bigger wheels. We can't have that,,,,, So this is what we came up with. 15 min. later we where back on the road. Dam thing worked so good I went ahead and painted it. Like the model A peddles.

 

That looks great! Yes i like the a pedals

 

36" throat plannishing hammer made ,now on wheels


my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

Homemade bench English wheel and bead roller.Picked cart up for $40 from metal recyclers.

my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

I don't think he built the grinder ..

 

Here is my homemade reciprocating machine and e-wheel. I welded the spine of each machine to each other to strengthen them and then welded them to a large ibeam. The reason I decided to put them at 90° is because the action of each tool is on the same side. I did not want to have to walk around the machine to use it.

 

i like the reciprocating machine,do you have more details,plans?

thanks for any info

my weekly metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com

 

The machine is basically a 5/8" shaft supported by 3 locking pillow blocks and a pulley on one end to be driven by a small electric motor. My 1/2 hp 1725 electric motor will easily move 18 gauge steel.

I took a piece of 3/4" solid round and chucked it in the lathe with a shim on one of the jaws to drill a 5/8" hole slightly off center. I then slid that piece onto the shaft and welded it on. Once the shaft assembly was completed I built a connecting rod with bushings to slip over the off center section of the shaft and built a quill that accepts 3/4" tooling.

There was a group build on www.allmetalshaping.com. There are no exact plans, but there are a lot of better explanations on that site. I hope that helps..

 

Here is a video of one of the machines running by one of the guys that originally helped in the design if I am correct.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q3bom1USglo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I used my cherrypicker and a hun of scrap and a couple of 2x4's to move my AD truck cab:




It isn't as pretty as some but i have lifted and moved complete VW Bodies and truck cabs with it by myself.

 

Looks very functional to me. I like it.

 

I read the metal work blog of themetalsurgeon and all I can say is...
holy sheet metal batman! That guy is talented...Off the hook man....
Is your shop open for a tour? I'll be in Denver in early May....

 

Pulling motors in the driveway, cabs, truck beds. Always got more going on than will fit in my garage. I turned over cherry pickers (engine cranes) several times. Near got pinched a time or two and got to redo metalwork a time or two.

I spread the legs on this northern tool engine crane with a piece of 4"x 3/8" wall tube, it will go on the outside of a 1 ton chassis, still folds up to fit in a truck bed. AND most important thing, big wheels so it rolls on gravel.. and back up casters so a inconvenient flat will not hurt me. It has been ford tested tough with a 460 and automatic. I have a tube with a hitch that slips on the back, dragged it down the road and delivered the engine. YES, it is too wide to tag. AND I really don't trust the way I tied the Jap zip car spindles to the light duty square tube at 55. OHH.. and to extend the 2x2 slider, I welded a 1 1/2" nut and threaded rod in the 2x2 so it can boom out like a big crane to get that extra inch back to sit a engine in a car with a long nose..

A CAR dolly would make a real nice one.. and still work as a dolly.

Other green thing is a simple aframe 8 foot tall. 1 1/2" pipe and 2" pipe. I installed a piece of 2x3" paintline chain track in it and a roller from the old chain rolls end to end.. I hung my punching bag on it and beat it back and forth chasing it.. good workout.. but now the wife wants a swing.. so instead of pulling engines as intended it will support a car seat as a swing. (yeah I will keep it so I can still use it too)
IF you made one end as wide as the car? it could pull the engine and trolley out and sit on the ground or hand truck. Load into and out of a truck real easy like that.

Trouble with using a A frame, the hoist chain (loop) on a chain fall lift plays hell with paint, on the engine and the car.. I cut the chain down short and tig welded the link back. It is up above the car now and only touches the engine when it gets that high.. Perhaps I'll get one of them Horse nose bags for it.. one of these days..