home made tools and equipment...

I can't post the super secret stuff here, because it's an experimental electric boat, and it would just get deleted.

Because of that boat, my garage remodeling, much concrete work, tool shed building, gunsmithing, truck fixing, and also rebuilding the driveshaft on my motorcycle, I have barely touched my old coupe in well over a year.

All I have done is clean and paint some small parts that I intend to reuse, and try and improve my storage arrangement to preserve everything.

In case no one heard we had huge rains and California this year and that too has kept me from working much since the car is stored outside, under a makeshift awning.

Actually one of my next projects is to turn this makeshift awning into a real 4 bay carport with overhead trolley hoist and a car hoist/rack.

But also my plans for this car have changed radically. It's going to become a roadster for one thing.

Because of the rust and body damage I discovered when I removed all the paint and Bondo, plus the damage I already knew about, I decided this this car will get to be much more kustom when I get done.

 

Built a small a frame crane for the shop. Extends another 3 ft in height when I use it outside and breaks down for storage. Can now lift body on and off / engine trans in and out by myself. Drinks way less beer than the 3 buddies I was previously utilizing!

 

But probably not as much fun!......Nice Job!

 

that has to be one of the best tools on here. my buddies aren't very reliable, that looks like itd be there to help on time AND less beer

 

(trying to be constructive here)
Please be careful with your gantry, to not overload it.
Your cross beam on top is not terribly strong, and you have very little resistance to racking with the small diagonal braces that close into the corners.

 

Good Advice wrljet. 800 lbs is the max I will ever need to lift and IMHO the crane's design is more than adequate for that lift. Didn't hear any groaning from it!

 

What are the dimensions of the top beam, and wall thickness?
And the span?

You won't hear any groaning. It's not wood.

 

Steel will groan when stressed.At least that was what I was told by WW2 submariners that came under depth charge attacks.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

I would imagine that's from movement between mating surfaces.

A piece of steel doesn't scream for help when you bend it.

 

That's fine. Wasn't a debate. I just didn't want to see anyone get hurt.

 

Sent from my cell phone when I shoulda been working, using the H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I originally built this adjustable A-Fame for the restoration of an Allis Chalmers D17 back in 2003, but had in mind to make it useful for other things.
The I-beam is 6" x 17.25# with 24" of vertical adj from 93" to 117" in 6" increments. The 117" just clears the ceiling lights, and at 93", clears the garage door openers & just makes it out the garage door.
Some will question the bracing where the I-beam bolts to the uprights, but the A-frame did not have any problem lifting the rear end of the D17 with weighted tires when I moved it a stall over in the garage.
I'd guess this to be around 2500# ..... beyond the chain hoist rating. Took a look along the top of the I-beam ...bowed down maybe 1/2". That's the heaviest thing I'll ever encounter.

Each end has a hand-cranked boat winch to raise the upright into position and a heavy pin with clip installed when at the desired height. The flat strap from the winch goes down to a roller and back up to an anchor on a cross piece so that the load is only half; making it easy to raise/lower.

Later on, I decided to built a "cherry picker" on one end.
Beings there's not a lot of room to get the '40 Chrysler body up off the frame if just the A-frame & chain hoist are used, this will be used to lift it off from one side.
I've used the cherry picker to pick up a small crated Diesel engine & flip a mower deck over to clean it out. The lower mount for the hyd cylinder is a lower ball-joint from a Jaguar. It allows the cylinder to be rotated and still pivot, which makes it easier to position the pump handle.
An improvement would be an air-over-hydraulic pump for the cylinder.

 

When building headers, shaping starter tubes to go from square or rectangle ports, can be difficult and time consuming. I am laying a template for some header flanges, and needed the shape and dimensions of the rectangle openings to fit a 215 aluminum Buick head. So it was natural to build a tool to aid in the shaping process. This guillotine design is what I came up with. I squeezed the pipe in a vice to an oval shape, narrow enough to fit the slot in the device, and used a press for the forming. With the part locked in the tool, I used a small hammer to complete the perimeter shape. I need to grind more of a radius on the back edge of the jaws, to prevent the scratches in the pipe.

 

Gatz , you did a nice job building that gantry and picker. One thing that you may have that is not pictured it NEED are the out riggers for the picker. Anything heavy will lift the gantry end and that would be a disaster. Nice design and execution other than the outriggers. Very clean!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

thanks jackalope.
The situation where the opposite end of the picker lifting up was considered.
My thought was to add dead weight(s) to that end if it tended to lift.
Your suggestion of outriggers is a good idea and I'll see if that's feasible.
Might attach them to the slanted side tubes, then swivel down to the floor & lock
They would be latched up when not in use.
Even relatively short ones with swivel casters would definitely help.

gatz

 

With such a long backspan a small amount of counterweight will be enough. Putting weighted outriggers on the back span will get you far more, with less stress concentration to the business end of the rig. This assumes that your diagonal braces are sturdy enough and long enough to prevent buckling in the columns and beam.

Distributing the stress is always a good policy in both life and construction.

I want to ask why you used a ball joint as the lower pivot for your hydraulic ram?

 

You could take a weight bar and cut the end off of it and mount it off of the other side. then just add weights as your load increases and take them off when you don't need them

 

maybe to save shop space build a rack or shelves on the other end to hold tools or supplies. kill two birds with one stone. lots of heavy stuff in the shop that needs to be stored off the floor anyway.

 

re outriggers on the back span...maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how that would help.
The forces will tend to lift the back span. Any outriggers would need to be between the picker load and the casters on that same end. Similar to conventional cherry pickers, only in this case, they would probably be swivel casters, not fixed.

re the ball joint; in the post I mentioned,
The lower mount for the hyd cylinder is a lower ball-joint from a Jaguar. It allows the cylinder to be rotated and still pivot, which makes it easier to position the pump handle.
The cylinder (actually, it's a jack) can be rotated so that the handle clears the boom and/or allows access to either side

good idea

 

Thanks, I have momentary flashes of brilliance (But they are only flashes)

 

Probably flashes of your childhood in your dads gym ? LOL

 

I still lift a little

 

Outriggers on the Back Span would only be for counterweighting. The further away your counterweights are, the less weight you need.

Of course at some point weights can't help anymore because the frame folds up.

 

WD,
Nice gantry. Can you show another picture of it lifting the body? I'd like to see what strap?? you use to lift it. Thanks. NRM

 

Marty,

That's a great idea. I was going to ask why the steps in the guillotine plate, but I think I figured it out.

Mating tapers keep the piece and jaws centered?

 

It's amazing how many ingenious HAMBERS there are.
Here's a home made tool to install the OEM center bearing in the FORD torque tube.
Trouble is, you will only use it once in your lifetime as no one makes the OEM bearing any longer.

 

NRM ... here is the set up I use when in the garage with limited overhead room. 4 eyelets bolted into the subframe connected by short pieces of chain to the engine leveling device off my cherry picker. I use a chain fall off the gantry. The screw on the leveller lets me adjust front to back weight differences pretty easily. I have also made a buck out of 2 - 2x8's laminated together that fits up against the roof right between the b pillars with an eyelet in the middle. That approach doesn't give me the levelling ability of the other ... but quicker to rig. Those are the 2 options I use. Sorry ...no pics of the buck

 

You got it Bruce !

 

Wackdaddy,
I like your use of engine leveler. I was going to use mine for those duties as well but my pops had it so I put in some small ratchet straps (one attached at each corner) and they converge at the chain fall hook. I can adjust the height and side to side to get a perfect balance.
I'm sure you appreciate the gantry as much as I do. I can have the body, frame and engine fully disassembled in less than 30 minutes with time to spare. Makes life SOOOOOOO much easier ;-)
Nice job! Grant

 

Wackdaddy,
Thanks for the pictures!
NRM