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TECH-- Ten more homemade hot rod shop tools.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Kiwi Kev, May 27, 2007.

  1. 1---Bow tie press....

    I made this ugly thing a long time ago so I could press Chevy bow ties into sheetmetal. At first it was just the C clamp but it got modified one day when I needed to go deeper on a panel. I just cut out a male and female bow tie shape and cleaned them up with a sander and file and mounted them so they line up when you wind the clamp down.
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  2. 2---Home made brake.

    I built this brake many years ago from scrap metal at a shop I was working at. I paid $45 to have a 45 degree angle machined on the top part. There are nuts welded under the 3 holes on each side at different locations so you can bend different thickness material. I also have a piece of round stock with a couple of tabs welded to it for bending radius'. If I need to use it like a leaf brake I just cut a piece of flat bar and clamp it in place. Been using it for close to 20 years now.

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  3. 3---Drill stand.

    Take a piece of 1 1/2" square tubing, drill a bunch of 1/2" holes all the way through it, weld a piece of 2" flat bar to the bottom of it, paint it, mark on the drill sizes and you have a low buck drill stand.

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  4. 4---Wheel caliper.

    Every tire shop has a plastic one of these but I didn't have one so I traced the outline of one at the tire shop, made a few adjustments and cut my own from aluminum.

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  5. monzadood
    Joined: Sep 10, 2006
    Posts: 1,033

    monzadood
    BANNED

    i think i`ll make me a drill-bit stand at work monday. thanks for the good tech tips.
     
  6. 5---Flat bar brake.

    Made this to go in the hydraulic press, sure beats the big hammer and vise method.

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  7. 6---Dull chisel

    Get a wide chisel and sand the sharp end dull and you'll be surprise how often you use it, especially repairing floors, installing patch panels, lining up pillars when chopping tops, driprails etc.

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  8. 7---Roll cage X bar clamp together helper thingy.

    This notched piece of angle iron is used to line up and clamp the 2 pieces that intesect the first bar of the X when installing a roll cage. It can be clamped in place or you can use hose clamps until everything is tacked.

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  9. 8---Old couch leather.

    For spark protection on all kinds of fab' work. Old leather or suede jackets from the thrift store work well too.

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  10. 9---Vice grip flanger.

    Shape a couple of pieces of steel so they form a male and female step and weld them into some old vice grips and you have a hand flanger. Handy for patch panel installation. I have an air tool that does the same thing and bead roller but these have saved me a couple of times.

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  11. publicenemy1925
    Joined: Feb 4, 2007
    Posts: 3,187

    publicenemy1925
    Member
    from OKC, OK

    Cool tools once again. I feel special because I have the same chisel in my toolbox and I use more than anyone can imagine.
     
  12. 10---Vise grip tube liner upper.

    Weld a piece of angle iron to these funny looking vise grip clamps and you gave a pretty good tube joint clamper for butt welding small tube.

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  13. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,458

    noboD
    Member

    Thanks for posting some neat tools.
     
  14. Plus 2 more........

    Bottle cap metal shaping hammer ( I know, you all have one already) and cheapass sanbag made from old couch leather and beach sand.

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  15. Bobby Green
    Joined: Jun 9, 2001
    Posts: 1,318

    Bobby Green
    Member

    You crafty bastard. ........ I'm coming over to your place with Lucky. I'll get to check out everything in person. sweeet.
     
  16. Firefly
    Joined: Sep 15, 2005
    Posts: 377

    Firefly
    Member

    Ha, ha - glad to see you are keeping up with tradition and wearing your 'Kiwi safety boots" in the garage (as per #4 photo)
     
  17. Yep, that's how I spot the Kiwi's at the swap meets.
     
  18. 40Standard
    Joined: Jul 30, 2005
    Posts: 5,963

    40Standard
    Member
    from Indy

    great tech, thanks
     
  19. Smith79
    Joined: Feb 8, 2007
    Posts: 171

    Smith79
    Member

    cut the center out of the angle and you could weld just about the whole way around the tube with out repositioning it
     
  20. bobx
    Joined: Apr 17, 2004
    Posts: 1,060

    bobx
    Member
    from Indiana

    I love these kind of posts.

    thanks.
     

  21. or as a couple of my northern minnasota pals like to call this one paul bunyons crack pipe
     
  22. Ned_Gob
    Joined: Jan 12, 2007
    Posts: 539

    Ned_Gob
    Member

    Those are great ideas , I have the oxy-cap hammer but not the sand bag , cool . Oh yeah , nice saftey shoes !!!!!!!!
     
  23. knotheads
    Joined: Jan 4, 2007
    Posts: 499

    knotheads
    Member

    i think ill make one of these ...just as soon as i finish that 20 ton press i started about 25 years ago ...lol
     
  24. knotheads
    Joined: Jan 4, 2007
    Posts: 499

    knotheads
    Member

    i made one of these years ago from a pair of "road kill" vise grips and it does work as good as the same thing from eastwood
     
  25. swimeasy
    Joined: Oct 17, 2006
    Posts: 1,067

    swimeasy
    Member

    GREAT thread!!!
     
  26. MercMan1951
    Joined: Feb 24, 2003
    Posts: 2,654

    MercMan1951
    Member

    Awesome ideas...I love home-built tools! You have some serious ingenuity going on here...
     
  27. fiat128
    Joined: Jun 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,426

    fiat128
    Member
    from El Paso TX

    Thanks for the post, your homemade tool tips have to be my favorite posts on the HAMB.
     
  28. Flathead Youngin'
    Joined: Jan 10, 2005
    Posts: 3,662

    Flathead Youngin'
    Member

    Hey, you beat me to it!:D

    http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185205

    Good stuff on here....I like how you solve problems with cheap items laying around the garage.

    How did you sew the leather bag?

    EDIT: your's are a little different...you cut the 90 degree bends and welded them to the top??

     
  29. Upholstery shop sewed up the leather bag for me. I know these are not all original ideas so I like it when you guys post replies with improvements or other versions! I had a good one about a chain with a hook on one end that you use when drilling large holes horizontally, a method I've been using for 30 years. I worked in a shop where we would sometimes have to shorten the frames of large trucks using steel plates with lots of holes and there was no mag drill. It's a great method and I even drilled out a front axle on a car using it but I know if I post it on here there's a chance some of you guys will end up with broken wrists, dented foreheads etc.
     
  30. happy hoppy
    Joined: Apr 23, 2001
    Posts: 2,327

    happy hoppy
    Member

    thanks for this post, this is why I log onto the hamb.
     

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