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show me your home made tools so I can copy them!

290K views 238 replies 67 participants last post by  OneMoreTime 
#1 ·
home made tools that worked

I just thought it would be cool to hear of peoples home made tools that worked to do the job, or even better if it worked better than the actual tool did.
 
#104 ·
zbhover said:
I was trying...........

Did it work????????


Do you feel the urge to finish up laying the laminate flooring in my house so I can go out in the garage and work on our beetle project??????

LOL

:D

No, just a craving to eat lunch meat on the floor in my kitchen....think you were off a little. :D
 
#106 ·
Here's another tool I cobbled together some time ago to cut thin slices of tubing. I posted it up earlier in a separate thread but thought it belonged here as well.

It's a "mini chop saw" made by clamping an air powered die grinder to a hinged wood frame and then install a metal cutting blade on the grinder. I have been very surprised at how will it works on lighter metals or thin steel...basically jobs that are too small to cut effectively on my 14" DeWalt chopper.





 
#107 ·
thats pretty nifty.

I see what looks like a drill doctor chuck. How does that thing work for you. I have one as well but can't really ever get it to sharpen the bits. I makes them look nice but they will never cut. I have always had better luck with the bench grinder. Maybe it is because I am trying to sharpen just the cheap black oxide bits that usually don't work very well after they initially chip or dull out anyways. Maybe you have some pointers for me?
 
#108 ·
crussell85 said:
...I see what looks like a drill doctor chuck. How does that thing work for you.
Wow. Good eye. I have pretty good luck with the drill doctor...although my sharpenings do seem to have a life span that I wish was a bit longer. If I'm drilling lots of holes in 1/8 or thicker metal, I'll have to re-sharpen every 4 or 5 holes to really keep the bit digging nicely.

Also, like you say, it depends on the quality of the original bit. the cheaper bits just don't seem to sharpen all that well.
 
#109 ·
cboy said:
Here's another tool I cobbled together some time ago to cut thin slices of tubing. I posted it up earlier in a separate thread but thought it belonged here as well.

It's a "mini chop saw" made by clamping an air powered die grinder to a hinged wood frame and then install a metal cutting blade on the grinder. I have been very surprised at how will it works on lighter metals or thin steel...basically jobs that are too small to cut effectively on my 14" DeWalt chopper.





Safety first C-Boy. You need to get a cover on that electrical outlet :nono:
 
#111 ·
some great ideas that I will soon be borrowing here...
anyway, here's my pre lube oiler, monster slide hammer, liner puller, gantry, slack adjuster puller, axle nut socket, long thread chaser and fan belt mover-arounder, and a one time use wrench for a sticky situation i came across.

Looks like all cant be posted at once, so next post has the rest....
 

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#115 ·
unbelievably useful ideas

I am very amazed at the craftsmanship of everyone here. I also appreciate everyone sharing their ideas. I read the whole 8 pages, and I'm sure I can use a lot of these ideas for my projects. I'm going out to the garage to find something I've made to share with you. Do cell phone pics work good. My camera pics were to big before. Thanks guys. :thumbup:
 
#116 ·
cboy said:
Wow. Good eye. I have pretty good luck with the drill doctor...although my sharpenings do seem to have a life span that I wish was a bit longer. If I'm drilling lots of holes in 1/8 or thicker metal, I'll have to re-sharpen every 4 or 5 holes to really keep the bit digging nicely.

Also, like you say, it depends on the quality of the original bit. the cheaper bits just don't seem to sharpen all that well.
cboy most (if not all) of the cheaper drill bits are induction hardened only on the very tip,so once you sharpen past that you are into base metal....result sharpened bit don't last long.
I have several solid carbide bits that were thrown on the hanger floor because they were chipped/chunks out of them.These things were considered expendable (did not have to account for them in tool inventory) but any way I brought them home and sharpened them ,by hand at first then later with my Drill Doctor . Only one of them has had to be resharpened much... the 1/4 ..... my fault drilled in to concrete too many times. I really like my Drill Doctor.....
Kenny
 
#118 ·
Theres thousands of dollars worth of tools here,all are great ....What I learned (right here) from someone is more a trick that a tool.
I went to a mans shop to repair some door bottoms I thought I gatherd up all the tools I needed but just when I got started I found I forgot my door knob clip tool. Then I rememberd a trick I learned from another member "atichargr" If you slide a rag around the knob and work it back and forth it'll catch the horseshoe clip and it comes right out....Thanks atichrger you saved the day :thumbup:

PEPI,I have one question ...How the heck did you cut those steel pieces so nicely and clean? They look like something you would buy...Thats a work of art...I want one ,a 5 footer
 
#119 · (Edited)
Formed out of 1 x 1/4 bar stock and refined with a sander.

Notice the welding magnet on the catch tray of the hacksaw ......... no metal reaches the floor ... or falls on the floor when moving the tool around, other modes on that saw turned into a decent tool, out of the box .. puke!
 

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#120 ·
454 Rattler said:
That goes for all these tools.

I'd rather make it than buy it !!


454 RATTLER
I can identify with that statement and figure it fits a lot of us. I really enjoy using a newly designed tool to produce an improved product; at least for the first few times. I've done it every chance I've had since the Sixties. Right now I'm on a piston/rod handling fixtures kick. Different kinds of rod heaters, different ways to float small end/big end to get more repeatable 1/10 gram readings. Lots of fun.

It's about the only circumstance in which I lose track of time and forget to eat. And then when someone comes along and makes me aware of the time or that a meal has been missed by hours then sometimes I realize at that moment that I am not hungry.

And otherwise I' m almost always hungry..
 
#121 ·
Man, you got that right..when I'm on a roll ,working on something I wake up,go out and start working ,after a couple hours I realize I missed breakfast but I'll forget about it and keep on working then around noon I realize I need to eat lunch but I'm just not hungry enough to stop,Then my wife comes home so its 5:00 and starts dinner but by then I'm almost done and to dirty to stop,get cleaned up and eat so when starts getting dark (8:00) and I pick up my mess and go inside shower and eat.fall asleep on the couch...I'll put in a 12-13 hr day every day when I'm working on my stuff.but put me on someone elses and I start gaining weight....breakfast, lunch, dinner all on time...
 
#122 ·
home made tools that work

OK,
We have several wonder bars on the wall. They're not all the same.
One has a 5/8ths square hole in it on the flatter end, cut with a dremmel and cut off wheel.
The hole centers back just far enough from the nail pulling fork that you push the fork under the rocker nut and press down on the valve spring. Lay a magnet over the hole, and remove the keepers.

Of course it should go without saying that the cylinder is charged....By the way, a charged hole is the best diagnostic tool I ever discovered. :p Duntov :p
 
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