Home made tools

Heres my welding cart.


And my english wheel.


I also built a beater bag, and some tucking forks.

Well, I made my welding cart and a sandblasting cabinet (no pics), but the handiest thing I made has to be my rotisserie. It was very simple and only cost around $75 in steel a couple of years ago, before steel started skyrocketing in price lol.
Thats my blasting cabinet behind the Firebird.
Then, when I was ready to take it off the rotisserie, I took the rotisserie stands, cut on em a little, welded em together, and VOILA!...instant roll-around car-stands

Actually, the rotisserie ends only made the rear stand...I used some scrap tubing to make the front one. But they work nicely for holding the car and being able to push it around while I re-assemble the suspension and paint it, etc.

I made this MIG cart out of an old shopping cart. Cost for old cart = $5.00. If you buy a MiG, making a cart is a good first project. The basket holds extra wire, gloves, etc. The *********** strip didn't work too well and has been removed. Larger wheels would be a good deal. The small wheels have trouble going over small stuff on the floor. The wire securing the bottles was replaced by chain. NEVER leave a bottle unsecured where it might fall over and hurt someone or something.

graydog said:

I made this MIG cart out of an old shopping cart. Cost for old cart = $5.00. If you buy a MiG, making a cart is a good first project.

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I thought one of the rules of getting a new welder, was you had to build a cart, as your first project :thumbup:

the bottom/back half of mine was a BBQ/Smoker, and i'm sure the metal for the front half was something else in a previous life also :mwink:

the only thing I bought were the two front HF casters

MARTINSR said:

I really like your hose holder. I need to do something like that for mine. I believe wrapping them too tight can lead to breaks in the lining and gun so I wrap them as loose as possible. But when hanging over the hook on the side of my machine it still ends up being too tight. I need to make something like yours.

Brian

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I used 2/3 of an ATV wheel, I would think you could make a smaller car wheel work well also :thumbup:

Metal brake

The first home made tool is a metal brake I made a few years ago from new scrap steel I bought from a salvage yard. As you look at each photo, you will see how the brake works.

Photo #1
It has a solid 1 inch rod welded to an angle to hold the metal down. I pull up on the white round rod handles to open it to insert the metal to be bent. The white handles operate eccentrics on each end, opening the clamp.

Photo #2
This shows the white handles raised up, opening the slot to insert metal. That whole top piece floats at the rear and is adjustable forward and rearward.

Photo #3
This shows the jaws closed again, clamping the sheet metal.

Photo #4
This shows the bottom being raised by pulling up on both handles in front of the top clamp to bend the sheet metal.

Photo #5 & #6
I cannot upload 6 photos here so this is 2 in 1. It seems you will have to click on the link below th see the last photo.
On the left: Handles are back down, showing how it bent the sheet metal.
On the right: I slid the metal forward to show the bend in the sheet metal. I can move this to either end and make a corner bend, but it would have been better to have removable shoes to make a box corner. I use it all the time and it does a really good job.

Bolt, Screw, & small part storage.

This is something I made from clean 1 qt. oil containers and cutting off the top side with a chop saw. It's one of the most useful things I ever made. Hanging on the right is a pan I made with the metal brake to pour bolts into and funnel back into the oil containers. Cost for the whole project = $0.00
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Also, here are the last 2 photos of of the metal brake.

mi chael said:

That is a neat setup with your folder. I have made 1 very similar except the hold down peices are held down with a threaded T-handle and screwed down onto the angle. These are supported with springs from an engine head. The only downful with mine is that the folded area is 3/16 round. It is not very "sharp" at the fold. I have not got a pic of it but the setup is very similar to yours graydog.

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Thanks, Mi chael. I pretty much copied the brake from a commercial model. I could hardly afford $1000 for it so I copied it.
My motive for posting the previous was to let youngsters know they can build some nice, useful tools for pennies on the dollar compared to store bought tools. I am 75 and destined to make things like this handicapped cart. I sorta copied it after a Palmer, which sells for $5500. This cart cost me $250 + labor.