Chopped! The GJ User Modified Tools Thread

[KnurledNut]

Modified 11/16" 12-point socket necked down for calibrating torque wrenches:

 

[Leviton]

I have an unnatural attraction to XceLite nut drivers. I have way too many already, but I couldn't resist buying this one.

It started life as an XceLite Orchard Park, NY (UL) 12 - 3/8. However, someone expertly grafted a female BNC coax connector onto it. Why? I don't know. (But I do have a theory.)

Here it is, in all its glory. The only one of its kind.







(The connector is marked: DAGE 95712 UG-1090/U)

 

[d42jeep]

This looks to be some sort of homemade hand drill. I picked it up at a sale but I’m not sure why.
-Don

 

[Old Man Roger]

Wood handle pin vises are pretty common.

 

[ChefRex]

This looks to be some sort of homemade hand drill. I picked it up at a sale but I’m not sure why.
-Don

I have something similar, I keep a countersink in it for quick deburring.

 

[Outlawmws]

some sort of homemade hand drill. I picked it up at a sale but I’m not sure why.

I have something similar, I keep a countersink in it for quick deburring.

Exactly this, but I have also used mine (I have several) in certain conditions to hand drill/ream a hole.

someone expertly grafted a female BNC coax connector onto it. Why?

I'd guess for ease of installing a male Bulkhead BNC on a panel while you cinch the back nut down. Great Idea!

 

[whateg01]

Exactly this, but I have also used mine (I have several) in certain conditions to hand drill/ream a hole.




I'd guess for ease of installing a male Bulkhead BNC on a panel while you cinch the back nut down. Great Idea!

*Female bulkhead connector

 

[RTM]

This looks to be some sort of homemade hand drill. I picked it up at a sale but I’m not sure why.
-Don

In my intro to woodturning class, we made one. Quick easy way to put a hole in the center of your turning. It’s self centering if the lathe is running.

I use mine for other things like countersinks more often than turning.

 

[d42jeep]

After someone modified this Mac 1/2” x 9/16” DBE wrench into an obstruction wrench, it suffered the indignity of being left out in the rain.
-Don

 

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

Old Thorsen ratchet.
Handle was caked with gunk . Thought it would be nice to have a stubby. Took my hand saw out and cut it. Filed the cut smooth enough not to cut me when I use it and this is now my 1/2 inch stubby ratchet.
Did the same to my Thorsen 3/8 bit haven't filed that cut yet
I'll probbaly get a stubby at some point but don't really use this ratchet so if anything , I've given it a potential use and it's no longer clutter.

 

[Outlawmws]

I like the "end cap" effect you did there.

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

I like the "end cap" effect you did there.

Thanks , thought it was rather practical and I surprised myself with how straight I was able to cut it , I wonder if the handle pattern didn't do the work for me and it should rather take the credit for the straight cut.
I have a Makita metal cutter in SA that would have made quick work of this and wish I could have brought it with.

 

[Farmer J.]

Old Thorsen ratchet.
Handle was caked with gunk . Thought it would be nice to have a stubby. Took my hand saw out and cut it. Filed the cut smooth enough not to cut me when I use it and this is now my 1/2 inch stubby ratchet.
Did the same to my Thorsen 3/8 bit haven't filed that cut yet
I'll probbaly get a stubby at some point but don't really use this ratchet so if anything , I've given it a potential use and it's no longer clutter.

That's pretty neat. I never did like knurling on handles anyway!

 

[whateg01]

.
I have a Makita metal cutter in SA that would have made quick work of this and wish I could have brought it with.

What do you do in South America that requires that?

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

What do you do in South America that requires that?

South Africa. Nothing that required it , was a nice to have that made life easier. Mainly used it to cut 2mm angle iron and 12mm square bar when I did burglar bars and security gates at home etc.

 

[Beerhippie]

A while back, I needed to remove the pump from one of these oddball Colemans (LQ427):



Of course, I didn't want to order a tool (1" really deep socket) and wait, so I bought a cheepo Master Mechanic 1" impact socket from True Value, cut it in half below where the inner size reduced, cut a piece of 1" ID black pipe and grafted them together:



Worked like a charm. It got a paint job and now lives in my Coleman toolbox.



Although I've rebuilt several of these lanterns since, I haven't had to remove another pump.

I probably wouldn't want to use that with an impact gun to remove lugnuts.... I wonder which would fail first? Black pipe or my welds?

 

[senlow]

I wonder which would fail first? Black pipe or my welds?

Hmmm, there's only one way to find out. My guess is, if it's Chinese pipe, the pipe will fail first.

 

[Beerhippie]

Hmmm, there's only one way to find out. My guess is, if it's Chinese pipe, the pipe will fail first.

You have that much confidence in my welds? Sir, I am flattered!

 

[mikeinri]

South Africa. Nothing that required it , was a nice to have that made life easier. Mainly used it to cut 2mm angle iron and 12mm square bar when I did burglar bars and security gates at home etc.

Well there's a reason to move away!

Mike

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

Well there's a reason to move away!

Mike

At the moment ill say Yes and no.
The garage space I had there is almost as big the apartment I have now and I had a 6 car semi closed garage attached to it I could spill into for larger projects.
But I do sleep a lot better at night here and once I have half the garage space here I did there and have bought tools again , then it'll be a solid yes. I'm basically starting from scratch again.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just cross-linking @Leviton's new Snap-Plumb hammer!

3/8" Drive WWII Snap-Plomb Hammer

Picked this up at a garage sale last weekend. Has a "G" date code Snap-On F-10-HG breaker bar flex-head handle and a Plumb Ball Pein hammer head.

www.garagejournal.com

 

[WillyBoy]

A number of years ago I found a nice Clausing 8520 mill. It was in decent shape and came with some tooling. One item that was missing; the handle for the knee. I don't use the machine every day but using a "crescent" wrench for the Z got to be inconvenient.
An old rusty 12 point socket lurking in the back of a drawer, some flat stock, a handle from Carr-Lane or maybe McMaster, and then some welding, grinding and polishing and the result.



I milled out the back of the socket so that it can be reversed on the shaft for out-of -the-way stowing.
The handle is tight, not a spinner, but the surface is smooth enough to crank easily.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here's one I made a few (quite a few) years ago:



It's for pushing the pin out of conveyor belt to take it apart:



SOP is to drive the pin out with a punch and hammer, but there are times (like this one) where you just don't have that kind of clearance around the belt (I don't have much clearance around the belt myself these days).

 

[RTM]

It's for pushing the pin out of conveyor belt to take it apart:

That's worth sacrificing a Bessey clamp for. Get one of those special sockets, or modify a cheap one, to drive it with a small ratchet, and you'd be golden. That little Tommy bar would be a downfall for me, working with gloves on.

 

[Outlawmws]

That little Tommy bar would be a downfall for me, working with gloves on.

Weld a nut on the end of the screw and use a ratchet - you can even leave the Tommy bar...

 

[RTM]

Weld a nut on the end of the screw and use a ratchet - you can even leave the Tommy bar...

I like the notched random socket, movable, and works for those without a welder.

 

[Beerhippie]

The pin comes out rather easily. There's a spiral-knurled section of about 1/4" length that retains it.

Biggest problem is getting the pin lined up with the cut-out on the static of the clamp. I'm sure that's why the tip of the screw is mushroomed. I made this tool over twenty years ago and it's had a lot of users since.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here's one I saw yesterday and though y'all might enjoy:



A 1/2" slider made from an old tap--it has pin retention, even. The bar looks like Craftsman--I didn't notice in the poorly-lit shop.

 

[Mintgrun]

A 1/2" slider made from an old tap

That looks like the threaded end of a shaft with a keyway cut into it.
Eitherway, it's a neat find.

 

[Beerhippie]

That looks like the threaded end of a shaft with a keyway cut into it.
Eitherway, it's a neat find.

Hmm... you may have it there. As I mentioned, the shop where this is has very poor lighting and I wasn't inspired to reach all the way into my pocket for the flashlight.

Looking at the picture now, I see the ball on the end of the Crafty handle is also shop-made. If it's still there next time I go back, I'll get some numbers off the handle and see what it was originally--I suspect a flex-head breaker bar.

I wasn't buying it--I already bought one useless but cool tool that day--I just thought you all might find it interesting.

 

[whateg01]

That looks like the threaded end of a shaft with a keyway cut into it.
Eitherway, it's a neat find.

Yeah a tap is way too brittle to use like that. Imagine if it was a trap that broke off in the part and they just made the part into a tool! Yeah I know that would mean the square shank would be missing, but it's funnier this way

 

[Outlawmws]

I'd give long odds its the end of a model A rear axle.

 

[Beerhippie]

I'd give long odds its the end of a model A rear axle.

If I go back and get the number off the Crafty handle, it should give a clue for the age... but that could be a Model A axle from anytime after they were made.

 

[Provincial]

Ford, 1928 to 1948 rear axle shaft.

 

[Outlawmws]

Here are three I bent, cut, or otherwise modified. the one at the top came that way so I tossed it into the mix - you never know... They are Coleman lantern specific, for hard to reach places on lanterns:

from the bottom: 200A top elbow nut, 220/228 Valve nut, (both ends) and the "Square nut" is on the early Quick light gennerator, and its short to clear for more rotation angle



In use:

200A Elbow nut:




220/228 valve nut:

open end - needed grinding on the outside as well:








Same wrench "flair nut" style, also required grinding on the outside:



Start point:








And the Hazet mods for the Square nut generator:

 

[Arne73]

Nice pics Outlaw. Finding a "user modified" tool is often a head scratcher. It's cool to see them in use.

 

[Outlawmws]

Thx Arne!

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

Some Amazon ads for sockets , they show a "cut out ". So I figured that I wanted to see this for myself.
I had a cheap generic 15mm 1/2 Amazon socket. I happen to have a vice as well has a hacksaw....

There is of course no practical use here but it is still " chopped "

 

[whateg01]

Some Amazon ads for sockets , they show a "cut out ". So I figured that I wanted to see this for myself.
I had a cheap generic 15mm 1/2 Amazon socket. I happen to have a vice as well has a hacksaw....

What is a "cut out" as it pertains to a socket? That looks like a socket, just like every other socket.