Chopped! The GJ User Modified Tools Thread

[RubiconJK]

The subject of user modified hand tools came up on the DBE thread earlier and at the encouragement of Lugz (and using his awesome suggestion for a thread title) I'll lead this off. Post up yours and if you know the purpose of the mod, we would love to hear the story.

I have to say this first posting is one I found at a flea market, so I don't know the application to modify the Plomb 1141 DBE into an obstruction wrench. Makes a good wall hanger though!

 

[Outlawmws]

This will be fun...

Good first post too!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was kind of half hoping nobody would take me up on this! I need another GJ thread like I need another cooking show to watch!

And that is a good first post, because someone did a really nice job with the bend in that homemade halfmoon wrench. It almost looks factory!

 

[r_olson_06]

The subject of user modified hand tools came up on the DBE thread earlier and at the encouragement of Lugz (and using his awesome suggestion for a thread title) I'll lead this off. Post up yours and if you know the purpose of the mod, we would love to hear the story.

I have to say this first posting is one I found at a flea market, so I don't know the application to modify the Plomb 1141 DBE into an obstruction wrench. Makes a good wall hanger though!

I think that is factory .

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[RubiconJK]

I was kind of half hoping nobody would take me up on this! I need another GJ thread like I need another cooking show to watch!

And that is a good first post, because someone did a really nice job with the bend in that homemade halfmoon wrench. It almost looks factory!

I think that is factory .

The rare pebble obstruction wrench!! Lol!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

For me it's just weird to see a half moon wrench - typically for starters and manifolds (I have a whole collection of them) - with such extra-large openings.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Because it's handiest right now, here's the "Single Offset Single Box End" that prompted the latest iteration of the conversation that led to Roob's thread. It started life as a CHROMIUM VANADIUM and PERFECTION branded Western Auto Double Offset Double Box End wrench, made by Duro-Chrome, with 11/16" x 5/8" service openings. Whatever happened to the 11/16" ring (split, probably) we'll never know, but someone clipped it off with a torch or saw and did a fairly nice job of rounding off the end of the new 'handle'.

As User Mods go, these sorts of 'make the best out of a bad break' wrenches are probably the most common I run into.

 

[d42jeep]

Barcalo amputees. One tortured with a torch as well. Sometimes Bubba has a cruel streak!
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Sometimes Bubba has a cruel streak!

And sometimes, Bubba just don't give a rat's assthetics about looks!

To wit, these two monstrosities from the Island of Fugly Tools bin.

A spark plug wrench with a homemade handle. (I got this from bluebolt in a batch of vintage motorcycle tools. There are Triumph and B.S.A. spark plug spanners that look like this, but come out of the factory with a little more finishing touch.)

And what looks to me like a homemade or possibly repaired extension for drawing up cylinder head stud nuts on overhead valve engines with a torque wrench. A Joseph Shaw piece was involved in that one!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Having some aesthetics myself, I can't leave off with those, though.

Here is something selected especially for our Craftsman-craving host. Some of you have seen it before, but the cool thing about a categorical thread like this is we'll have them all in one place instead of scattered all over tarnation.

At first blush it appears to be a rather common Craftsman BE 1/4-inch drive short extension.

But this one is serving the rest of its life as a drive stud, brazed on the end...

...of a nifty unidentified speed wrench!

This is a great example of a User Modified tool that I admire for its ingenuity, execution, and looks. I love this tool.

 

[larry_g]

I come from another way of thinking. Tools are a starting point for making something that will get the job done, whether faster, easier, or just being able to do it. If I'm in a situation where a machine is down and the correct tool to get it going is not variable then modifying an existing tool is what needs to be done. Sacrificing a wrench to get a tractor moving through harvest again or a production line moving that is costing $15/second in downtime than a wrench becomes very cheap in comparison. I have no compunction in 'ruining' a tool to get the job done. I ask forgiveness of the future collectors of something that is common today that I have modified.

Here is a ratchet I modified. It is one of my goto tools.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Tylermorris]

Here’s a few modified tools I’ve come across

 

[3baygarage]

Ouch that last pic!

Craftsman elbow wrench before the ratcheting elbow wrench too.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I ask forgiveness of the future collectors of something that is common today...[ ]...Here is a ratchet I modified.

Very nice stubby, larry - and no forgiveness required!

Despite the reverence some of us (including me...) have for vintage tools, not even a maimed collectible is worth crying over. (Okay, maybe a tear or two, if it's rare. ) I think it goes without saying - but maybe needs to be emphasized so as not to offend anyone reading or lurking, that most of us understand that many of the tools that are going to show up here in this thread were modified for expedience, necessity, or efficiency at some time or place or situation in which there was no sense of a tool having a value beyond the utilitarian value, and, that some of us (including me...) have modified a few tools ourselves.

Having said that, now that I'm inching up on 60 instead of 16, and I am aware that our culture has developed a healthy museum-like respect for the tools of our nation's vanishing industrial heritage, that antique and vintage tools clearly and unequivocally do have a value beyond their former merely utilitarian role, as icons of a bygone era, I don't even use a collectible antique or vintage tool if I can avoid it, and I wouldn't dream of ruining one for any reason when I can buy one or get the job done another way, no matter the cost in time or money. Just my personal feeling.

And, there are good mods, not so bad mods, and ugly, WTF? mods.

I have a P&C 1/4" drive speed handle that probably approximates the dimensions of this modified one. Perhaps the owner wanted the same results without spending any more money.

The PO obviously wanted a 1/4-inch male drive speeder, RJ. And I applauded his cleverness, work, and finished product. I do still wonder what was on the end of the speed handle to begin with, though. It may have been a drive stud that broke, or something else.

 

[thehorse13]

Having some aesthetics myself, I can't leave off with those, though.

Here is something selected especially for our Craftsman-craving host. Some of you have seen it before, but the cool thing about a categorical thread like this is we'll have them all in one place instead of scattered all over tarnation.

At first blush it appears to be a rather common Craftsman BE 1/4-inch drive short extension.


...of a nifty unidentified speed wrench!

This is a great example of a User Modified tool that I admire for its ingenuity, execution, and looks. I love this tool.

I love a well done modified tool. The snot welds seen in a few of these posts are cringe worthy. To me, that's the only sin committed.

 

[lardy1]

Pretty basic.

 

[lilredex]

A KD brake bleeder "ZED" configuration wrench, reshaped into something a little more user friendly, for my old Dodges.

 

[nutjob]

1/4" extension welded onto a long handled screwdriver.


How about cutting down a wood handle for a round file, just so it can fit in the drawer.

Kevin

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The snot welds seen in a few of these posts are cringe worthy. To me, that's the only sin committed.

I'll see if I can find something to test your principle on that!

How about cutting down a wood handle for a round file, just so it can fit in the drawer.

Definitely meets the criteria!

 

[d42jeep]

Sometimes Bubba has a sense of humor too.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Haha. Spout Erectile Dysfunction.

 

[d42jeep]

It seems like professional welder Bubba might have decided to teach his floppy Thorsen u-joint a lesson.
-Don

 

[bbbarracuda]

Somebody needed a stubby ratchet. Looks like they cut the handle with a torch.
It used to be a Proto 5450 long handle ratchet.

 

[CoogarXR]

1/4" extension welded onto a long handled screwdriver.


How about cutting down a wood handle for a round file, just so it can fit in the drawer.

Kevin

That poor Xcelite screwdriver, lol. Reminds me of these that I saw on ebay. If it weren't for the "XCE..." brand being chopped off, you might not even notice that the handles were stubby-fied...

 

[81turbota]

Not vintage per se but definitely chopped tools. I work in aerospace building one off systems, by virtue of design some tools need to be modified for the job. Here’s one of our special tools drawers, about 20 years of various unique projects worth of tools. Most forget what they’re for unless labeled

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If it weren't for the "XCE..." brand being chopped off, you might not even notice that the handles were stubby-fied...

Now see, he's up against the law of diminishing (pun intended) returns there with me. Was losing that inch or so really worth it? Hard to believe it's an access issue. If it's that tight, you'd need an offset and probably couldn't get your hand in with these. Size and weight? Carry bag fit? You're basically down to two fingers and maybe a thumb on those handles. I get that many nuts in many applications don't require much torque, but I can also see needing that inch or so back for better grip, for a little more torque, etc, not to mention safety.

 

[RubiconJK]

Wow! We are off and running with lots of great examples already!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'll keep it going with a fun little Quiz/Challenge.

Who can tell me - without consulting a catalog, WF list, or spreadsheet - what is wrong with this set of Plomb 3/8-inch drive swivel sockets?

 

[r_olson_06]

I'll keep it going with a fun little Quiz/Challenge.

Who can tell me - without consulting a catalog, WF list, or spreadsheet - what is wrong with this set of Plomb 3/8-inch drive swivel sockets?

The stamping on the WF-74 is incorrect . It has the wrong font!

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Pipe down up there in the peanut gallery, Mr. Weisenheimerson, or provide the genuine answer that I figure you know!

 

[d42jeep]

Well, in this thread the one on the right should be welded (badly) to the u-joint.
-Don

 

[MattT]

Who can tell me - without consulting a catalog, WF list, or spreadsheet - what is wrong with this set of Plomb 3/8-inch drive swivel sockets?

The obvious answer is the 7/8" one ain't a universal socket. And if I were to consult a catalog I might find they didn't make any that large in 3/8" drive.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, in this thread the one on the right should be welded (badly) to the u-joint.

Ding!

The obvious answer is the 7/8" one ain't a universal socket. And if I were to consult a catalog I might find they didn't make any that large in 3/8" drive.

And double ding dingy ding to you!

Somebody really just had to have a 7/8" service opening on a 3/8-inch drive swivel socket, Plomb's WF- and 52xx series only included seven (7) sockets from 3/8" to 3/4", so they plug-welded a perfectly fine 5228 7/8" Plomb socket onto a no-name 3/8-inch drive universal joint!

 

[RubiconJK]

"Necessity is the mother of invention"! Not as much invention in this case as it is adaption.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Oh, I totally understand this one, although I may have gone up to 1/2-inch drive. (I could be wrong, but I don't think Plomb made a 1/2-inch drive swivel with a 7/8" service opening, either.)

 

[Growlertdi]

I don't think I have anything to add, but am going to enjoy following this one.

 

[DadsTools]

I posted this in a couple of other threads, but this thread looks like a good home for it. Best spark plug rat I ever used. Good for a few other jobs as well.

 

[AE2]

Because it's handiest right now, here's the "Single Offset Single Box End" that prompted the latest iteration of the conversation that led to Roob's thread. It started life as a CHROMIUM VANADIUM and PERFECTION branded Western Auto Double Offset Double Box End wrench, made by Duro-Chrome, with 11/16" x 5/8" service openings. Whatever happened to the 11/16" ring (split, probably) we'll never know, but someone clipped it off with a torch or saw and did a fairly nice job of rounding off the end of the new 'handle'.

As User Mods go, these sorts of 'make the best out of a bad break' wrenches are probably the most common I run into.

We had a wrench just like this on the CO2 bottle that was connected to the soda fountain. We always knew where the wrench was.

 

[Old Radar]

I ground down the blade of an estate sale screwdriver to fit into the slots of saws screws made between 1876 and the mid 1950s. Keeps the brass screws from getting torn up like the one on the bottom left.



I'll have to modify another screwdriver when I restore this saw with split sawnuts. This one dates from the early 1860s.



I welded washers to the open ends of a couple of beat up sockets, screwed through the washer into the frame of my pegboard and plugged my torque wrench and breaker bar into the drive ends.

 

[bbbarracuda]

That 3/4" line wrench was just too darn long. I hope the nut wasn't too tight. Not a lot of torque with it this short.