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Tools4Me

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
546
Most of my driver mods are a notch in the middle of the blade for those odd split nuts often on Binoculars. Common on the but end of hunting knives as well.
I make coin type screwdriver tips and split nut drivers as needed out of spare spade bits. It's easier to find a blade wide enough to fully engage the often larger sized fasteners that way. After making the correct curve or shape I thin the blade thickness down until it's a perfect fit.
 

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JradM

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
1,811
Location
Alberta
I make coin type screwdriver tips and split nut drivers as needed out of spare spade bits. It's easier to find a blade wide enough to fully engage the often larger sized fasteners that way. After making the correct curve or shape I thin the blade thickness down until it's a perfect fit.
Clever! Thanks for the idea. 👍
 

Rural53

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
1,476
Location
Tauranga, New Zealand
That looks almost factory made. well done.

It looks nearly factory made because I didn't make it :D A guy on our biggest 4wd forum about ten years ago, pre FB, made a few of them for himself and his mates. Someone posted one on the forum and so many people wanted one he made about another fifty of them and sold them.
 

Terra Nova

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
4,179
Location
Michigan
The Firefighters among us may recognize this. Had a broke spanner wrench so I shortened it and put a 1/2” square hole through it. On the end of a 24” extension we use this with a ratchet to tighten the connection to the pump on our preconnects inside the trays. Had trouble with them coming loose over time (it’s great when you pull a line and expect water and just see a geyser spraying out the top of the engine…).

40EB4043-AEF3-4737-B017-A46379BA5B61.jpeg2648CF26-982C-44C9-905D-1068A98D29E3.jpeg

54B774B1-378D-45A6-95FB-C6262E99682C.jpeg
 
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Mgdoug3

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
1,391
Location
KY
A few months ago I made a hammer out of aluminum since I wanted a soft metal hammer and didn't feel like buying brass. It's been handy to have. Heavier than what I planned though.
 

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Beelzeboss

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2020
Messages
540
Location
Sydney
A couple of simple home made tools I've put together with various levels of success.

The "bead smasher"

11264239195_2e9f1cab23_c.jpg

11264333223_36d4aa4f14_c.jpg

A simple tube bender; the wooden dies were turned in the lathe with a piece of 6mm mild steel plate ground into a cutting tool.

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11417902643_5084f0122a_c.jpg

LS1 Valve spring compressor

15352819794_5ed84b36ef_c.jpg

15355466903_d6c2221328_c.jpg
 

Firebrick43

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
13,971
Location
West central Indiana
A couple of simple home made tools I've put together with various levels of success.

The "bead smasher"

11264239195_2e9f1cab23_c.jpg

11264333223_36d4aa4f14_c.jpg

A simple tube bender; the wooden dies were turned in the lathe with a piece of 6mm mild steel plate ground into a cutting tool.

11264243015_61ff361f25_c.jpg

11264338053_99b17069b8_c.jpg

11417902643_5084f0122a_c.jpg

LS1 Valve spring compressor

15352819794_5ed84b36ef_c.jpg

15355466903_d6c2221328_c.jpg

Very nice, love the bead smasher.

tubing bender from gingery plans?
 

Beelzeboss

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2020
Messages
540
Location
Sydney
Very nice, love the bead smasher.

tubing bender from gingery plans?
Haha cheers! And no plans for the bender, the size of the dies was determined by the radius I could get out of those bits of timber, then I just slapped it all together with some bolts and pins I had lying around. The die is mounted on 2 pins set into the desk to stop it from rotating... I'll admit that the die broke just as it finished the last bend in that set of tubes :ROFLMAO:
 

2oolhound

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
5,918
Location
BC Canada
Even if a die broke it's a good concept, making dies from wood. If we used hard woods or better yet, laminated hard woods they'd be easy to make. For the center us a thick metal bushing.
 

PugetDude

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Messages
22,261
Location
Superstition Mountains, AZ
There was a metal roofing supplier in Hawaii that used Koa for a lot of their rollformer tooling. Some of it was over 20 years old. They did use 4150 tool steel for some of the critical bends, but for low-stress forming the wood dies worked really well. Interesting fact was that the wood lasted quite a while on galvanized steel, but degraded quickly as they began rolling more pre- painted material.
 
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seber

Well-known member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
4,188
Location
Deep East Tx.
There was a metal roofing supplier in Hawaii that used Koa for a lot of their rollformer tooling. Some of it was over 20 years old. They did use 4150 tool steel for some of the critical bends, but for low-stress forming the wood dies worked really well. Interesting fact was that the wood lasted quite a while on galvanized steel, but degraded quickly as they began rolling more pre- painted material.
Zinc is a really good lubricant. So good it is included in a number of greases and at one time was even used in automotive oil.
 

2oolhound

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
5,918
Location
BC Canada
I was in a wood working shop a while back and after stairing at the huge bandsaw for a while I said "are those wheels wood? (they were 24" or bigger). The guy looks and says geez, I never noticed that before. It was an old looking saw but a prominent fixture in that shop, right in the middle of everything.
 

marak

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 26, 2015
Messages
338
Location
Anchorage, Alaska
Not sure if it counts as a tool, but here is a tractor that I built for rebuilding my detached garage, in particular, for tearing out and pouring a new concrete floor. Concrete buggies are not available here in Alaska. I primarily built it to haul concrete from the concrete truck into the garage because a wheelbarrow seemed less fun. It has a payload of approximately 3200 lb or 2/3 of a cubic yard. It has been a real time saver and is a real hoot to use. Being 35" wide, it will fit through the chain-link gate just fine. My property is only 7,500 SF, but I have excavated some 40 CY of soil and brought in 140 tons of aggregate and riprap to build a sunken patio. It isn't finished, but it has hauled tons and tons of material including, aggregate, soil, fresh concrete, busted out concrete, firewood. Power steering is accomplished with a linear actuator. This was my first project that incorporated a gasoline engine, gears, and a transaxle, so was pretty excited to get everything working successfully. I'd love to build a smaller version with a tighter turning radius.
1635376061655.jpeg1635376102958.jpeg1635376134753.jpeg
 

steaks&anvils

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
2,470
Location
Colorado
Not sure if it counts as a tool, but here is a tractor that I built for rebuilding my detached garage, in particular, for tearing out and pouring a new concrete floor. Concrete buggies are not available here in Alaska. I primarily built it to haul concrete from the concrete truck into the garage because a wheelbarrow seemed less fun. It has a payload of approximately 3200 lb or 2/3 of a cubic yard. It has been a real time saver and is a real hoot to use. Being 35" wide, it will fit through the chain-link gate just fine. My property is only 7,500 SF, but I have excavated some 40 CY of soil and brought in 140 tons of aggregate and riprap to build a sunken patio. It isn't finished, but it has hauled tons and tons of material including, aggregate, soil, fresh concrete, busted out concrete, firewood. Power steering is accomplished with a linear actuator. This was my first project that incorporated a gasoline engine, gears, and a transaxle, so was pretty excited to get everything working successfully. I'd love to build a smaller version with a tighter turning radius.
1635376061655.jpeg
That is so cool!
 

larry4406

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
Messages
18,936
Location
Northern Virginia
Not sure if it counts as a tool, but here is a tractor that I built for rebuilding my detached garage, in particular, for tearing out and pouring a new concrete floor. Concrete buggies are not available here in Alaska. I primarily built it to haul concrete from the concrete truck into the garage because a wheelbarrow seemed less fun. It has a payload of approximately 3200 lb or 2/3 of a cubic yard. It has been a real time saver and is a real hoot to use. Being 35" wide, it will fit through the chain-link gate just fine. My property is only 7,500 SF, but I have excavated some 40 CY of soil and brought in 140 tons of aggregate and riprap to build a sunken patio. It isn't finished, but it has hauled tons and tons of material including, aggregate, soil, fresh concrete, busted out concrete, firewood. Power steering is accomplished with a linear actuator. This was my first project that incorporated a gasoline engine, gears, and a transaxle, so was pretty excited to get everything working successfully. I'd love to build a smaller version with a tighter turning radius.
Very cool! It deserves a build thread!

Do you ride it or walk behind it with a remote controller?
 

marak

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 26, 2015
Messages
338
Location
Anchorage, Alaska
Very cool! It deserves a build thread!

Do you ride it or walk behind it with a remote controller?
I'll try and get a build thread started this weekend and will try and figure out how to link it here. I sometimes walk beside it and sometimes squat between the engine and the dump bed. I'll elaborate more in the build thread. I also need to put one together for the garage rebuild. Without getting too far off topic, here are some before and current pictures of the garage. They both show the same face of the building and were taken about 5 years apart. The realtor thought I was crazy when I got so excited about the detached garage...all I knew was there was a footprint of a building on the property survey!
a - 12.JPGa - IMG_2909.JPG
 

Tools4Me

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
546
I picked up a used Klein 3239 adjustable spud wrench at a garage sale several years ago for $1. It was only a dollar, because someone had cut off most of the original tapered handle at some point in the past. The remaining handle was too short to do much with it but I could never get myself to sell it off or recycle it, so it just sat in one of my tool drawers until yesterday. I was recently doing some mechanical work in a tight area and I was thinking how much easier the job would be if I had a set of larger sized 1/2" drive crowfoot wrenches. I have full sets in 3/8" drive, but I have never purchased any of the larger 1/2" drive sizes, because they are so expensive when weighed against how often I would use them.

After thinking a bit, I realized I could do a bit of reshaping and also add a 1/2" female square drive to my stubby spare Klein adjustable and make a pretty good working solution for any future fasteners or compression fittings I encounter in the 7/8" to 1-1/2" size range.

A couple relaxing hours in the shop later, I had the following tool. I used common home shop tools to make it. A 1/2" drill press to drill the initial hole, then I turned the hole into a rough square by using some small carbide burrs in a Foredom tool (a Dremel alternative). Then I finished the shaping with metal files and diamond grit files by hand. I used a small carbide ball burr to make the inside ball detent indentations. Lastly, I did some touch up sanding and shaping of the outside with my angle grinder and a flap wheel. Everything was done with hand tools or handheld power tools except the initial drill press hole. I don't have a metal lathe or a mill. I now have a tool I can put on the end of a 1/2" drive socket extension or use with any number of breaker bars or other adapters I have to make a handle that sticks out at multiple different angles depending on my needs when working in tight areas. I don't know if there's a company out there that makes a tool like this or not. I've seen the Bahco and Snap-on 3/8" drive adjustable crowfoot wrenches, but I've never seen anything this size and in 1/2" drive before.
 

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2oolhound

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
5,918
Location
BC Canada
I've done a lot of wrenching but I can't say that I have ever come across a J size fastener.
Me either but a bit of snooping came up with this Grainger link which equates the J size to 27/64" which looks wrong.

J Size

Then I found this reference to trailer Hitch J-Pin nut sizes and it looks like it (close to 1")

J-Pin Blurb

Correct me if it's wrong Radio Flyer and those are a nice looking set of stubbies! Nice work!
 

rslaback

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Messages
4,061
Location
Westcentral Wisconsin
Me either but a bit of snooping came up with this Grainger link which equates the J size to 27/64" which looks wrong.

J Size

Then I found this reference to trailer Hitch J-Pin nut sizes and it looks like it (close to 1")

J-Pin Blurb

Correct me if it's wrong Radio Flyer and those are a nice looking set of stubbies! Nice work!
I'm guessing the J is for Jim.
 

Ricky Joe

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
2,452
Location
Roanoke, Va.
I picked up a used Klein 3239 adjustable spud wrench at a garage sale several years ago for $1. It was only a dollar, because someone had cut off most of the original tapered handle at some point in the past. The remaining handle was too short to do much with it but I could never get myself to sell it off or recycle it, so it just sat in one of my tool drawers until yesterday. I was recently doing some mechanical work in a tight area and I was thinking how much easier the job would be if I had a set of larger sized 1/2" drive crowfoot wrenches. I have full sets in 3/8" drive, but I have never purchased any of the larger 1/2" drive sizes, because they are so expensive when weighed against how often I would use them.

After thinking a bit, I realized I could do a bit of reshaping and also add a 1/2" female square drive to my stubby spare Klein adjustable and make a pretty good working solution for any future fasteners or compression fittings I encounter in the 7/8" to 1-1/2" size range.

A couple relaxing hours in the shop later, I had the following tool. I used common home shop tools to make it. A 1/2" drill press to drill the initial hole, then I turned the hole into a rough square by using some small carbide burrs in a Foredom tool (a Dremel alternative). Then I finished the shaping with metal files and diamond grit files by hand. I used a small carbide ball burr to make the inside ball detent indentations. Lastly, I did some touch up sanding and shaping of the outside with my angle grinder and a flap wheel. Everything was done with hand tools or handheld power tools except the initial drill press hole. I don't have a metal lathe or a mill. I now have a tool I can put on the end of a 1/2" drive socket extension or use with any number of breaker bars or other adapters I have to make a handle that sticks out at multiple different angles depending on my needs when working in tight areas. I don't know if there's a company out there that makes a tool like this or not. I've seen the Bahco and Snap-on 3/8" drive adjustable crowfoot wrenches, but I've never seen anything this size and in 1/2" drive before.
Outstanding!!!
 
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