Recycliong or RECYCLING ?????

[maxipouce]

Here is my contribution to save the planet;

photo 1 shows an axle stand made from two mac pherson type shock absorbers (I use mac pherson ones since they have thicker walls than average shocks), the game consists in finding two tubes that slide perfectly.
The pin is a rod from another shock, I used my lathe so I can mark a perfect centerline on each side of the tube. The 3 legs are just basic steel and so are the three flat pieces that prevent the legs from spreading under load.
I inserted some pinewood pieces on the top of it to avoid steel/steel contact.
I have been quite happy with them since the close fit prevent them from wobbling. Even the good oil contained in some of them has been recycled to fill my crappy hydraulic jacks!!!!

Photo2 and 3 show a valve spring compressor that has to be clamped down to the workbench, little story: since my drill was dead and I had not much money at this time I made it without drilling a single hole, most materials come from an electric high voltage line that was being dismantled on my property.

If you need more details , just ask

 

[bimmer1980]

nice work!

 

[nonhog]

WAY TO GO

 

[Sawbladz]

Very creative but I certainly wouldn't get under a car supported by home made jack stands. No offense but that is one area I don't mind paying a little extra for the peace of mind.

 

[Zrexxer]

Very creative but I certainly wouldn't get under a car supported by home made jack stands. No offense but that is one area I don't mind paying a little extra for the peace of mind.

Wouldn't faze me for a second. The ones I've built from 2-1/2" Sch 40 pipe were stouter than anything you can buy anywhere, and I'm confident enough in my own welding skill.

Kinds of puts it in perspective when you consider that store-bought jack stands were probably welded together by a 12 yr old Chinese kid.

 

[jjojjas]

Wouldn't faze me for a second. The ones I've built from 2-1/2" Sch 40 pipe were stouter than anything you can buy anywhere, and I'm confident enough in my own welding skill.

Kinds of puts it in perspective when you consider that store-bought jack stands were probably welded together by a 12 yr old Chinese kid.

I can only agree with this.
jase

 

[maxipouce]

Very creative but I certainly wouldn't get under a car supported by home made jack stands. No offense but that is one area I don't mind paying a little extra for the peace of mind.

You raise a good question here,
The extra cost you mention is not even an extra cost since a pair of rack type import axle stands cost 25€ here (34 usd), so if you want a good price/time ratio you should buy imports, I made this for the pleasure of reusing scrapmetal.
I am quite confident since the steel used for these shocks has at least a 600Mpa tensile strength we are already far from standard steel tubing, the vertical female tube nearly holds the whole weight and the tree legs only a part of the weight since their bottom is 1mm lower than the female tube bottom. I also limit them to a 1 ton load which is fine for standard euro cars.

I admit that the import jack stands I have seen so far have performed well, but they are wobbly when fully raised and have a small contact polygon on the ground. Maybe it's a freudian case but I'd like some people in the future to believe that the elder that I will be then was not just a consumerist du***ss.

Since such fabrications create an interest I have to find some new garage wastes to recycle

 

[hot rod 91174]

on the creative juices flowing. great to see someone make something out of nothing. remember, one mans trash is another mans treasure!

 

[Ign]

Yeah, I love this kinda stuff and have been doing it for years. I call it recycle-fab. If only more people did it or just understood it we'd have fewer restrictive HOA communities and be less of a disposable society.

I've used axle housings for grinder stands, axleshafts for shop towel holders, complete truck frames for steel racks, etc etc etc

My wife gathers up all the old **** even I don't want and makes steel flowers or artwork from old chainsaw chains, pipe, re-bar, gears etc.

 

[maxipouce]

Yeah, I love this kinda stuff and have been doing it for years. I call it recycle-fab. If only more people did it or just understood it we'd have fewer restrictive HOA communities and be less of a disposable society.

I've used axle housings for grinder stands, axleshafts for shop towel holders, complete truck frames for steel racks, etc etc etc

My wife gathers up all the old **** even I don't want and makes steel flowers or artwork from old chainsaw chains, pipe, re-bar, gears etc.

Feel free to post some of them here !!! and even your wife's artwork

 

[Nuit Damnant]

Feel free to post some of them here !!! and even your wife's artwork

I second that, I have some old cams, cranks, rods, tanny shafts etc etc. That I saved to do just tht with, love all that artwork with the old car scent.