Show us your hand crafted tools! This is my wrench torque intensifier.
Very interesting, could you post additional pictures showing the details of your invention?
I just uses a pipe, that fits over the wrench, in question. Have also cut/welded wrenches to fit the job. Harbor freight and auction wrenches find a second life, thataway...
That looks like a handy item repowerguy . Won't call mine " hand crafted " . Not fancy or good looking but serve the purpose . Seems like always building a spanner / wrench for hydro cylinder work . HeavyEquipmentForums HeavyEquipmentForums Some gear pullers . HeavyEquipmentForums
I like this, and we just have aquired a brand new broken breaker bar the boss's nephew made for us.
Sorry guys, I have pics of more stuff but my confuser is acting up. I'll have more to come!
You have my vote for best quote in a while with that one!
Sounds like a job for the " wrench torque intensifier " .
One attachment I made and a $130.00 jack to go with it. It's used every day several times a day. And yes you still have to load the drum on it but that's easy. It's handled hundreds and hundreds of drums plus it's great for lifting drive lines into place. Truck Shop
I last worked on truck brakes 10+ years ago and I just grabbed those suckers and handled them by hand but I think I would want one of those these days.
I like it. I made one myself, not quite as fancy but it saves my back. Had to do 4 inboard drums last week on a low flatbed trailer and decided right then and there I was done trying to lift those things by hand. Also built a rolling fork to handle tires. My back is thanking me still.
With the new format pics are so easy even I can do it! The bottom two are my starter bolt socket. Mods, maybe move this to tools of the trade?
Looks like a handy item repowerguy ! Equipment manufacturers will come fourth with multiple ways to challenge the wrench . Old school wrench bender builds a tool to deal with it , I love it !
I like that starter tool, will have to remember that next time I have a stubborn one!
Repower, Like the offset starter socket, if I was still pulling wrenches for a living I'd be making one of them up, actually might need two as I have come across a couple metric 12 point head bolts holding starters on. Just off enough so a 5/8 would not fit. What I have used is this type socket. Two problems are the off-set can be too much in tight areas and the drive size being 3/8 limits the torque you can apply: Both of those problems are addressed by your tool design!
Handy anchor hook for those whom always try to go where they shouldn't. No picture handy and its to cold to walk out to the jeep to take one. My heavy crowbar is about 4 ft long with an eye welded in the middle and another eye on welded on one end. The non eye end is sharpened. When I get stuck in a snowdrift on a frozen lake I attach my winch cable to the center eye, attach a piece of rope to the end, and drop the bar thru a drilled hole in the ice. After pulling myself out of the snowdrift I simple release some cable and pull my bar back up thru the hole endwise. While chasing coyotes I have used the same bar to extract myself out in the N.D. prairie by driving it up to the center eye into the ground at a slight angle away from the stuck vehicle and then tieing the top eye back to another stake at ground level. It takes a lot to pull it out with the winch hooked to the eye at ground level, so it works most of the time and beats walking. Not smart enough to turn around when it just looks bad. I usually need to try it. EDIT, maybe this in in the wrong place. Probably not really a tool of the trade. Mods, feel free to move it if it shouldn't be in this thread.
Guys,thanks for the kind words, the purpose was to show what we have made to get a particularly ugly job done and out the door. We are in this together so lets open up our specialty tool drawer and post some pics. I'll watch out for the safety guy and call out if I see him around, he doesn't understand what we have to do at times.
If you look close in center of the picture you will see a vise grip with a piece of all thread welded to it, plus a piece of shaft on the all thread. Its a combination vise grip and slide hammer. I can't remember what I was doing when I built it, but it worked like a charm. The slide hammer part doesn't slide real nice with the all thread, but I didn't have a piece of smooth rod when I made it. I was in a hurry, and made the tool to do the job- I think that's what we're looking for isn't it? Please excuse the mess of my toolbox, I love seeing pictures of those meticulous mechanics- Snap on boxes with all the tools in racks, and nice and shiny like they've never been used, but my box isn't one of those boxes. Most of my tools have some some combination of grease, weld splatter, and gasket maker on them (I get that stuff on everything). Most of them are blessed also with hammer and pry marks.
Looks like you had good intentions of tidying up your tools, I see you have a nice new set of socket bars still in the wrapping
Yes, good intentions is as far as it has gotten tradesman, it's to sort out the mess that my socket drawer is. Sometimes I wish I had 5 each of 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 3/4, and 15/16 sockets, because they are the ones I'm always looking for.
I just might have to check my tool box, looks like my pair of channel locks might have made it to missouri! Tradesman, look closer as there are at least three sets of the socket bars in there. I should talk as my tool box out in the garage is a bit disheveled since I retired. Combining the tools from work with the tools at home did not help. I did put together a good selection of the duplicates and sell them to the guy who was stuck with trying to take on some of the work I did at the quarry. But even with that I still have an overfull roll cabinet and a full 4X8 foot peg board above the main work bench in the garage.
Well here is one of the smallest homemade tools we'll probably see here: This was one I made up a few years back when I had to put new clutches in the boss' Ford limited slip rear diff. Actually forget exactly how this worked but think it fit between the two rear axle shafts and allowed me to compress the springs enough to get the spider gear shaft in the diff. Just a 3/8 bolt cut to the length to fit between the two shafts and the nut pushed against the spacer washer to act like a miniature jack. I know there is a "factory tool" of some kind to do this but as I knew this was a once in a life time job and it had to be done that morning I made do.
I like this idea, as others I use a pipe or hook another boxed wrench in the jaws of the open end side of the wrench. Helps out a lot more these days with small wrenches and not being as strong as I use to be
kshansen- If you think they're yours- you can come get them, but be prepared, because I'll put you to work using them, we can always use a extra hand.
When I worked at a BIG injection manufacturing plant.. I HAD TO sign an agreement saying IF/WHEN I developed any tools, they were THEIRS, along w/ the blue prints.. AND UP TO 2 YEARS AFTER I LEFT THE COMPANY.. THEY COULD CLAIM MY IDEAS AS THEIRS. Kinda sucked.. needless to say, I kept them to myself..
This is a offset socket to set the preload on top stop injectors in L-10 Cummins with a Jake.
Another one of my homemade tools for trouble shooting electrical problems on trailers. I have another one the same only with a female socket. I use this hooked to a 12v battery so I can isolate the trailer from tractor, truck or lead trailer. I just wired in cheap flashers to omit the flasher unit on truck/tractor. Plus it keeps the truck from setting sometimes for hours while finding the problem with all the lights on. Truck Shop
Made this for testing trailer lights and you can also plug the truck into it also
That's pretty nice, sure it comes in handy
The first is my home brew tire bars made from a leaf spring and a piece of 7/8" solid stock, the other is a jack stand, I use mostly when I put a starter on a truck but want full access under it.
necessity is the mother to all inventions....aint nuthing can stop one determined person with a welder..lol......nice bunch of improvised tools...ill have to dig through my shop draws for some of the ones I made..remembering what they are for is a different story...lol
You're almost right Hobby, poverty is the mother of all invention lol.! I just wanted to show some or all of my hand crafted stuff for others to duplicate or modify to suit there needs. Sometimes all it takes is a small nudge to spark a thought of, I can make this out of this piece of scrap! I'm trying to empty out my library(see my post in TGIF, Library Fire) and pass it on to others. You other old wrenchs best step up and show us your stuff, don't keep it a secret or be embarrassed by a ugly weld or two.
Don't we all have a drawer in the toolbox like that
This is my lifting bar, it is fully adjustable in length and balance. It is made from 3/4" thick steel. I don't know the capacity, but I lifted a engine and transmission with final drives and sprockets out of and back into a 450B Deere with nary a issue.
Here is one I made for knocking sanviks into grader blades sure saves some hammering especially with the blade is still on the machine
I took my pull start 10hp generator & made it an electric start yesterday.. Has to buy a flywheel w/ ring gear & starter off ebay.. for 100.00 total.. 4 bolts & washers for 1.50.. and she starts right up w/ a flip of a switch.. MORE OVER, the wife was happy.. she actually said, Good Job..!!! She probably wouldn't have thought much of it, except w/ my latest back surgery and a storm a week after.. SHE had to pull start it.. SEVERAL times.. She knew what a PITA it was..
Here's what i made for testing for testing trailers. Only does clearance lights, left, and right tailmarkers as i don't normally have issues from the brake or 12V circuits. I haven't made up a pig tail for 7-way truck plug yet. I keep getting the idea to have my buddy print me up an enclosure for some rocker switches and use a 12V dewalt tool battery to power it, but for quick and dirty this works great.
I like it
Just noticed i hooked it up backwards for the pic
Or how about power it off one of those jump start batteries? Could get all fancy and wire in a flasher to simulate the signals. And while making the box make it big enough to store a contact brush and a couple of each bulbs, Don't think hooking it up backwards will be noticed by the light circuits, unless using LEDs they would be polarity sensitive and cause you all kinds of work trying to figure out where the broken wire was located!
can you give some spcs on it
I was mistaken, it is 5/8" thick and 4" wide and 34" long . I put a tape rule along it so you can see the hole spacing. Come on guys, let's see your stuff too, I know you are holding out in us.
Anyone modified a floor jack like this? I'm getting ready to cut up my brand new one, to build one like it. Also planning to put small pneumatic tires on the front legs. I like the idea of higher lift, more stability and better mobility.
It's been a few years, for more great ideas to percolate....Let's see your current brain storm... Here's one of mine, though vintage... Filter wrench, made of bolt & # 50 chain. Used with socket, extensions and flex link. No stretchy slack like the web strap wrenches. No filter has ever resisted although removed filter looked like the loser with a Python.
Just looking at that gives me the idea that next time you get hold of a timing chain out of an old V-8 use that to get a little more width? And maybe a little lower profile to slip in close areas?
Some home made tools I made a living with.
Shame is at some places some of those might get you in trouble with "safety inspectors" for not being "approved tooling". That is despite them looking as good or better than most factory made tools!
Mekanik... The tool on the far left .. A cylinder sleeve puller ? I like the pivoting end. What at the other tools used for ?
1. 855 Cummins accessory drive pulley installer 2. Accessory drive pulley seal remover and installer 3. 855 Cummins front crank seal puller and installer 4. Cummins B 5.9 and C 8.3 rear seal puller and installer 5. The aluminum blocks cover the oil passages to the Jake Brake on an 855 Cummins so I could run the engine without the Jake housings. 6. Dial indicator holder for setting injectors on Cummins KT 1150 engines. 7. Dial indicator holder for setting injectors on Cummins 855 engines 8. Spring loaded timing pin for 3406 Cat flywheel Hsg. 9. Injector height setting tool for 3406E engines 10. timing pin for cam gear on Cummins B and C engines 11. 2 3/4" wrench for MVT cylinder on Cummins 475HP 855. 12. Mag base for pointer for degree wheel. The round tool below the degree wheel is a injector hold down tool for Cat 3406B engines. The long tool at the top is a slide hammer There are two bushing installers and bushings for the accessory drive on an 855 Cummins. Sometimes the bushing would come loose in the cover so I would put a straight knurl on the outside of the bushing to hold it in place. Better than replacing the cover. The round tool above the degree wheel is tapered to stretch the front crank seal over the shaft on a Cummins 855. The tool to the right of the degree wheel is for measuring cylinder liner protrusion.
I have a couple that I made that are used my my Goldwing motorcycle. The first is used to dismantle the front forks. The second is an adapter for my floor jack to remove the bags and trunk in one piece when I have to repair or replace the rear tire.
V8 timing chains are the perfect size fer makin steps, to get in the bed of these blasted too high new pickups. I used a pair on an old jacked up '80 chevy C-30, but you at least had a steel step bumper, to bolt to. Chain steps were like a stirrup, and would flex out of the way, iffn you hit something tall, out in the woods!
Tire changer I built for motorcycle/atv. Tools for Eaton transmissions at left.
Adapter for inboard air disc hub-a must have to keep damaging seal on installation and your back.
I do.
i work around this with fake manufacturer names and fake “field fabricated tooling” print numbers.