neohic Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 So we've all been there, right? That bolt that's just a little too far around that corner to get to and a ratchet just won't cut it... or that crazy flat thing needed to open up the plug on a pipe cleanout... maybe you just wanted a bottle opener that nobody else had. In any case, some tools just suck and others are either super expensive or just unobtainable. Me? I'm more on the side of thinking that some tools are just too expensive for what I need them to be. Other times it's either late and nobody is open to get the right tool of just out of not wanting to drive all the way into town. Either way, I've made up some tools of my own that have been quite handy. Instead of ransacking my shop looking for everything, I figured I'd just post up stuff as I come across it. The latest are a couple real dusies that I've been using just about everytime I go out there. Mini anvil: Yup... it's a chunk of beam that I cut down to size. Really doesn't matter what shape it is though. All I use it for is smacking things around. Simple and to the point for what it needs to be. 8" bench vise: A bench vise is a real pet peeve of mine. First off, you could pick up a small, cheapie one every year that'll only get bound up and find new ways to get you all fired up. Sure, one could drop $600+ for a nice Wilton or pick up one used but still... good luck finding one for cheap as they never really wear out. Second, the dang handle on the end of them. Always flopping around... always in the way when the jaws are tightened down... sometimes you need to really crank down on something so you're tempted to use a "torque multiplier" and then just end up bending the handle so is doesn't even move like it should anymore... What I wanted was cheap, no dumb handle to get in the way, cheap, easy to maintain, and cheap. This was my solution. This is where everyone else chimes in. What neat tools have you put together to make your life easier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbyrambler Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Nice, esp the vice - - It looks sturdy enough to smack things around on & save wear & tear on the mini anvil - lol :wrench: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectormj Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 ive made a steel pipe a sledge hammer handle it was great till it got ran over by a backhoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I really like the vice.....gives you the option of putting on an impact (electric or pnematic) for those times you are using it for a press.... :thumbsup: I make quite a few myself.....but don't have a lot of pics Here is a set of dollies i made out of simple 1" copper pipe T's and a broom handle. They are your best friend when welding holes or seams in light gauge metal ( they are worth their wieght in gold when fixing floor pans).....You just use them as a backer...they conduct electricity....allow the steel weld to pool....then you just pull them away. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 ^Excellent idea! Been a number of times I've made up similar things. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Made up another doozy recently. We're painting the shop at the school I work at so things needed to get clear from the walls. That meant that I had a whole bunch of curtains to take down. Those curtains are held up with wing nuts: ... lots of wing nuts: That's about a third of what needed to come down. I decided to skip the carpal tunnel and whipped up a wing nut driver. Worked great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 How about a bead roller. I bought a Woodward fab kit for the dies and gears then made the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I didn't make this one but I did restore it. Its a home brew slip roll, it's stout enough that I have re arched leaf springs on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Have you checked out http://www.homemadetools.net/ they send me an email about once a week with all sorts of neat tools people have submitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I want a welder :( though once I did assemble an engine hoist from the 4x6 beams out in the landscaping. :D (dad was impressed, but not all that amused) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxmj Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I finally took some pics so here is a couple of “homemade helpers” The first is a press I made from scratch in school years ago. My instructor had a rule that if you could draw it (both isometric projection and exploded) and utilize just the steel donated to the school (scraps from local manufactures) you could make it and take it home. Here is my take on a shop press…..similar to many you have seen…the only real difference is I fabricated a head, out of 3/8” just like they have on large mechanical breaks so I could use regular break dies. I have pipe dies for it as well. Right now it is just a 20T hydraulic……but that will be replaced by a duel air over hydraulic soon. The only “pre formed” piece on the whole press is the bed (40” of 6x6 I-beam)…everything else is formed out of 10 gauge AR steel. And for any of you fabricator’s out there…..here is my chance to brag a bit…. Like I said the body is entirely 10 Gauge…this is where calculating bend allowances is taken to the max…..so when you look at the side rails look closely at the hole….it is not ¼” but double 10 gauge…..may not mean much to some until you realize I laid out all 4 side pieces as flat stock…..pre-punched the holes…then bent them into u channels…...then slid one inside the other……. the holes lined up (thankfully) and making it look like one piece of ¼” …….you can see the seam in the hole here. The next is more of an assistant than a tool….I have had a little flat deck that I use to get parts (diffs, Trans, T-cases, Motors, etc.) It saves having to take the topper off the MJ, or I can pull it with one of the Wranglers or XJ’s. The bad part was needing a helper all the time to lift on and off….I had been giving a good long look at modifying the head of my engine hoist to have it bolt on when I can across this virtually new little crane on a local website……picked it up for $40 cash (that included the hydraulic you see…originally it had a hand operated cable winch) added a ATV winch with a pillow block, Onboard battery….ready to rock. I can use the winch to pull it closer ( or out of the brush) as well as load and unload easy. Since the pics were taken I not only gave the trailer a new coat of paint but I added 2 pipe connectors (one on either side of the frame) that allow me to use a little flip up trailer jack to stabilize it a bit better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big66440 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I don't have any pics (not that you'd need any :laughin: ) but stick a few strong magnets on your cherry picker, shop press,engine stand or any tool that has one of those steel handles so you can easily "stick" it in place and keep it from rolling around when you're working on something instead of trying to put it where it goes,,,, which for some reason NEVER seems to be in a convenient place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Since I've been making my own copper lugs for 1 AWG battery cables I found out that it's hard to hold onto the lug when drilling the hole. So I came up with this ugly wooden contraption :yes: works really well, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 Bringing this one back. Didn't necessarily make the tool, but rather made a home for it. Yup... it's a kinker of a pipe bender. I've got some plans to make it actually work well. It stores away nice and will be the new home for my bench vice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 To continue on with the bender, here's how to make them work pretty good... Clean out all of the excess paint out of the dye. When I first opened mine, it looked as though the guy running the paint line that day was getting paid by how many gallons he put down. Make up an extension shoe for the rollers. This will create some friction along with putting more even pressure as to not put dimples in the material. See, the problem with these things is that the rollers don't allow for any pressure on the dye letting the material pull up and out... thus why they are commonly refereed to as "kinkers". Lastly to make sure that the material won't pull out by making up a hard stop over the dye. Pictures are pretty self explanatory as to what I did there. On a side note, 1", 1 5/8", and 2" tubing will fit nicely with the supplied dyes however you need to make sure that you're using a heavy wall thickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Made a few more helping hands this weekend while working on my dune buggy. The tube bender wasn't cooperating... mostly a gravity issue. The fix... And then this little guy came in hand when copying angles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 must...get...welder...of...my...own... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 No... they only get people in trouble. :shake: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1987Comanche Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Made a jig so I could put a BOP TH350 on my engine stand and flip it around as needed for tear down & rebuild. Works great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Made my own BA10/5 "drain/fill plug" 5/16" removal tool. From some Chinexican 3" extension I had in my tool box. https://goo.gl/photos/u5Srsb3nLcCEWxRs5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCO6 Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 This is an old thread but I thought I'd bring it back to life with a few of the things I've built to make my life "easier" as the title says. Metal plate shear assisted by a trailer jack. I power the jack with a DeWalt 20V 1/2" drive impact wrench. Foot operated spot welder stand to free up an extra hand. Stretcher / Shrinker stands to again free up an extra hand. Shop press (20 ton). Parts washer. Rolling welding magnet stand. Spark plug wire tester. TJ shifter tap handle on my garage fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 love that spot welder! genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCO6 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Thanks Pete. I built it so that the welder itself can be easily removed (4 bolts) so I can take TO something I need to weld if necessary. I haven't finished it yet but the box at the bottom houses a timer. I'll be able to dial it to different times depending on the thickness of the metal being welded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 For moving stuff around the yard and loading it into trucks. An old cherry picker modified to slide into a receiver hitch. And a fuel tank sender removal tool. Made from some pulley off a 4.o. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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