Built-it-myself tools/machines - show us what you've done

[A_Pmech]

Jim,

Nice work!

It has nice proportions to it.

A ring roller is on my list of things to do. As is a a 6" plate roll. Just as soon as I get these two machines rebuilt, anyway.

[e-tek]

Here's a hacksaw I made in Grade 9 MetalWork - 32 years go!!! It takes 10inch blades, as you can see the 12inch is too long!

The dolly is made from lead, melted inot a tin can for me by an old bodyman I worked with at my Dads shop. It's used for pick work. I've wrapped it in duct tape to make it even softer, owing to metal becoming thinner and softer over time.

From Tools made

[Jim Stabe]

Originally Posted by W-Cummins

How did you turn the nice groves in the dies?

On the rings do you cut the flat part out on the starting end and roll it closed??

BTW the stuff looks great!

William....

I used end mills of the appropriate diameter and held the die blank in the mill vise to rough out the shape. I would plunge cut then rotate a few degrees and make another plunge cut. After the groove was roughed out I installed the die in a fixture that spun it with a drill and finished the contour with the side of the mill cutter.
Ring Roller c 006 (Medium).jpg

Ring Roller c 004 (Medium).jpg

I'll have to use a radius cutter on the lathe when I make dies for larger tubing.

To make a circle I do 2 arcs of the same radius and lay them on top of each other to form the circle then tack them together. Make 2 bandsaw cuts and weld the halves together. You can make a really round and planar ring that way

[GzrGlide]

Made a "lift" for my bike so I could lever the front or the back tire up high enough, so I could take the wheels off.






Also took a basic scissor jack and welded on a new base for stability as well as a solid bar that runs the length of the frame brace under the bike that I can use to raise the back of the bike.

[kbs2244]

GzrGlide:
You do use your electric drill to spin the jack, don't you?

[W-Cummins]

Originally Posted by Jim Stabe

I used end mills of the appropriate diameter and held the die blank in the mill vise to rough out the shape. I would plunge cut then rotate a few degrees and make another plunge cut. After the groove was roughed out I installed the die in a fixture that spun it with a drill and finished the contour with the side of the mill cutter.
Attachment 37178

That's dam clever! I like that one might be a little $$ for the larger cutters but way cheaper than the dies. Did you heat treat the dies or just run them as is?

I'll have to use a radius cutter on the lathe when I make dies for larger tubing.

I have looked into them but they seem to be more suited to larger radius's

To make a circle I do 2 arcs of the same radius and lay them on top of each other to form the circle then tack them together. Make 2 bandsaw cuts and weld the halves together. You can make a really round and planar ring that way

That sounds like a good way to make them I will have to try that!

Thanks for sharing the ideas!


William.....

[GzrGlide]

Originally Posted by kbs2244

GzrGlide:
You do use your electric drill to spin the jack, don't you?

Sadly...not yet. I have to weld a large nut onto the end of the "screw-shaft" and I'll use my impact gun. I just haven't gotten motivated enough to do that yet. For now, all I do is put a rod thru the hole, turn, remove & replace rod, turn etc etc.

But now that you've reminded me of that, guess I'll be doing that this week!

[e-tek]

I like the nut and impact gun better than the drill - for the weight of the bike.

[Jim Stabe]

Originally Posted by W-Cummins

That's dam clever! I like that one might be a little $$ for the larger cutters but way cheaper than the dies. Did you heat treat the dies or just run them as is?

I have looked into them but they seem to be more suited to larger radius's

That sounds like a good way to make them I will have to try that!

Thanks for sharing the ideas!


William.....

Probably not going to be making the larger dies now. This weekend I bought the HF tubing roller that has 1", 1 1/2" and 2" dies that I will either use in my machine or just use the HF machine as is. The regular price is $159 and it was on sale for $139 and with a 20% coupon it was only $112. The dies are made from castings and are really nice quality, the machine isn't bad either although the screw might be a little difficult to work when bending 2" - 1/8" wall tubing

[GzrGlide]

Originally Posted by e-tek

I like the nut and impact gun better than the drill - for the weight of the bike.

Well I welded a bolt to the jack and man does that work slick with the impact gun. It'll be interesting to see how fast it pushes the bike up!

[mgermca]

Great thread, great ideas, thanks guys!

I've been scratching my head about how to fix my cheapie knockoff Roper Whitney hand punch to my bench to make it easier to use. I know they make a proper stand for the RW but it's kinda pricey and I couldn't be sure it would mate with my Taiwan made US Industrial Tools sourced punch so I decided to make one.

So I drew something up in Acad, fiddled around with it and cut some bits of CRS on my little self converted CNC mini mill to get the results you see here.

I highly recommended getting one of these punches if you don't have one, they're about 20$ at HFreight and if you are not inclined to make a stand, there's a guy on ebay making them for 25$, just do a search for "Hand held Sheet Metal Punch Mounting Bracket". He sells the punch too, just check his other sales. Here are the links to HF and US Industrial. I bought mine from US Industrial about 10 years ago, paid too much, D'OH!

HF: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44060

US Industrial: https://www.ustool.com/store/cart.ph..._detail&p=1427

I think that if you fool around a bit with some end cuts out of your scarp bin you can come up with something that'll do the same thing.

In the end I ran a couple off for buds that I owed favors to. I am not selling them nor am I in any way affiliated with the ebay fellow.

Yes, there's lack of depth gauge with this setup. Still workin' on that part, that's half the fun of doing this stuff!

cheers!

Mark
Montreal

[Steevo]

Originally Posted by krehmkej

Bead breaker for motorcycle tires.



When needed, it just bolts to the top of my welding table.

I want to see more of that welding table. Did you build that?

[senlow]

Originally Posted by mgermca

Great thread, great ideas, thanks guys!

I've been scratching my head about how to fix my cheapie knockoff Roper Whitney hand punch to my bench to make it easier to use. I know they make a proper stand for the RW but it's kinda pricey and I couldn't be sure it would mate with my Taiwan made US Industrial Tools sourced punch so I decided to make one.

So I drew something up in Acad, fiddled around with it and cut some bits of CRS on my little self converted CNC mini mill to get the results you see here.

I highly recommended getting one of these punches if you don't have one, they're about 20$ at HFreight and if you are not inclined to make a stand, there's a guy on ebay making them for 25$, just do a search for "Hand held Sheet Metal Punch Mounting Bracket". He sells the punch too, just check his other sales. Here are the links to HF and US Industrial. I bought mine from US Industrial about 10 years ago, paid too much, D'OH!

HF: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44060

US Industrial: https://www.ustool.com/store/cart.ph..._detail&p=1427

I think that if you fool around a bit with some end cuts out of your scarp bin you can come up with something that'll do the same thing.

In the end I ran a couple off for buds that I owed favors to. I am not selling them nor am I in any way affiliated with the ebay fellow.

Yes, there's lack of depth gauge with this setup. Still workin' on that part, that's half the fun of doing this stuff!

cheers!

Mark
Montreal

Well done. I like it.
And, welcome to the board.

[Kevin54]

Originally Posted by mgermca

Great thread, great ideas, thanks guys!

I've been scratching my head about how to fix my cheapie knockoff Roper Whitney hand punch to my bench to make it easier to use. I know they make a proper stand for the RW but it's kinda pricey and I couldn't be sure it would mate with my Taiwan made US Industrial Tools sourced punch so I decided to make one.

So I drew something up in Acad, fiddled around with it and cut some bits of CRS on my little self converted CNC mini mill to get the results you see here.

I highly recommended getting one of these punches if you don't have one, they're about 20$ at HFreight and if you are not inclined to make a stand, there's a guy on ebay making them for 25$, just do a search for "Hand held Sheet Metal Punch Mounting Bracket". He sells the punch too, just check his other sales. Here are the links to HF and US Industrial. I bought mine from US Industrial about 10 years ago, paid too much, D'OH!

HF: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44060

US Industrial: https://www.ustool.com/store/cart.ph..._detail&p=1427

I think that if you fool around a bit with some end cuts out of your scarp bin you can come up with something that'll do the same thing.

In the end I ran a couple off for buds that I owed favors to. I am not selling them nor am I in any way affiliated with the ebay fellow.

Yes, there's lack of depth gauge with this setup. Still workin' on that part, that's half the fun of doing this stuff!

cheers!

Mark
Montreal

Nice job on the stands You can take it one step further and add that stand to a metal base that is as long as the centerline of the punch and as far back as the handle. That way you don't have to clamp it to a table and you can sit it anywhere. BTW....for anyone that DOESN'T have a Whitney Punch, I would recommend getting one. Real handy thing to have. I have one at work and use it weekly.

[shmo]

Here's a weekend project. This guy built his own 3-axis CNC!!!!!

http://www.stanford.edu/~hydrobay/lookat/cnc.html

[Jim Stabe]

Originally Posted by shmo

Here's a weekend project. This guy built his own 3-axis CNC!!!!!

http://www.stanford.edu/~hydrobay/lookat/cnc.html

You get a lot longer weekends than I do!

[smedly]

Likely done before, but here is my brake bleeder made from a cheap-o garden sprayer, pressure gauge and spare brake reservoir cap.

[donbarr]

Jim,

I'm just looking at building a few shop tools as I'm rebuilding a number of old sports cars. Love your adjustable rotisserie. Also, the English Wheel -- any estimate on cost and where you got the parts?

Thanks,

Don

[GzrGlide]

Originally Posted by smedly

Likely done before, but here is my brake bleeder made from a cheap-o garden sprayer, pressure gauge and spare brake reservoir cap.

Dude!! Thats brilliant.

Any specific fab instructions or more pics! It's tough bleeding bakes when the only other person around is a 11 year old kid!

[Jim Stabe]

Originally Posted by donbarr

Jim,

I'm just looking at building a few shop tools as I'm rebuilding a number of old sports cars. Love your adjustable rotisserie. Also, the English Wheel -- any estimate on cost and where you got the parts?

Thanks,

Don

You can see a write up on the English wheel here http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12554 and on welding it up here http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=26663. The adjuster is described in post # 40 here http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showt...t=12316&page=2

You can find some good info on rotisseries here http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11993 and here http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showt...ght=rotisserie