Making your own tools

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Made up plenty of different spanners, sockets etc
put a few grooves in it and you can turn it into a flank drive spanner ;)

Here is a crowfoot spanner I made up out of an old spanner, it had already had the other end cut off it when I got it at a g sale, so cut off remaining handle and tidied it up, then drilled 4 small holes and then the larger hole in the middle, and hand filed out a 1/2" drive point, and opened up the jaws to the required size.

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A quick n dirty crowfoot can be fashioned up by welding a stripped out old socket directly to the wrench handle. I keep a select few old split or stripped sockets about in all drives, 1/4 , 3/8 and 1/2" just for welding to cobbed up tools. I like the crowsfoot in the pic but it would take much more time to fashion, when in a hurry I can weld on a socket in less than 5 mins.
 
A quick n dirty crowfoot can be fashioned up by welding a stripped out old socket directly to the wrench handle. I keep a select few old split or stripped sockets about in all drives, 1/4 , 3/8 and 1/2" just for welding to cobbed up tools. I like the crowsfoot in the pic but it would take much more time to fashion, when in a hurry I can weld on a socket in less than 5 mins.
And the older cheaper Taiwan and China sockets were softer metal and less brittle. I think the current China stuff is higher carbon and brittle, instead of higher quality and more expensive alloy steel. I have a whole bag full purchased on yard sales, just for the purpose of being able to weld them later. I have welded sockets on many many objects to make them into special tools. Usually not for a cost savings, but time savings, when I needed it right now.

If I recall correctly from my high school triumph days, Whitworth sizes are not across the flats of the nut or the hex, but by the body diameter of the bolt itself. I remember a 1/4 W stamped wrench meant 1/4 Whitworth, which was an opening of about 7/16 of an inch for the across the flats. I think Whitworth threads are 55° angle instead of 60, and have rounded crests at the top and bottom instead of sharp or flat. They also have a different thread pitch
 
A quick n dirty crowfoot can be fashioned up by welding a stripped out old socket directly to the wrench handle. I keep a select few old split or stripped sockets about in all drives, 1/4 , 3/8 and 1/2" just for welding to cobbed up tools. I like the crowsfoot in the pic but it would take much more time to fashion, when in a hurry I can weld on a socket in less than 5 mins.
Yep, have done that too, but in this case I set it up like that so I could flip it upside down if required
 
And the older cheaper Taiwan and China sockets were softer metal and less brittle. I think the current China stuff is higher carbon and brittle, instead of higher quality and more expensive alloy steel. I have a whole bag full purchased on yard sales, just for the purpose of being able to weld them later. I have welded sockets on many many objects to make them into special tools. Usually not for a cost savings, but time savings, when I needed it right now.

If I recall correctly from my high school triumph days, Whitworth sizes are not across the flats of the nut or the hex, but by the body diameter of the bolt itself. I remember a 1/4 W stamped wrench meant 1/4 Whitworth, which was an opening of about 7/16 of an inch for the across the flats. I think Whitworth threads are 55° angle instead of 60, and have rounded crests at the top and bottom instead of sharp or flat. They also have a different thread pitch

1/4W is a handy socket, not quite 14mm and not quite 7/16"...... but strike a fixing with a rounded off head or nut in the latter two sizes and a 1/4W coupled with a hammer can be your saviour if you do not own flank wrenches. :innocent:
 
I know a lot of speciality tools could possibly be sourced out but for expediency sake I will cobble something together to get the job done quick like. I blame it all on the old blacksmiths I worked under growing up out in the farming country, little to nothing stumped those guys. Most of the old sockets I keep are of NA makes like older Craftsman, Proto, Challenger, Armstrong and Blue Point, most of it is just worn out or a sidewall crack, the square drive is still serviceable. I have boxes of pullers made often for one off jobs on marine, automotive and off road heavy machinery. What does one do when a 1/2" X12 point spline head, cylinder head bolt strips off round? Bolt needs 115+ ft lbs to break free.
 
Welder iS very helpful in making your own tools. Among other stuff I’ve made this puller to get a spindle pulley off one of old toro pro line walk behinds. Just made this Burke bar. The trick is getting spring steel (5610) for the bit. I have a spare 14 bolt full float axle with springs for my 84 3500. I cut 10” off one of the overloads. Then I ground an edge into it, the goal is to make that part like a flat bar. Then I heated it cherry red. That was tough took acetylene and mapp gas torches on both side. Then a 24” pipe wrench with another 24” pipe for more leverage. That spring is harder than a coffin nail. Then I dropped in in oil. Not the ideal forging method but I use what I have. Then I bought 12’x 2”x1”x3/16” square tube. Cut that to 46”, cut a crows beak in one end and stabbed the spring in, tack in place. Then beat closed with a hand sledge. Weld it all the way then add a 1/2”x 10” strip on top to reinforce but likely un needed. Tested it on a loaded dumpster at work…success. 5177E263-37AA-4DA0-8540-96952EDADC1B.jpegA20F8D22-8BB1-4397-8909-D20DA119C2FE.jpegD0E09B73-DA8A-4B3E-9E59-F3A79027E9B1.jpegF4DA77B1-144B-4826-AB5C-FE9088F93C4A.jpeg
 

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here,s some of my ghetto tools, flywheel holders and aluminium hammer to jar the flywheel thread, at the bottom.
grinder gets used daily, a landscaper brought me a wheely bin full of garden shears to sharpen last week


View attachment 919673
I always just loosened the nut till flush @ the end.
Hold the saw by the flyweel & tap the crank shaft.
Falls right off.
 
i do the same but with 2 flat screwdrivers wedged under the flywheel
a complete saw is pretty heavy to suspend by holding the f/w
Wooden wedge instead of screwdrivers is never a bad idea- spreads the pressure points and stops the path of least resistance when things refuse to budge. :innocent:
 
Right after I got a rush order for sharpening 20 chain loops, the coil spring on my Oregon 511a snapped. I ordered a new one, but in the mean time I made use of gravity, an 8-lb splitting wedge, and a pulley to make this contraption:
Gavity Sharpener Spring.png
It worked so well that I almost left it in place after the new spring arrived. I kept it for the next spring break. So far I've gone through three of these springs in seven years.
 
Nice!! I maybe working on a midget mk2 next which no doubt is covered in the bloody things, so maybe I need to look at a set..
The SU Carbs on my '64 Sprite MKIII have Whitworth nuts. The rest is Imperial Fractional size.
 
Right after I got a rush order for sharpening 20 chain loops, the coil spring on my Oregon 511a snapped. I ordered a new one, but in the mean time I made use of gravity, an 8-lb splitting wedge, and a pulley to make this contraption:
View attachment 919953
It worked so well that I almost left it in place after the new spring arrived. I kept it for the next spring break. So far I've gone through three of these springs in seven years.
That stool top is beautiful. Did you make that?
 
That stool top is beautiful. Did you make that?
Yes I did and I have used it for 16 years. The top is laminated walnut and white oak, 12" dia. and 1.5" thick. The base legs are 1.5" thick white oak, cross-joined about 11" up from the floor. Overall height is 27.5". It's a bit hard to see in that Pic. Thank you for the compliment, Dave.
 
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