Home made tools!

[200mphbusa]

A balance stand from a few years ago. Save me a ton of money changing motorcycle tires myself.

[gjgarre]

I know they are not much but here are a few putty knives I made from some stainless scrap and oak scrap. The other tool is a brake caliper compressor tool. The handle was from a broken tubing cutter and the other is just a scrap of steel. And then a "hunting tool" i made the stock and trigger guard and butt plate for. I am in the process of making a new bolt for it, but it is at work so I didn't have it here for a picture. Will post one when I get it. The gun was in a fire and the stock was burned off. My grandpa gave it to me a few years ago and I just let it sit. Since then I re-blued it and made the stock from scratch. Not much welding but handmade tools non-the-less.

Sorry the pictures are grainy the camera was acting fun.

[oxy moron]

"this thread should be stickied"

Define stickied please.

as in stuck to the top of all threads and doesn't get bumped down... like its magnetically stuck to the top

[que_sera_sera1102]

I am very surprised that you can make your own products with your tools. You are really skillful. I can't create any thing, even the simplest one. Therefore I have to buy everything that I need. But I think buying the product from professional company is better than making them on our owns.

[oxy moron]

I am very surprised that you can make your own products with your tools. You are really skillful. I can't create any thing, even the simplest one. Therefore I have to buy everything that I need. But I think buying the product from professional company is better than making them on our owns.

what if you're a carpenter? (GASP!!!) or, say, a furniture maker, and you need to sit down to whittle something. You're already a furniture maker, and the chair to sit down on is a "tool." So, in that sense, the furniture maker can make a better chair then a store bought (most of the time).

a lot of these homemade tools posted aren't all that dissimilar to the store bought ones as far as geometry and design... as long as they're strongly built, it might even outlast store bought.

I've looked at a lot of welding benches before i built mine, and almost all of them ones i've seen will last more then a life time.

[Oldiron2]

I am very surprised that you can make your own products with your tools. You are really skillful. I can't create any thing, even the simplest one. Therefore I have to buy everything that I need. But I think buying the product from professional company is better than making them on our owns.

Some of the tools people make are for specific jobs or purposes and don't exist anywhere else. Than too, what did people do before any modern tools had been devised? Who built the first lathe, which than could be used to make many other otherwise-difficult-to-make objects?? Interesting history.
Anyone here collect or make Branding Irons? Or know what a "running iron" is?

[laredo]

Some of the tools people make are for specific jobs or purposes and don't exist anywhere else. Than too, what did people do before any modern tools had been devised? Who built the first lathe, which than could be used to make many other otherwise-difficult-to-make objects?? Interesting history.
Anyone here collect or make Branding Irons? Or know what a "running iron" is?

A running iron was a tool that could result in a stretched neck back in the day of cattle rustling. It was a branding iron with a hooked tip that could be used to alter existing brands.

[Mustangous]

A balance stand from a few years ago. Save me a ton of money changing motorcycle tires myself.

very cool, did you make your own tire changer as well???

[200mphbusa]

Mustangus--yes I did also knock out a tire changer, not quite a Coats Commercial one but it does serve its purpose. It's made from a few pieces of square tubing, a car wheel, some all thread, and a few pieces of flat for the bead breaker. Here's a few photos:

[hillco]

Bob W: How do you put your name on the blades?? Looks VERY nice!

[Mustangous]

Mustangus--yes I did also knock out a tire changer, not quite a Coats Commercial one but it does serve its purpose. It's made from a few pieces of square tubing, a car wheel, some all thread, and a few pieces of flat for the bead breaker.

Very cool to everyone!

[zeke]

Duane, that last one looks like it's for a spindle nut on a 4WD front axle.
Just my guess,
Mike

I shoulda thought about that method. Instead, I turned down a long socket and cut 4 teeth in the end to get the nut out of an old Jeep. But, the OD was like just over an inch, IIRC. Seeing yours, I could have welded 2 pieces of angle and topped it with an old extension.

You gotta love the web.

[lilredex]

Here are a few of mine: socket trays (bent up from 18 Ga. Steel), Tool rack on (wall mounted) compressor, and misc tools. Shown are a 15mm wrench to unwind the belt tensioner ( 3.0 L Caravan), ball joint sockets (ugly but functional) for eighties Mopars, and a steering wheel puller for same.

[Jonnie Fraz]

I thought I posted this one before, but here goes. In the shop I used to work at we did tons of tubing bird mouth notches. We built awnings so the tubes would intersect at various angles. I built this tool for doing the notches with a plasma.

[Magnetic Mechanic]

Definitely a must have. If I ever get my plaz working I will be making a copy.

[denrep]

I was doing some tool sorting, when I stumbled into this shop-built pusher tool:
Attachment 33118
The lower picture shows sort of how it works.

It's for separating the rings that hold an OTR tire.

I quickly cobbled it together from a single gear puller jaw, and some stray screws.
Not much rhyme or reason behind the tool's mismatched components; other than that they would work together, and were available in the junk drawer the day this tool was built.

Good Luck

[ol' Stick Guy]

Nice designs " Necessity is the Mother of Invention " what kind of material on the knife handle Bob?

[Sparky8370]

I just did one a couple weeks ago. My buddy was changing the filters on his excavator and was all flustered when he didn't have a wrench, channel locks, or any other means of getting the old filter out of the tank. Anything big enough was too long to fit in the tank. So I said "Just make one." and he looked at me like I had 3 heads. I grabbed the new filter, measured the nut then grabbed a piece of 1/8" plate steel and his plasma cutter and made a wrench. It worked great, and fit in there perfect. He put it in his tool box for next time.

[Boostinjdm]

Don't know if this qualifies as home made or not. Built it from scratch at work from scrap. The concrete wall behind it is four feet tall so you have some idea of scale.

[Boostinjdm]

This one is home made, and still a work in progress. Smaller version of the BIG ONE. Building this one in my garage.

[Antibling]

Simple jig I made up to cut down bag cups.

I made it quick but made it so it's a good start for a decent hand powered positioner. I'm going to cut the plate it sits on down so the bolt sits out and I can make a crank for it. I also forgot a locking collar so I had to hold it in while turning it with one hand. I'm going to make a clamp that fits the torch so I don't have to use vice grips to hold it on, and eventually I'd like to find a real chuck for it.

[el~bryce~o]

You know ur first photo looks quit good,

[gordon stephenson]

I made this bead breaker about 40 years ago when i was changing tyres pretty often, you know what it's like,not been married long,young family to support not a lot of spare cash i used to put anything on my rims that still a bit of life in them, and so needed changing pretty often.after a while you get tired battling on with stuck beads so I came up with this. And I must say it works very well, used it on everything from a mini to a land-rover and won every battle.
Don't use it now and should really sell it on Ebay etc.but it's like an old friend from the past,so i'll just leave it hanging on the garage wall as a reminder of happy busy times.

Cheers Gordon.

P.S.Have not shown the 4 foot tube that slips over the handle,(just in case you thought I was super strong and did it all by hand!!)

[mudbugone]

Keep the original...Draw some plans and sell them or build a copy and sell it... That looks like a useful tool still.....a larger one would be great for tractor tires.

I've never seen one like that,but I can see where it would get the job done.

[Bob Warner]

I put my name on my knives by electro-etching them. I built the machine to do it and also built the box to make the logo stencils. So many people wanted to learn this I was asked to create a DVD to teach how to build these tools.