What useful tool have you built for your shop?

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Hello all, I showed a few of the things I have made in another thread. I am curious what others have made for use in their shop.It seems that almost everyone builds three basic things:1. Welding table2. Welding cart3. A trailer of some sortI want to see the OTHER stuff. The stuff you built and use as tools.In my case I built a treadle hammer which is kinda unusual and my hydraulic press that is also a little unusual compared to what others have in their shops. I have built anodizers for coloring titanium, electro-etch machine for etching my name in the blades and a light box for creating stencils for the logo I etch into the blades, propane and coal forges. These were built to support my addiction to knifemaking.I have seen a few ring rollers which I want to build one of these days.What tools have you built to support your addiction to performing some type of work? What have you built that helps you build something else?I am bound to need to build some new tools, I just don't know that I need them yet. I need you guys to show me what I am missing.How about posting some pictures if you have them or at least explain what you built.Thanks,Bob
Reply:we dont "per say" build anything special for the shop but we will modify most anything if need be..i needed a 3 jaw chuck that ran dead nuts and had to be able to hold a really thin aluminum tube without slipping and you cant make it egg shaped by squashing it too much to hold it while putting an angle on the I.D.so i took some 8" tubing and cut sections out of it on the band saw and welded them to a set of "soft jaws" ...remachined them after welding and heres what i came up with..Attachment 4722and the worked just wonderfully!!heres a home made steady rest for a lathe that did'nt come with one..Attachment 4723we'll stop at nothing!!  ...zap!Last edited by zapster; 12-27-2007 at 05:22 PM.I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:That is exactly what I am talking about. I love this type of thing.The three jaw chuck is nice.I knew a guy that mig welded the edges of augars with hard rod to extend their lifespan. I built him a variable speed setup to power his chuck. He mounted the augars in the chuck, set up his mig and turned it on. He had a long bar running the length of the augar and could rest his hand on it. He just followed the edge as the augar slowly turned for him to put a new edge on it.He made pretty good cash doing this and the machine took a lot of the work out of it.Makes a heck of a picket twister also.Great job, looking forward to seeing more things like this.Bob
Reply:Here a some pics I had laying around still.  A shop chair, a "tool" that makes life alittle easier I find I use it alot at the drill press when making lots of holes.  It's a donated Lund boat seat some scrap 2x4 tube and 2x2 that two pieces of unistrut (welded together with 1/2" washers as spacers) slide perfectly in and a nut welded to the 2x2 and a bent 3/8" bolt that threads into a nut and then into the unistrut nut for adjustment.  Also a pic of the affore mentioned ring roller that I have posted before.  Does a ghetto bending setup count as a tool?  It's a Northen pipe Bender with some bolt on mods to bend angle the hard way.  Large machine/welding shop in town said they couldn't do it so this was my only hope and it worked very well. Attached Images
Reply:The shop chair is great. I should build one since my left leg is (and always will be) screwed up from a motorcycle accident (Damn Hit & Run drivers). I need to sit a lot more when I work, that is a good idea. I need a seat like that for my lawn mower.The ring roller looks great, not over complicated like many I have seen but definately capable of doing the trick. What are the rollers made of? Is the drive roller modified in any way to prevent slipping?The angle bender is escaping me. From the picture I am not sure what I am looking at. Can you elaborate? I love it when the "Professionals" can't do things and "WE" can figure out how to do them in our home shops. Makes you want to take your stuff back and show it to them.Great work.
Reply:I don't have the photos handy but I have built a press for in my shop, but the thing I built that I use the most probably is a cherry picker (engine hoist).  It sure saves on the old back and I use it often for lifting the front of my riding mower for changing sharpening blades etc. Also used it when lifting my work bench. It was fun to build, I bought the hydraulic lift for it from Harbor freight and the wheels for it from Northern. I think money wise I had about $75.00 in it. The pipe I used to make it was used 2 3/8 & used 2 7/8 tubing. I also made a load leveler for it after seeing one at a tool sale, went and bought a couple small pieces of channel and a 24" piece of all thread and put it together it works good. Have used it with the cherry picker to pull and install engines and transmissions. load and unload heavy stuff from the garage into or out of the pickup.   I have also used the t-bone fashon for making a plasma cutter cart and made one for my plasma cutter it works great.
Reply:The rollers are 1" cold rolled steel they are not treated in anyway to prevent slipping.  I wish I would have used bigger stock (stronger) but I was impaitent and the only pillow blocks I could find locally were 1".The angle bender (that was a bad pic) was needed to bend 1.5x 1x5x 3/16" angle for my snow plow (the piece that rotates back and forth).  In the previous pic there is a piece of square tube screwed onto the bender frame for a spacer and the two pieces of square with holes in them that the factory pins slide through.  I used a factory die (1" pipe I think) on the jack cut notched the angle with a chop saw put the angle in the unit and pounded a scrap wood 2x6 in opposite the metal space and bent!  I'll post some more pics to make it more confusing!  IN the 3 tries pic my attempts are from top to bottom the first was without any releif cuts the second they are space too far apart all along the angle and the third and keeper they were about 1" apart just in the middle, I bent it and welded the spaces shut and ground them smooth you can see the piece in place in the new plow set up pic its the piece with white grease on it.  Everything black on the plow was new. Attached ImagesLast edited by dichdoc; 08-26-2006 at 12:02 PM.
Reply:Bob, is your electro-etcher a basic high current, low voltage transformer with tungsten etching tip in a manual etching pen or something more technologically exotic?  I use the manual pen for tool identification, but the result, while effective in identification, looks crappy with lots of spark and burn marks.  I also get lots of stick-slip action that makes it hard to control the appearance of the mark.  If you are marking the knives you sell, I presume you are getting better looking results than I am.  How do you do it?I have seen ads for an etcher that uses an electrochemical process with a stencil and an electrolyte.  Does anyone know what their process is?  Anybody have a homebrew version?Zap, that's a neat looking tube chuck.  I've had good luck minimizing tube distortion using a Bison six-jaw lathe chuch to get more uniform clamping force around the tube.awright
Reply:Zap, that's a neat looking tube chuck. I've had good luck minimizing tube distortion using a Bison six-jaw lathe chuch to get more uniform clamping force around the tube.awrightYeah we have a few 6 jaws also..still no good for that job.. i had to turn the jaws pretty much the same size as the rings so it would clamp around the tube nice nice..turn them too big..only the middles touch..so whats the point of makin'em?too small and the outside edges touch (X3)that wont cut it either.. no marking of the O.D. of anykind allowed...so it worked out good..me no scared... ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:You want a homebrew version of the electromechanical version with stencil and electrolyte?Lets see if I can help with this request.Go here to see the plans with radio shack part numbers to build the electro-etcher for about $50 if you buy all new stuff.http://www.warnerknives.com/electro-etcher.htmGo here to learn how the process works, where to get electrolyte and stencil "Resist" material and instructions on how to build a light box to make your own stencils. This is exposure unit (light box) is a big buck item that costs a fortune to buy. But one I figured out the process I built the box for next to nothing.http://www.warnerknives.com/stencil_exposure_unit.htmI don't have a closeup of the mark but here is a knife with my logo (my last name) on the blade. They come out really nice and crisp. Excuse the poor quality photo.Enjoy,Bob
Reply:gnewby.Now the angle bender makes sense to me. Thanks for clearing it up.Bob
Reply:I haven't made anything really cool, just useful to me. I made this jig from 2x4 and 10' sticks of conduit to space and center balusters on the top rail for welding railing. I just find the center of my toprail, and align it with the center mark on my jig and clamp everything up and go.I have the conduit marked for 4 inch and 6 inch intervals...the 6 inch is for a log bed railing I'm trying to build. The 4 inch is for railings that I am planning to build for my patio. Attached ImagesLincoln AC-225
Reply:Right now the most usefull is the rotary draw bender I built.  It uses a hydraulic ram pulling on leaf chain to rotate the spindle.  It'll bend up to 2" OD x .125 wall tubing.
Reply:Thats pretty sharp, I built an hosfeld lookalike and love it.  What do you do for return on the the machine do you turn it back by hand, i couldn't tell if it returns back to zero or not.  But defiantly some fine designing and quality of workmanship.justweldit41H2osStickers.comMiller Syncrowave 250 Hi-FreqMiller 252 migHypertherm Powermax105Miller Maxstar 200Hypertherm 1650Tourchmate 1   4' X 8'Hossfeld Bender30W Laser Engraver
Reply:i want one!!! ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Panozeng, I'm confused, where do you pound in the 2x6 for fine tuning the fit???  I feel like such a scab!  TB
Reply:That bender is great. Bet it took a while to get it all figured out. You should have made plans for that thing (if you didn't). I know I would build one if I had the need to bend a lot of pipe. A little to pricy to build just for the "COOL" factor.Great job, I am impressed.
Reply:Beautiful tube bender!  And nifty idea for the linear/rotary conversion.  But where do you get the rotary die?   That's the hard part.awrightLast edited by awright; 08-27-2006 at 12:37 AM.
Reply:Brake built for hyd. shop press with open center to bend 90's.Joe Attached Images
Reply:I wish my camera would work right, I've been having troubles downloading for a few weeks...I didn't build it, but my dad built us a furnace for casting brass, aluminum, etc.. He built it from a Dave Gingery book. It came out very nicely. He doesn't use it much anymore, but he used to make alot of artsy stuff like sundials and weathervanes with it. Lately I've been wanting to dig it out and play with it, still have all the mold forms and a 50gal bucket of sand.
Reply:This is my lifting boom/jib i built out of pipe i have picked up close to 1000lbs. with it but i would not try anything heavier than that. Attached Images
Reply:Bob, ................ I built this, at the end of last summer, with the help of my 12 year old grandson. I've started to teach him to weld, so I let him do most of the welding. I use it to weld pipe and tubing with my wire-feed and TIG setup. My son is an electrician so he did all the wiring and supplied the components. It has a foot control for controlling the revolutions and also has a forward and reverse. I have a total of $70.00 invested. With whats in the control panel and all the other bearings, lathe chuck and other items to put this together, if I were to purchase all these items new, it would come to around $800.00.It comes in handy when beveling pipe and making oil tanks for a friend of mine that builds choppers. Attached ImagesLast edited by Diverbill45; 08-28-2006 at 04:36 AM.
Reply:Here's another little item that REALLY comes in handy. I made it up to hold tubing in place so that both your hands are free.I build mini-sandrail frames and every so often you need to fit a piece in place and hold it until you're ready to tack it.It's made out of 2 pieces of angle, 2 pieces of flatbar, a couple of pieces of althread and 2 pieces of flatbar that were cut into an arc. It can be adjusted to any angle you want.This clamp has been a real time saver. Attached Images
Reply:The chuck setup is very similar to what I built for a guy to weld hard edges on augars. Very nice.The clamp is a great idea. I may need to build one myself someday.Great work.
Reply:Hey Bob, thanks very much for putting this in here as I'm semi retired and love to make things, I just have trouble thinking of what to make,,,,,this will help me come up with ideas i thinkNo problem sc6chuck9,To be honest I am looking for ideas also. I am rehabbing from an injury and am looking for ideas myself. In addition I am just facinated by the creativity of others and hope my ideas inspire them as well.
Reply:Great design on the tube bender. Definately beats my old bender hands down. The design anyways. Your dies are similar to my Baleigh dies. Did you make them, or have them machined. And if you had them made, can I ask how much they stuck you for? We just paid 1300 for a 8 and 12 inch diameter 1" square dies.Bill
Reply:Yep - they are definitely similar to Balieigh / RMD dies since that is who I bought them from.  I designed the spindle to accept the RMD dies because I found them to be well designed and well made.  I also designed it so I could adapt the cheaper JD2 & pro tools dies, but they aren't as user friendly.  I got to work with Chris Rusch (the owner and engineer behind RMD) on monster garage a year and a half ago, and found his stuff to be really nice.  Oh, and for the earlier question about the return on this machine.  I originally planned to use a cable and pulleys do pull it back with the ram, but didn't leave enough room on the spindle to add the sheave for the cable.  So, underneath the machine I added a pulley with a section of flat belt attached that pulls on a large spring.  Kind of an ugly patch, b ut gets the job done...I do not have much in the way of plans for the bender; pretty much designed it as I built it.
Reply:i cant beleave no one gave you the finger......wait that didnt come out right. showed you the finger, still not much better.LOL any way its a simple little helping had for holding stuff. its been around for ever and a lot of you will likely have one or more but some of the new guys will greatly benifit from it. it will realy help out. i just built my first one last night woth my own twist on the design, so i could ajust the amount of wait on it at the tip by moving my large magnet up or down the back bone of it.. i also included a few others design's, one is from tigdepos welding class and is the most standerd design another is one made by one of the guys on the miller askandy board. i have been planing to make one of these for ever just always forget when im in the shop. it will realy come in handy when TIGing aluminum and SS as you cant use a magnet to hold it to tack it.the 1st pic is my finger no wait, 2nd is my finger with wait, 3rd is my finger in use to show others how it works, 4th istigdepo's finger, 5th is the one from askandy, he used larger stock to build it so did not think a wait was needed.some times the simpelest things can be the biggest help. Attached Images summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:grest post by the way looking forward to coppying some of the stuff in her, with a lil twist to make it suit me ofcorse. 8^)) summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:It is funny you brought up the "Finger." Just yesterday I painted one I have had for years. Never thought of posting the picture. I use it all the time.fun4now, when you make some of this stuff, we want to see the twists you add to them. That way we can copy them back.
Reply:no problem, i just gota find the time. oh and the gas i just started playing with my new TIG and wow that sucker eats up the gas like a big block with a blower on a 1/4 mile track.  great fun but i gota upgrade my tank from an 80 to atleast a 125, a 155 would be better. atleast i have the MIG as a back up, not as much fun but it just sips the gas  i got a hole list of stuff i gota or wana build. hoping to get some $$ up for some matereal to build a bunc of carts so i can seperate every thing as i have them all stacked onto the all terane cart i made for the MIG 5 years ago befor i got the plasma or the TIG. gets the job done but its time to give them there own space.didnt you post about wanting to get into TIG?? its great fun, i defenetly recomend it, verry relaxing, kinda zen-like. if ya look into inverters the TA is a great buy for the $$, dyn200DX would be my first pick but the TA-185 gets 2nd spot, oh and a ride on the top of my cart.8^)) Attached Images summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:I just finished this this weekend,  its a 4x48 belt grinder I salvaged the motor, the steel was all scrap from the shop and I spent $18.00 on bearings and misc. Attached Images
Reply:I don't understand what you are talking about when you say your TIG sucks the gas...??????????I use like 12CFH with mild steel, I don't mig weld, but I doubt you could go much lower.
Reply:maybe a beter way to put it is it sucks up the gas when lerning and doing multiple little welds, compared to MIG. this can be even more the case with a TIG unit that has a preset post flow. my post flow is ajustable but as a roule you should have 1 second of post flow for every 10 amps used wile welding and with SS you should realy run a bit more. so for even a small 2 second tack weld at 70 amps you would still use 9 seconds of gas for TIG as aposed to the 2 seconds of gas flow needed for MIG. i have a gas saver lense from CK on my torch and run at about 12-15 qfph and have gone threw an 80 cuft tank in far less use than i would have with MIG.i am going to upgrade to a larger tank when i refill some time this week or next as i am almost out.some of the TIG welders have a preset non-ajustable post flow of 10 or more seconds and this can eat up some gas quickly. the torches that you need to manualy turn on and off the gas can be even werse still.the new Miller syncrowave  is self ajusting post flow witch is nice and can save you some gas as well. TIG just uses up a lot of gas in comparisin to MIG, so if you are used to MIG switching the TIG could catch you off guard. it should also be figured into the expense of a TIG weld VS a MIG weld and offten is if you have some one do it for you. the $$ per HR of running TIG is higher than that of MIG and the inches per HR is also les for TIG than for MIG all thease factors lend to the TIG repair being more expensive than a comprible repair done it MIG.well that got a little windy but i hope my point is clearer now.happy sparkin to alljamesmaking and selling great welder covers to suport my shop habbit.if you got a welder i can cover it.  shoot me an e-mail at [email][email protected] i got time to chat.right now my e-mail with this forum is messed up so you have to e-mail me directly at the metalart address. i hope to have it resolved soon thanks James
Reply:how did i go from a WeldingWeb Journeyman   with 88 post back to a sodere with 5 ??????happy sparkin to alljamesmaking and selling great welder covers to suport my shop habbit.if you got a welder i can cover it.  shoot me an e-mail at [email][email protected] i got time to chat.right now my e-mail with this forum is messed up so you have to e-mail me directly at the metalart address. i hope to have it resolved soon thanks James
Reply:Fun4now,Did you make several bad welds and someone saw them?
Reply:.LOL no it seems to have me listed 2 times once under my old e-mail and once under my ne e-mail. i tryed to change my e-mail in the old fun4now to the new fun4now's e-mail but it tells me it is already in use, so some how i have 2 fun4now's one from befor i changed e-mail and one from after but i dont know how to fix it???? and i will not get an e-mail notification when some one post behind me if it gets sent to my old e-mail.  and i dont know how to fix it or to log in under the new fun4now???happy sparkin to alljamesmaking and selling great welder covers to suport my shop habbit.if you got a welder i can cover it.  shoot me an e-mail at [email][email protected] i got time to chat.right now my e-mail with this forum is messed up so you have to e-mail me directly at the metalart address. i hope to have it resolved soon thanks James
Reply:Originally Posted by fun4now.LOL no it seems to have me listed 2 times once under my old e-mail and once under my ne e-mail. i tryed to change my e-mail in the old fun4now to the new fun4now's e-mail but it tells me it is already in use, so some how i have 2 fun4now's one from befor i changed e-mail and one from after but i dont know how to fix it???? and i will not get an e-mail notification when some one post behind me if it gets sent to my old e-mail.  and i dont know how to fix it or to log in under the new fun4now???
Reply:how do i do that, they dissabled the members list????happy sparkin to alljamesmaking and selling great welder covers to suport my shop habbit.if you got a welder i can cover it.  shoot me an e-mail at [email][email protected] i got time to chat.right now my e-mail with this forum is messed up so you have to e-mail me directly at the metalart address. i hope to have it resolved soon thanks James
Reply:Originally Posted by fun4nowhow do i do that, they dissabled the members list????
Reply:all is good now.  just had to e-mail a few of my aluminum TIG weld pic's and he fixed it right up for me. summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:For the shop, have built a work bench, grinder stands, engine hoist,20 ton press, steady rest, jack stands, special spanners and pullers. Have also built, a trailer, sawbench, 3PTL jib,boom spray,post hole digger, wire spinner, steel post driver and several gates.Building a gantry at present. R W
Reply:I built this tubing bender:I really like the vertical design as I don't have to fight gravity when making a second bend in the same plane as the first. With it I have built things like this:MikeBuilding a Jeep from the ground up as a graduation present for my kid. Build thread can be read at http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259306Mike
Reply:wannabedid you make the die or buy it?? how about some better pic's. benders are a big subject here. mainly due to the expense of them i would suspect. i have always wanted one but the price starts out bad and just keeps getting worse as you add the needed die's so like many i suspect i have put it on hold due to $$$is your die a 1/2 circle ? summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:VERY nice job on that bender, Wannabe.  More info would be welcome, especially on the die source/fab.awright
Reply:Originally Posted by TubularFab  I got to work with Chris Rusch (the owner and engineer behind RMD) on monster garage a year and a half ago, and found his stuff to be really nice.
Reply:So far I made a custom crane that can lift my five hundred pound Bobcat, fit through the 27"x82" door, roll out through the gravel to the truck without getting stuck, then extend and lift my welder onto the truck. Also I made an awning tube bender out of a dead band saw. I made a welding table out of the twisted wreckage of a fallen down fire escape that can either hold my vise or a big hinged flap of steel that converts it to a brake. I made a rolling toolbox out of a 1950's steel kitchen drawer cabinet. I made a saw stand/tig stool that was originaly a Orange County Chopper bicycle front fork that I welded a car rim to (I can plug either a bike seat or a "T" bar into it). I enclosed my harbor freight trailer with wood framing and skinned it with fiberglass from my kid's 3'x12' pool. I made a tank cart out of a hand truck. And I built a custom removable steel rack for my F-150 that comes apart in five sections with six pins.
Reply:12,000Doors, I would like to see some pics. All of that sounds very cool!
Reply:Me to, please.