Show me your tool - Homemade that is...

[LowStandards]

After struggling for a good 2 hours yesterday trying to press in a new ball joint using large sockets, big hammers and my vice, I decided a press was needed.

I grabbed my well fingered copy of Machine Mart and my soon turned to followed shortly by when I noticed the smallest one they do was £187!!!

Said item:


Not wanting to spend more than I normally buy cars for on a tool that will get little use, I looked around my garage, grabbed an old bottle jack and some random bits of steel I had knocking about and and hour later I had this:




Now its the same width and only slightly shorter than the Clarke version, I pressed a bush out and it works a treat.

I've just gotta tidy up the movable bed, but I was running out of time.



So, show me your homebuilt tools...

[klunk]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics, but, in a kind of ironic way, I used a Bearing press to make a Louvre press.

A mate had just the male and female part of a louvre cutter, and I made a jig to go in the press with guides and everything and then after several trial and errors I managed to punch five louvres in my side panels for my old Rover. I really should have taken pics, Doh! Weird thing was it took about 2 hours to set up, and then only 5 mins to do all the punching. It certainly was a testing time, as these were 58 year old panels that you can't exactly go out and buy!!!!

You can just about make out the louvres on these pictures. On the side panels just behind the wings:-

usera.imagecave.com/Klunk/Rover/06MMkPc_ph.jpg

usera.imagecave.com/Klunk/Rover/12Rover.jpg

usera.imagecave.com/Klunk/Rover/DSCN1228.JPG

Have also made a slide hammer out of some studding and an old dumbbell weight. Managed to get a few blood blisters using it, but it did the trick for pulling my shafts out of my diff.

[bigrod]

That press is V. cool!! Could it double as a pipe bender too or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[racer86]

My tool is very similar! However, mine was for pushing gudgeon pins out of Chevette Pistons!





Crude, but it worked!

[stealthstylz]

I made a engine hoist out of 3 pieces of scaffold tube, a fat u bolt and a normal bolt and the pulley system my mate got from work. I'll take pics of it its an ace bit of kit, got a 5 ton limit too so can lift cars etc.

My uncle also made a normal engine lifting arm out of box section and a bottle jack which i've now got thats good too.

Matt

[Deleted]

I keep meaning to make a dangerous looking ghetto style engine crane to match my leaf spring spreader.

Pop springs are stronger than they look and after I bent all my clamps trying to compress the back one I used a bit of 3" box section with some wings welded on so I could use part of my hub puller to compress it. That bent so I had to cut and weld another bit on the bottom, but I forgot to change the wire in the welder so it's 0.6 wire with splatter everywhere, cut and shut in the middle.

We just carried the spring out VERY carefully and put it in the corner where it wouldn't hurt anyone if it let go...

I'll get some pics.

[PhoenixC]

I`ve got a lot that I have made but not got many pictures of them.
I have a similar kind of bearing press I made for work with a 12 ton bottle jack.
Also got a tool I made up for removing and fitting ball joints into E36 wishbones.
Pic of the A-Frame I made up for lifting bare shells for cars I have broken.


Its just manageable to assemble it by one man but its much easier with two.
Then put a block and tackle on and use it to lift cars from the dolly I made up for moving them from my garage where I have stripped them onto my transporter.


Then they both dismantle to be stored away until they are needed.

[mikelmr]

made this for spreading the casing and taking the diff out of my Ovlov 740 axle. It's a beast with M24 bolts

[Colonelk]

Awesome stuff in here!

[J.P]

I have a load of Dads old tools.

Home made spring compressors and Home made gear remover-for-shafts tool spring to mind!

[needabeetle]

I made a tool for pull off a drum that was stuck on (outer bearing had melted).

Essentialy, we used a piece of steel, drilled 3 holes in, got a big pointy bolt (from an actual puller, but the puller was too small for 4x130, but any big bolt would do), then 2 wheel bolts, jobs a good un! Took longer to make it than get the drum off! Didn't half bend, but would still work.

Also use a tube from a wheel barrow handle as a breaker bar to get the castle nuts off a rear of a beetle!



Got any photo's of that first tool in action, I'd like to see how its done as I've not had to do it yet (thankfully), but reckon I will do sometime!