Show What Tool You Made*

stuckmotor · Feb 12, 2014

firemanmike69 said:
Built this socket for taking the nut off track adjuster springs, snap on wanted over $2k for it

View attachment 358512

How'd you form the angles?

Sodo · Feb 12, 2014

Don't have to bend it - you can use 6 plates and weld all the corners.

DaveOmak · Feb 13, 2014

Sodo said:
Can you set a long sheet of smooth metal roofing below? Push the pile out with a rake?

Yeah.... I have a rolled piece of metal I want to mount just below the cutters and it will follow the curve of the drum... It should discharge pretty good... I pull the chopped straw out with a fork now... I have to disengage the PTO so something serious doesn't happen... It''s just a PITA to keep having to turn the PTO off...

bmaverick said:
I like that straw chopper.

Thanks Maverick.... It's a bit different.... and it was fairly easy to build....

Sodo · Feb 13, 2014

DaveOmak said:
I pull the chopped straw out with a fork now... I have to disengage the PTO so something serious doesn't happen... It''s just a PITA to keep having to turn the PTO off...

Agreed, that's why I would suggest to push the pile out from the backside (where you are standing to load it). If the roofing is long the pile will just keep sliding down the roofing.

Wait….are you driving the tractor while running this thing?

DaveOmak · Feb 14, 2014

Sodo said:
Agreed, that's why I would suggest to push the pile out from the backside (where you are standing to load it). If the roofing is long the pile will just keep sliding down the roofing.

Wait?are you driving the tractor while running this thing?

I have chopped while standing on the platform, on the rear of the chopper.... Bride was driving down the beds of garlic... I had a rack to store wafers of straw while I was doing that... Worked pretty good.... then I raked out the straw when we were done with the chopping...

Now I use it stationary, sort of... pull up to the straw bale and chop it all up.... then move to the next bale... etc... then pitch into apple bins so it was easy to move and store for later......

Doing anything around that chopper drum, while it is motion, is something that doesn't appeal to me... I wouldn't be able to read my obituary......

downsizingnow48 · Feb 21, 2014

Don't want to see this thread fade away! I am sure there are lots of good ideas still out there. Will offer up a super-low-tech tool for something that comes up all the time - cutting of floppy sheet materials like plywood and particle board. See photos. Two long boards, whatever you have, two short boards, whatever you have, screwed together to make a parallelogram. It collapses together to be stored in a corner when you don't need it. Screws need to be driven about 1/2" down to be out of the way of the blade. Add a third short board, movable, to support wherever you are making the cut. No more binding etc. Works good on any sheet material, especially odd shapes. Takes about 2 minutes to make using scrap you were going to throw away anyway.

Midniteoyl · Feb 21, 2014

Soo simple! Thanks for the idea!

:thumbsup:

k0ua · Feb 21, 2014

downsizingnow48 said:
Don't want to see this thread fade away! I am sure there are lots of good ideas still out there. Will offer up a super-low-tech tool for something that comes up all the time - cutting of floppy sheet materials like plywood and particle board. See photos. Two long boards, whatever you have, two short boards, whatever you have, screwed together to make a parallelogram. It collapses together to be stored in a corner when you don't need it. Screws need to be driven about 1/2" down to be out of the way of the blade. Add a third short board, movable, to support wherever you are making the cut. No more binding etc. Works good on any sheet material, especially odd shapes. Takes about 2 minutes to make using scrap you were going to throw away anyway.

View attachment 361938 View attachment 361939

I like it!:thumbsup:

Gordon Gould · Feb 21, 2014

Choker Chain Grab Hook. Push it under the fallen log/tree, hook on to the choker chain, and then pull the choker chain under. A lot easier than pushing the pin end of the choker chain under and then trying to find it to grab it with your finger tips and pull it thru.

Leejohn · Feb 21, 2014

Where did you get that choker chain?

Gordon Gould · Feb 21, 2014

Leejohn said:
Where did you get that choker chain?

I buy the choker chains or just the hooks at a logging supply or chainsaw dealer ( not box store or hardware chain ). You can order them on line from BaileysOnLine.com or Labonville.com Two size hooks are made for 3/8" or 5/16" chain.

Leejohn · Feb 21, 2014

Thanks Gordon I'm getting one.......... Lee Johnston

npalen · Feb 21, 2014

I built this fixture with parallel linkage and two arm pivots to hold the router in a vertical position while swinging it over a fairly large area. It's used to rout binding ledges on guitar bodies in this case but could be used for other router applications that require keeping the router in a vertical plane. The gas strut provides counterbalance and has an adjustable stop. Used aluminum 1x2 and 1x1 by 1/8" wall square tubing. All pivots are zero clearance with steel against UHMW.
Similar arrangements are used in machine shops for holding an air motor for tapping holes as a secondary operation to CNC machines.

Edit: Router appears out of level in the photo due to lens distortion.

downsizingnow48 · Feb 23, 2014

Nice workmanship. Can you give a close up of the vertical swivel joints on the angled 1x2? And how did you make them, I've been puzzling on this for days and cant figger it out.

I think i have the same bosch router came in a countertop installers kit. Have used it for everything for years very light and smooth.

npalen · Feb 24, 2014

This shows the attachment of the 3/4" round to the 1x2 rectangular. The 3/4" shaft has two tapped 1/4"NC-20 holes to accept the 1/4" button head capscrews which pull the shaft tight inside the hole thru the 1x2. The "joint" is between the 3/4" round and the UHMW mounting block with the angle cut UHMW acting as a thrust washer. Used a long 3/4" endmill to cut the hole down thru the 1x2 on a 45 degree angle.

The curved links are bolted solid to the left 3/4" shaft and the pivot is between the 3/4" shaft and the UHMW sandwiched between the 1/4" plates.
Thanks for the interest. I'm more than happy to answer any additional questions, dimensions etc.

Sodo · Feb 24, 2014

Gordon Gould said:
Choker Chain Grab Hook. Push it under the fallen log/tree, hook on to the choker chain, and then pull the choker chain under. A lot easier than pushing the pin end of the choker chain under and then trying to find it to grab it with your finger tips and pull it thru.
View attachment 361982

Thats great, would really help when working solo. I could have used that many times. Except I'd lose it out in the woods somewhere. Easy to make another one though.

downsizingnow48 · Feb 24, 2014

npalen said:
This shows the attachment of the 3/4" round to the 1x2 rectangular. The 3/4" shaft has two tapped 1/4"NC-20 holes to accept the 1/4" button head capscrews which pull the shaft tight inside the hole thru the 1x2. The "joint" is between the 3/4" round and the UHMW mounting block with the angle cut UHMW acting as a thrust washer.

Interesting. The base is withstanding significant bending force where any give could damage an expensive and time consuming work product. Gonna have to get some of that white stuff and start learning properties and applications. Thx!

npalen · Feb 24, 2014

The weight of the router, during use, is actually resting on the workpiece (guitar body in this case) which takes the strain of the mounting UHMW base. One of the bearings on the cutter arbor absorbs this vertical load and also establishes the depth of cut in the vertical direction. A second bearing (commonly referred to as a rub collar) establishes the horizontal depth of cut.
You are certainly correct in "seeing the load" on the base and I'm planning to add a larger piece of metal under the base with three adjusting screws to allow leveling the base to the fixture table. I'm also currently adding a third member between the two curved links to align and stiffen them to each other. No end to the fun and I'm learning as I go.
The UHMW is interesting material to machine and cuts well with sharp HSS tools. It is difficult to deburr and just laughs at sandpaper. I prefer using Delrin as it isn't quite so tough. Aluminum would actually be a better material for the base but didn't have any that size on hand.

graydog111 · Mar 15, 2014

I retired from wheat farming in Western Oklahoma in 2003 and sold my 4450 John Deere. Lots of dust collected on the radiator and A/C condenser fins and is difficult to blow it out. I took a Milton type air nozzle, removed the tip from the 1/8" pipe threads and added a 24" piece of 1/8" black pipe. I welded the end shut, then drilled a .125 inch hole near the end to blow out at a 90 degree angle. I could then stick the pipe extension in between the radiator and the condenser, blowing the dirt out of both of them without damaging the fins. It really worked good.