Stuff you have made today

[Moose McAlpine]

the hydraulic tappets on my car are getting a bit noisy so I decided that I'd give cleaning them a go. getting the middle bit out seems to end up with you getting a sore hand from bashing the tappet down against something and hoping it falls out. I was struggling to get 3 out this way so made one of the worlds simplest tools........a wooden stick

cut a flat bottomed hole in a piece of wood a couple of ft long so that the tappet can held in it and the cut the piece of wood so that you can clamp the tappet in place with a couple of studs and some nuts.

and it worked first hit without getting a sore hand, and because the piece of wood give me more hitting force as the end will travel faster than my hand, it makes the job easier but also split the wood too by the studs......just wish I'd thought of this earlier today.

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You can usually remove them with an airline/blowgun, but i did once fire one across the workshop doing that. Took a while to find it!

 

[DAPPH]

Today I continued to imagine that my workshop is bigger than it actually is. This time by making a "fair weather bench". I'd been getting frustrated at the amount of faff involved in getting the trestles and a board out of the shed if I needed a bit more working space on sunny days. Also I'm never very happy with how rickety the trestles-and-board combination is. My trestles are relatively heavy duty (although I bought them more because they can be adjusted to be a comfortable height for a tall person, unlike most), but they're not exactly sturdy.

Anyway, today my bench got an extension. I cut some grooves in the bottom of the end of my bench and set some 30 × 30 × 2 mm box section into it with four steel clamps to hold it in place:

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I then built a simple frame out of 25 × 25 × 2 mm box section and another one (for the legs) out of 20 × 20 × 2 mm box section. This frame slides (about 400 mm) into the box section fixed into the bench.

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At the moment I haven't added a diagonal to hold the legs vertical as it doesn't seem to need it. The "hinge" is just an M8 bolt through both pieces with a nut either side of the top frame so that the leg section swings freely but the screw won't move:

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I then added an 18 mm plywood top with some cut-outs (held in place with a load of M5 CSK screws):

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The cut-outs nearest the existing bench are to hold it in place:

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The ones at the back are for wheels...

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... which make it easy to slide down the back of my drawer cabinet when not in use:

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I guess that's another one for the ever growing list of "welded box section things that I must get round to painting at some point".

Until I saw the clamp I thought you were going to hinge the top as a flap so when you push the extendable support in it just hung down and blanked off the view of the bin.

 

[selectedgrub]

Front of clock.

 

[Kram]

Cant do much I have no space to work in the shed! Tidied up a bit then made a crude hanging tab for the grinder, drilled, tapped m4 and epoxied it on.

Its been annoying me for 2 years that I had no way to hang it!

 

[Ross365]

A "dog kennel" for my compressor. It means I can relocate the compressor and have a much-reduced length of pipe between that and my grit blasting cabinet.

 

[Melvyn Best]

A "dog kennel" for my compressor. It means I can relocate the compressor and have a much-reduced length of pipe between that and my grit blasting cabinet.

I hope you have installed plenty of ventilation, compressors overheat if there’s not enough air for cooling

 

[Dr.Al]

Until I saw the clamp I thought you were going to hinge the top as a flap so when you push the extendable support in it just hung down and blanked off the view of the bin.

The thought had occurred to me (as it would have been quicker to install and remove if it was just a case of flapping it up and down), but it would have involved a huge amount of work as I would have had to make the bench shorter, which would have involved moving the drawer on the end, which would have involved moving the bench leg, which would have involved moving the vice, which would... well, you get the idea. The bench goes right up to the door so that the roller shutter passes it with about 10 mm clearance.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Can you guess what it is yet?

A 'doohicky' for carrying the office Staff's coffee? [some take medium, others large... ]

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Despite loosing a few hours yesterday, not a good day.

I have managed to finish yesterdays fun work.

This German storm lantern was acquired the other day, it is only 10" high.

I did have the box, but it was so far gone to be saved.



The wick had gone rotten, but there was a spare, the glass cleaned up well with vinegar and newspaper.




This shows are far the paint had been affected. But a clean up with wax/oil mix has restored the shine.




In flame for the first time.

A fun restoration.
Like this one below.



Double headed adjustable spanner, but this one was seized. But it does have a WD stamp and 1943 date.




In Bits, lots of heat and force. The knurled section is item that should make it adjustable, But that and the half flat thread was filled with what looked like 2 pack glue.




So it was boiled in hot citric acid to de-rust it. Then through a 3 stage blackening kit.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The sun was out, the coffee beans needed to be tested.
So. As it was very early I hand cut some of the oak boards I got. Used a old moulding plane to cut the sides to a nice shape.

Not nice to be using power tools at early hours.



There is a reason for this.



The coffee grinder is meant to be wall mounted, this way I can fix it to the workshop wall and use it.

This set of seat frames came my way, the oak was from another place.
The seat is a modern one, but a good one. Made from cast steel.



I knew the metal woven metal back insert was way to far gone. But I didn't notice the two breakages.




So out with the welder, after buying some cast metal welding rods, I still can not find my box.



In places it was nice to weld, but some was a real pain. It doesn't look good, but a grinder and knowing it will be hidden means I will be happy.




Oak fitted with brass screws and candle wax.
This picture is bugging me, the slats are level and evenly spaced. But the sun and shadows makes it look like they are not.


Oh well coffee time

 

[Hood]

Grabbed one of the wedge holder I made many moons ago.

Remove the set screws and adjusting screw and chuck it in the Chiron.

Finished milling.

Put the Sherman into stick mode, grab a rubbish Sif 6013 and stick a capto C4 holder to it.

Then onto the lathe for a test.

A small selection of the various Capto C4 holders I have.

And a quick video showing how easy it is to change. Now I just need to set them all up in the DRO.

 

[mtt.tr]

Grabbed one of the wedge holder I made many moons ago.

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Remove the set screws and adjusting screw and chuck it in the Chiron.

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Finished milling.


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Put the Sherman into stick mode, grab a rubbish Sif 6013 and stick a capto C4 holder to it.

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Then onto the lathe for a test.
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A small selection of the various Capto C4 holders I have.


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And a quick video showing how easy it is to change. Now I just need to set them all up in the DRO.

its a qctpqctp

 

[Hood]

A quick and dirty T Key for the aforementioned C4 holder.

 

[rtcosic]

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The cut-outs nearest the existing bench are to hold it in place:

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The ones at the back are for wheels...

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This is close to a Sketchup drawing I'm working on for the workbenches in my new garage.

As we are downsizing and the garage is smaller and the shed non-existent I have 'designed' 2 small movable benches rather than 1 large fixed one.

The idea is 100mm caster wheels enclosed in two of the wheels with the centres set so that when the bench is horizontal they don't touch the floor, but when the bench is at a 5deg angle they are. A device like the Formula 1 lever jack will raise the other 2 legs to achieve the >5deg angle and let me wheels the benches around.
There will be over centre toggle clamps like @Dr.Al to clamp to cleats on the garage wall or to each other when I wheel them out into the centre of the garage or out onto the external hardstand to make a square bench I can walk around.

Their size is to hold my existing Halfords floor toolboxes to one side and RUBs on the other. The Halfords toolboxes will be donating their non-swivelling castors for the bench and the swivelling ones for the dolly cum jack.

Other details include a recess in one of them for the pillar drill to sit in so that its base plate is flush with the benchtop. The other will have ab extra diagonal to carry the third rear bolt of the bench vice.
I have vast quantities of alloy extrusion which I am thinking of recessing into the benchtop to take tee-bolts for as yet undefined 'might be useful' purposes rather than holes for clamps.

So:

I've made a drawing!

 

[4String.]

A couple of push sticks out of scrap 3/4" plywood:





Nowt special but I'm chuffed to bits at how they turned out as I cut them freehand on my new bandsaw.

 

[Guzrik]

Did this

to make this

Dies for my hydraulic press to do this

 

[daedalusminos]

Bit OTT this...
Took some PETG print filament, steel tube, threaded rod, a stainless steel bolt and some connector bolts...




Cut threaded rod and tube to length, chemical black tube and connector bolts, turn down stainless bolt and print some parts...


Assemble into a 6"x4" thermal label reel holder...

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The sun was warm, the coffee was hot. Neighbour had family round, in the garden, so no power tools.
So in between naps I striped, cleaned, serviced, polished and refilled this old fire extinguisher.



I do like these, not as a fire extinguisher, but the look and the use I put them too.
Cat deterrent or weed killer spray.



The cleaning was first with wire wool and warm water. Then wire wool and metal polish.




One final polish with felt cloth and brasso.




Now filled with weed killer.
Been set to work.

This is a double action unit. It will dispense the contents with either a push or a pull.

 

[DAPPH]

The thought had occurred to me (as it would have been quicker to install and remove if it was just a case of flapping it up and down), but it would have involved a huge amount of work as I would have had to make the bench shorter, which would have involved moving the drawer on the end, which would have involved moving the bench leg, which would have involved moving the vice, which would... well, you get the idea. The bench goes right up to the door so that the roller shutter passes it with about 10 mm clearance.

I like your ideas .
It's always wise when playing in small garages to have the saw bench on one side by the door & the welding bench with vice on the opposite side by the door so you can play with long lengths of wood & metal with the minimum of moving stuff around. I'm so glad I did that and added heavy duty lockable hard nylon castors to all my benches & tool storage filing cabinets so if they need a bit of moving it's easy to do .

 

[Dr.Al]

I like your ideas .
It's always wise when playing in small garages to have the saw bench on one side by the door & the welding bench with vice on the opposite side by the door so you can play with long lengths of wood & metal with the minimum of moving stuff around. I'm so glad I did that and added heavy duty lockable hard nylon castors to all my benches & tool storage filing cabinets so if they need a bit of moving it's easy to do .

That would definitely be nice, but it would make the motorbike parking a bit awkward in mine! At least I can handle the long lengths of wood. For long lengths of metal I tend to have to work outside or on the floor.