Homemade tools

[bftank]

it has been great for unloading stuff from my trailer when we moved. picking up a fully dressed cummins on an engine stand was a little sketchy but it did it.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I wish i had thought of this idea but I can't take credit. I bought this thru a kijiji ad and it works great;

Originally it came with one belt but I wanted two different grits, one for metal and one for wood. With one belt it was easy to adjust the tracking to center the belt with a little help under the bed with bent metal "fence". With two belts not so easy anymore. I'm using the same idea of fences but it's causing the belt to stretch at the outside edges;

I believe the solution would be two separate rollers at the bed end, which I'll do as soon as they come in.
The original owner was using this for wood only, which worked great until I started grinding metal. The metal dust collected on the "motherboard" and shorted. I was lucky in that I was able to clean the board and it fired back up. I decided that a barrier between the belts and motor/board was a very good idea;

I hot glued some foam to the black plastic cover creating a [hopefully] dust free motor enclosure. The only place for ingress is the belt opening. I also flipped the board over so all the exposed metal tracing is at the bottom, I hope that any metal filings that make it in don't defy gravity too much. Also is a computer fan blowing filtered air into the motor enclosure making it a positive pressure enclosure.

I built a quick fence;

I'm grinding an edge to this plate to use in a homemade press brake.
The torque of the DC motor is great and there is variable motor speed control, tho I leave that on high so far.
This uses stock off the shelf belts 6"x[IIRC]89"
With a fence at the back tubing could be ground on the roller for cage fit-up purposes.
I'd like to re-design the bed to make belt changes easier and so the belt rides at the edge of the bed. Right now it needs to be taken totally apart to change a belt.
I thought this was a great re-purposing of an expensive coat hanger.
I have a total of $75.00 into it including new belts.

Richard

 

[Shran]

Wow, I'll be damned, that is cool!

I just finished up a new welding cart for my new Clarke welder. I don't like the generic carts from HF or even the better quality Miller or Lincoln carts so I made my own. I wanted extra storage for wire, tips, magnets, etc. The new cart has storage for two 2lb rolls of wire and a 10lb roll as well.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I like the tire iron handles!
Good job.
Also like bftanks idea, Ima copying that.

 

[nooch450]

Portaban Table, Leafspring rearcher, press brake, tube bender, tall ass jack stands....

 

[gwaii]

thought i would share my mobile cherry picker boom hitch thingama jigger.

those are pretty handy-i made my setup a few years ago and use it constantly.

this one's built on a shortened explorer.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, I gotta ask, what's with the rear steer?

 

[gwaii]

Ok, I gotta ask, what's with the rear steer?

makes it easier to put things where i want them.




plus,it's fun

 

[scotts90ranger]

I meant like how'd ya do it , I understand the why

 

[gwaii]

I meant like how'd ya do it , I understand the why

well,i guess since i use the thing as a tool it fits here....
i started out with two explorer frames and welded the fronts together(so the back is just another front)and used an electric motor turning through a worm gear tied into the steering rack to operate it.

the motor is switched through a set of winch solonoids using a switch on the console.it works quite well.

 

[TheTopher]

Gwaii, I'm pretty sure I saw a press just like that in the adult store just outside of town.

I swear, I was just going there for a friend.

 

[Shran]

...treadmill belt sander...

I took your idea and modified it a lot. I didn't want a huge belt sander and the belts for it would have been fawking expensive. So I scored a treadmill from the thrift store, shortened it, added legs, relocated the electronics, flipped the motor, and added a work rest. I have $10 into the treadmill and can run $6, 36" belts. I am thinking about adding a second belt but it is really hard to adjust the roller tension to prevent the belt from walking all over so maybe I won't.

I will probably be putting a different pulley on the bottom roller so it spins faster too. It works decently well now but spinning faster would be nice.

I actually scored two treadmills, the other was free from craigslist. It also got taken apart and I used the motor and variable speed controller for my drill press. I'm fairly satisfied with the results but I don't think it has much more power than the original 1/3HP AC motor had.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Good job on the belt sander. Be careful about the mother board as if it burns out it's not a cheap replacement. Of course, a whole new treadmill can be acquired for pretty cheap....
If it wasn't so much trouble I revert back to one belt. Or run two separate end rollers, I found some on line that would work for about 15.00 each but that will have to wait for finances.
What about the drill didn't you like? I was thinking about using a dc motor so I could turn down the drill speed for bigger bits. Is that what you did? Also thought about adding another pully system so that the motor runs thru two sets of pulleys, allowing me to reduce speed even more so I can use hole saws without burning the teeth up.

Richard

 

[scotts90ranger]

For the drill press I've been pondering the router speed control box that Harbor Freight sells for cheap...

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^Got a link?