Stupidly Simple Homemade Tools

I love to make my own tools, the simpler and cheaper, the better. While unloading and splitting the most recent load, I found myself longing for a pickaroon/hookaroon to reduce the need to climb up into the truck bed. I wandered around in the garage until I came up the the necessary components.

The first was an old, very weathered handle from who-knows-what.

The second was a 3 in. long THS Fluted Masonry Nail.

I chose the masonry nail because they are hardened to Rc 45-50, making them hard, tough and bend resistant. (mild steel bar is Rc 20, a file is Rc 64)

I drilled a small hole through the handle to prevent splitting and drove the nail through. It does the job just as I would like and the nail shows no sign of bending (it was curved when I put it in), Total investment? Ten cents maybe. I may put a plate behing the head of the nail, it has pushed back a little.





Please feel free to post your Stupidly Simple Homemade Tools

Excellent idea. Fender washer w/ 3/16 hole would extend the life quite a bit.

The KISS is usually the best approach. I like it!

Now that I look at it some more,I'd guess that was a handle for a wheelbarrow.Judging by the square cross section over most its length & short round end

I'd carry that in a dark alley. Maybe epoxy the nail in?

I have a wooden wrench at work that I made. I'll try to grab a pic next week. We use it all the time.

Oh, I have these. His and her weed pickers. Old sawzall blades epoxied into turned cherry handle. Good root cutter for when we have to take out maple saplings.

From an old discussion, my foot pedal modification of the hand controls on my Homelite splitter. Nylon cord, blocks of wood and a 3 in. tee hinge.



Still working great after 3 years.

Great idea! I've been looking for a foot switch for my drill press and haven't been able to find one.

Billy

I think Ill try that with my homelite, whats holding that hinge on?

The first time I tried glue, but that didn't last. I ended up removing the box and attaching the hinge with machine screws and nuts.

Firewood measuring stick, not my idea, but it fits this category. Made with 1/2 in. pvc pipe with holes at the desired distance from the dumb end and filled with powdered chalk. Hold the dumb end (I plugged mine internally because I was short of caps) at the end of the log or previous mark and rock it down so it taps on the log. Nice blue (or red) mark that is easy to see. The split collar is made from 3/4 pipe split lengthwise, it allows covering one or both holes (you need two for right or left hand marking).

Here are some things I have made over the years. Sledge hammer, breaker bar, pallet breaker, coaxial indicator.

Not sure how many of those qualify as Stupidly Simple, the coax indicator definitely doesn't.

Thanks, Ill try that, couldnt we use a simple off-on switch and then use the pedal for the back lever?

You'd have to turn the switch off each cycle, the ram won't retract with the motor running.

Good ole yankee ingenuity .
Re-cycling wasn't just invented

Few easy ideas for the nail.
Drill the hole all the way thru, :
Install a bolt. Nail won't move & if need, easy to replace it.
or cut the head off the bolt, hacksaw a screw driver slot, thread the bolt in.
or pound in wooden dowel rod

"Me, Thor! Me think you pretty! *WHOP*"

I'm not sure I like the idea of foot operation on my log splitter. Thats part of the safety. To have both hands exposed to the opertion of the mach and then activate it with your foot is an amputation waiting to happen.
I work in the Health and Safety field and if this were an industrial machine it would have no less than two hand activation. That would not be pratical for us and fortunaly OSHA isn't watching over our shoulder.

Used 3/4" subfloor with a hole in it tells me if the peices I split will fit into my stove door. If their length is shorter than that of the wood, it will not stick out the front. Painted white with left over latex paint so I can find it in the debri and to better weather proof it.

I made this wrench out of a piece of ash that I use at work. We turn a lot of CPVC ball valves and over time, rust and deposits bind them up a little. After cracking a few red handles off the valves with channel locks, I had to come up with a solution. It works really well and haven't had a handle crack since using it. The wrench has sat in the bottom of a wet bucket many times for days and has yet to split.

Hey Master Mech, where'd you find the picture of Scotty overkill?

Here's one I built for a customer.

Simple tool to remove clutch from chainsaw. Found a bracket used to hold a 2x4 across a door, for security. Drilled two holes and inserted two bolts, spaced to match the clutch recesses. Metal handle is both long enough and offset so that you can get some leverage.

I made this to hold the drive cup while tightening the nut on the crank shaft of the Kohler K series engine in my IH Cub cadet