3/4" Drive HF Breaker Bar Repair

[Ulma Doctor]

i got a cased set of 3/4" drive sockets very cheap at Harbor Freight a few years ago.
the reason they were cheap is that the 18" breaker bar was broken
i just used an adapter and used a 1/2" breaker bar as a go around for a long time.
this time my 1/2" breaker bars were too long, 1/2" ratchet didn't have enough leverage, and my wrenches were too small for a 1-7/8"nut.
i have the socket in 3/4" drive and need to tighten 3 nuts......

Sure i could buy a new breaker bar.

i coulda welded one together from 3/4" stock, but that's waaaaay too easy

i decided to do the next more difficult thing, repair the old piece of crud.


i extracted the cross pin and removed the drive end.
here is the break



as a temporary measure to restore use of the breaker bar, i decided to make a new drive head from scrap 7075
and put humpty dumpty back together once more.
it wasn't difficult,

i had some scrap knurled roller sections of 38mm 7075, begging to be repurposed
here is the chance to shine (until a steel replica is made )

cut off the broken side of the breaker bar and turned a 21mm OD to a length of 2"
i mounted the 38mm section and parted to length of 4"
i bored the section to 20.9mm ID to 2" deep
i mounted the section in the Bridgeport vise and milled the fork end of the section to depth and width
i press fit the handle into the section
i remounted the assembly into the Bridgeport vise and drilled for a crosspin for the retention of the head,
as well drill the bore for the retention for the articulating square drive end.
i counter bored said bores
i pushed a 3/16" roll pin in to retain the head
i re-used the OEM pin to retain the drive end and peened the ends of the pins

here are some pics




i'll be making a permanent replacement, but this show went on
i was able to continue the job

thanks for reading!

 

[darkzero]

I was gonna say, if it's a current model, it may have lifetime warranty on it. HF is actually pretty good with warrantying tools.

But I like your way better.

 

[middle.road]

I don't know,,,,, I think you might need to send it back for a design review.... (see attached redline )
A .125"±.06 x 45° chamfer might be in order...


Meanwhile, I've got a Craftsman 3/4" breaker bar that is laying in my bottom drawer and has never been used. Don't it figure?

 

[Shootymacshootface]

Meanwhile, I've got a Craftsman 3/4" breaker bar that is laying in my bottom drawer and has never been used. Don't it figure?

The Craftsman 3/4" breaker bars and ratchets are crazy strong. I work on heavy equipment and we regularly put a pipe over then and stand on them. There were plenty of times that I was sure it was going to snap, but they never even bend.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I don't know,,,,, I think you might need to send it back for a design review.... (see attached redline )
A .125"±.06 x 45° chamfer might be in order...

I'm more of a JIC guy

{as a comical retort only, read with maybe a tongue in cheek }
i'll send the plan changes to engineering-
they will in turn, sit on the plans until the Friday Lunch Meeting.
after a few Martini's, the inebriated , will come up with a rock solid plan as to how to accomplish such a daring feat.
they will send it back to the boys in CAD, who will mock it up in an hour or so, like the soldiers they are- gawd bless em'
CAD will send the first draft ( of 17) to Human Resources to make sure no one is offended or triggered by said changes
if Human Resources gets your answer back before the next Equinox, consider yourself lucky.
If you get past the HR hurdle, there will still be the Economic Impact Studies and the dang Fiscal Sustainability Reports.
then we gotta have the plans approved by Manufacturing.
Once we get Engineering,CAD,HR,EIS,FSR, and Manufacturing on board,
a vote to implement consideration of the feasibility of modification to the current design can be presented.
then you'll have to deal with that R&D Guy again (who didn't like your plan on the Metered Blinker Fluid Dispenser)

it could get real messy

 

[middle.road]

(in the spirit of keeping the tongue in cheek going here....)

To: Mr. UlmaDoc
From: Document Control / Records

re: ECR No. 713325

Please note that you will need to resubmit the aforementioned ECR since you neglected to include QA, ES&H and Legal in your request.
Upon receipt of the corrected ECR we will do our utmost to expedite it into the system.

Regards,
DC/R

PS: Don't worry about HR approval, Alphonse in our dept is dating Greta in HR and requests have been sliding through.
We also understand that Jonesy in Design somehow heard about this request and has already made the necessary changes to the model...

I'm more of a JIC guy

{as a comical retort only, read with maybe a tongue in cheek }
i'll send the plan changes to engineering-
they will in turn, sit on the plans until the Friday Lunch Meeting.
after a few Martini's, the inebriated , will come up with a rock solid plan as to how to accomplish such a daring feat.
they will send it back to the boys in CAD, who will mock it up in an hour or so, like the soldiers they are- gawd bless em'
CAD will send the first draft ( of 17) to Human Resources to make sure no one is offended or triggered by said changes
if Human Resources gets your answer back before the next Equinox, consider yourself lucky.
If you get past the HR hurdle, there will still be the Economic Impact Studies and the dang Fiscal Sustainability Reports.
then we gotta have the plans approved by Manufacturing.
Once we get Engineering,CAD,HR,EIS,FSR, and Manufacturing on board,
a vote to implement consideration of the feasibility of modification to the current design can be presented.
then you'll have to deal with that R&D Guy again (who didn't like your plan on the Metered Blinker Fluid Dispenser)

it could get real messy

 

[Ulma Doctor]

(in the spirit of keeping the tongue in cheek going here....)

To: Mr. UlmaDoc
From: Document Control / Records

re: ECR No. 713325

Please note that you will need to resubmit the aforementioned ECR since you neglected to include QA, ES&H and Legal in your request.
Upon receipt of the corrected ECR we will do our utmost to expedite it into the system.

Regards,
DC/R

PS: Don't worry about HR approval, Alphonse in our dept is dating Greta in HR and requests have been sliding through.
We also understand that Jonesy in Design somehow heard about this request and has already made the necessary changes to the model...

 

[eugene13]

I have a chain wrench with a broken head, you've inspired me.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I have a chain wrench with a broken head, you've inspired me.

thank you, eugene!
i'd like to see what you do to repair the chain wrench!

 

[eugene13]

It will be awhile, but it's comin at ya. Right now I'm replacing the bearings and drive belt in my old K.O. Lee valve grinder. I'll give it a good cleaning while I'm at it. I have two long hair cats and a Labrador retriever, I wonder how all that hair got in the coolant tank. Suspecting it might be a rodent's nest, and fearing Hanta Virus I donned proper PPE (respirator and gloves), hosed it down with Purple Power solvent and finished it off with the power washer. This thing is all cast iron and weighs at least 200 lb. Glad I have a gantry.