High Lift Jack Gets New Life

[cathead]

Here are a few photos of my refurbishment of a broken high lift jack. The casting on the top of the
jack was broken and the threads on the cylinder inside were broken. I shortened the cylinder by
3/4 inch and added threads. Then I machined up a new "nut" for the top with O ring and longer
threaded part to catch the threads. This batch of photos shows the process and also shows off
a home made funnel made from an old lacquer thinner can. It was formed from two pieces and
soldered together. The jack works fine now.

I was lucky to have a 1 and 27/32 drill and that made the repair an easy one.
My home made steady rest shown on previous posts was used to support
the cylinder for threading. It worked great. This last photo shows the home
made funnel just waiting to accept some hydraulic fluid...

 

[Franko]

Great repair and nicely done, Cathead.

 

[cathead]

Thanks, Franko for the kind words.

 

[RJSakowski]

A nice save. I like to see old tools resuscitated.

 

[brino]

Hey cathead -well done!

You saved yourself some money on that, not to mention keeping a "mostly good" tool out of the land-fill or scrap yard.

I was lucky to have a 1 and 27/32 drill and that made the repair an easy one.

I now try to keep an updated list of drill bits(and taps/dies, large wrenches, etc.) on my phone so that when I see a decent one for a good price I can buy it without ending up with doubles to try to store. Though if the condition and price are really good, then doubles are okay...I could give one away or have a spare when one breaks. You can never have too many tools.....

-brino

 

[RJSakowski]

BTW, I like the funnel too. Anyone who has had to fill a hydraulic jack would appreciate having one on hand.

 

[cathead]

Thanks for liking the funnel. They are easy to make and take only about 15 minutes to put together.
This one I use mostly to fill the carriage on the Monarch Lathe as it has a very small and inconvenient
fill hole. Also I have smaller ones made for filling drip oilers.

 

[brino]

Also I have smaller ones made for filling drip oilers.

When looking for good bottles for oiling my drip oilers I was sad to see the local tool place had sold out of decent size bottles with a thin squirt tip......but in a pass thru a dollar store I found a substitute.....so I'm currently using refillable plastic ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles for my oil. The two colours can be used for two different oils.

-brino