- Joined
- Apr 1, 2015
- Messages
- 76
A friend of mine broke the diecast universal joint in his Craftsman floor jack. He couldn't find a replacement universal so, in looking at the broke pieces, I figured it wouldn't be that hard to make a new one out of steel.
The pieces aren't that big. Only 3/4" in diameter. All of the parts after dis-assembly.
I found a piece of 3/4" diameter steel in the drop pile.
I cleaned up the OD in the lathe, faced off the ends and drilled out the bore's for the mating parts. Test fitting the parts.
With that done I clamped the piece in the vise on the mill and machined off both sides.
With that done I picked up the ends and center drilled for the pin holes.
After drilling out the pin holes I flipped the part 90 degrees in the vise and hogged out the center portion with a 1/2" end mill.
After some deburring and cleanup.
I split the piece into two.
After rounding over the cut ends and a bit of assembly and I had a new U-Joint!
This was fun project and it will save an old jack from the scrap pile.
Mark
The pieces aren't that big. Only 3/4" in diameter. All of the parts after dis-assembly.
I found a piece of 3/4" diameter steel in the drop pile.
I cleaned up the OD in the lathe, faced off the ends and drilled out the bore's for the mating parts. Test fitting the parts.
With that done I clamped the piece in the vise on the mill and machined off both sides.
With that done I picked up the ends and center drilled for the pin holes.
After drilling out the pin holes I flipped the part 90 degrees in the vise and hogged out the center portion with a 1/2" end mill.
After some deburring and cleanup.
I split the piece into two.
After rounding over the cut ends and a bit of assembly and I had a new U-Joint!
This was fun project and it will save an old jack from the scrap pile.
Mark