Wrench Madness- Tale of 3 Wrenches

[Ulma Doctor]

i have had an interesting week.
i had need to loosen a few things that didn't wanna let go.
rather than tryin' to work harder, i did my best to work smarter.

Case 1- Large Stainless Nut-
2" wrench needed...
i didn't have a 2" wrench, but i do have a HF 15" Cresent Hammer* (adjustable wrench) that opens up to 2"
(*better hammer than wrench)
i didn't have enough mustard to move the nut (in a confined space) by just shoulder and wrench alone.
pipe was an obvious choice, but i didn't have any 1-1/2" ID Pipe to fit the handle of the HF cresent hammer
square steel tube was available but it would have been cumbersome to utilize.
so, i did the best thing i could come up with in 5 minutes of intense scrutiny and poor planning
i took a 28" long hunk of 3/4" square hot rolled unknownium bar and drilled 2 size X (.397") clearance holes on the center line.
i transfer punched the holes to the HF wrench and drilled and tapped the holes to 3/8-16TPI
i inserted a couple washers between the wrench and the newly formed handle and installed some 1-1/4" bolts
here's a couple shots


the extension was a bit over 23" and worked like a charm without much added bulk.
the best part is that it comes off !


Case 2- Stuck Stainless
i had 2 stainless steel parts frozen together by (all i can assume is) product and cleaning solutions
the assembly didn't want to come apart by gentle means
i didn't want to replace, discolor, or weaken the main part, so high heat was out of the question
i didn't want to mar the main part, the secondary part is considered a consumable part and doesn't need to be reused
(i made it a personal challenge to extract the shaft, without marring it too)
here are the particulars ...
the shaft is 3/4" OD and the main part is 1-1/2"OD
my immediate thought was to hold the 1-1/2" part and try to turn the 3/4" shaft out due to the size and awkwardness of the assembly

i made the handle for the HF cresent hammer in Case 1 above, so i used it to be the pre-drilled handle for wrench #2
this wrench needs to have the ability to grip with extreme amounts of pressure, without slipping- on a cylindrical surface
it sounds harder than it is, gunsmiths figured it out long ago.
i simply took a gunsmiths tool design , simplified it and adapted it for my use.
(the only credit i can EVER take is the application of things i learned somewhere else, then making them )

Back to the game...
as i said before i sidetracked , i was going to use the handle, that was pre-drilled to save time (read:lazy)
i cut off another piece of the same 3/4" stock to 4" and transfer punched, drilled and tapped to 3/8-16tpi
i put 2 1/4"spacers on the installed bolts- top and bottom- and sandwiched the spacers between the wrench halves
i center drilled and progressive drilled the wrench to 3/4"



there was a little chatter in the interrupted cut phase of the drilling

i removed the sacrificial spacers and now have a wrench ready to go.



and a test fit to see if it will have necessary clearance to function



case 3 is coming soon!

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Case #3
I followed the same general plan as in case 2 above.
this time i had some scrap 35mm 6061 that has been pre-drilled in many locations
i found a section that had 2 tapped M8x1.25x 35mm threads traversing the billet about 4" apart
i got a location about 5-1/2" of good material and cut it out
then i got a clean section about 20" long to be the other side of the wrench.
i transfer punched and drilled 10mm clearance holes through the 20" piece to match the 5" piece tapped holes
i put a 1/4 sacrificial spacer on top and bottom of the bolts, as above, and drilled to 3/4"
then i mounted the assembly in the BP and off-center bored to 1.250"
(i off- center bored to remove a tapped hole that would otherwise make the 1-1/2" hole look funny)



now i have 2 wrenches!



and i put them to work, to perfection!



no animals were harmed during this PSA (namely me!)

it worked like a champion!
no marring and a grip like you can't get anywhere else!

thanks for reading!

 

[mikey]

Great ideas, Mike. Thanks for sharing!

 

[darkzero]

Pretty cool Mike!

HF 15" Cresent Hammer* (adjustable wrench)

Cresent hammer, haha. I have an actual adjustable wrench hammer or should I say, I have my very own genuine "thumb detecting nut f'ckr" (for those of you who watch the crazy Canadian uncle bumblfck will know what this is.....or if you're in mining industry).

 

[mmcmdl]

But , do you have a " beer hammer " ? I think my daughter bought that for me years back , not sure why though .

 

[Janderso]

Good ole Redneck creativity
I like it

 

[FOMOGO]

"Where there's a will, there is usually a bunch of family members fighting over everything". No, that's not it. Well, when it comes to me, I will get back to you. Oh!, nice job on the wrenches. Cheers, Mike

 

[Tom1948]

Good ideas. Thinking out side of the box.

 

[rgray]

And to increase those wrenches grip "rosin" the little bags the softball players use and can be found at sporting good stores works wonders.
A little of the rosin dust on the round part before tightening down the clamp wrench and holding power is much greater.

 

[middle.road]

(meant in jest...)
There you go making me check the map and make sure I've got my geography correct, just to be certain.
I'm going to have to call that 'Central California Creativity' I wouldn't be afraid to use UD's 'Equalizing Assistance Bar'.
'Redneck Creativity' I'll have to submit, is bak har, and some things I've seen I wouldn't get near or use if you paid me.

Good ole Redneck creativity
I like it