Basically all you need https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/home-made-tools-and-equipment.235784/ ..
Hello, When we first got to use all of the machine equipment, the high school metal shop was a fun place. We had never worked with large machines, but in a rotation of students, it took a while to get my turn in line. So, the first thing we all had to make a standard chisel from old hex bar our teacher had in droves in the stockpile. He had his model on the table and we had to measure it to duplicate his skills. Sharp point and all. If it did not look like his model, including measurements from point to point and the angle at the right degree, we had to do it over again with a new hex rod. It took me two tries to get it right. The first one looked like the model, but the angle of the sloping area to the tip was off. Although I had polished it to a shiny finish and the blade + rear sanded/filed end was excellent, it was wrong and I had to start over it again. Why could I not just re-do the angle? I could but then the overall length would be off. So, it was easier to start all over again. Jnaki These days, one can get a set of metal chisels from all over the place and in all sorts of designs. Whether the quality is good or not, at least it is a set for all sorts of whatever work. So, what did I use that high school chisel for? I thought it was just a paperweight and threw it in the Craftsman tool box. Then when I needed to get a rusted blob of metal from an oversight welding joint, I had to use the giant screwdriver like all folks use them. At least they were guaranteed for life. But, then I saw the old high school chisel sitting in the tool box. So, out it came and gone was the blob of welded metal off of a smooth firewall sheet. Then later on, we had a wonderful artistic sculpture of poured left over color and clear resin from our surfboard business. At each mixture of the final color resin and catalyst, one had to pour out the last bit to let the remaining bucket of resin cure. Then the next clear coat was fired up and utilized. The pour out was difficult as it was waste and could not just clean out the bucket and down the drain. It starts like this and then more gets poured out onto a specific area, like our backyard pole. So, we poured the left over color on a small pole that we attached to a concrete block in our mom’s garden. It was supposed to be a garden sculpture. Over time, the short 12 inch pole was now over two feet tall with a myriad of colors from the various hot batches of resin+ color + catalyst for those patches and for the two longboards we actually made. Pole inset in a concrete block, buried into the ground... We could have just let the left over resin color solidify, but as one bucket was used, the next one needed to be ready for the last gloss coat. So, out comes the old and the new bucket was used for the clearcoat. Note: When we moved our hot rod/drag racing stuff and started our surfboard business along with desert motorcycles, we had a empty yard with no car sitting outside being worked on, so, the covered canvas tent shade did the same for repair surfboards or using resin for gloss coating on various wood projects. Over the years, the little pole on a concrete pad grew. When we listed the house and the real estate agent was doing a walk through, he spotted the colorful pole. He said that “object” has to go. So, I said no problem. The concrete was down about a foot with the pole inside. So digging it up was the method. First, I had to chip off the pored, spread out, solid three inch+ thick resin, so out came the trusty large size Craftsman screwdriver, as usual. But the large screwdriver was not enough. I used large spikes, sharp nails and even tried drilling holes. The holes were ok, but it took too long to go through the whole blob of color. Then I got the idea of using a crowbar to hit it to break up the surface into chunks. But, that fizzled. So, in this moment. I did not care what tool I used, it had to come out. The high school chisel was sitting in the tool box and called for me… ha! Now, a sturdy 8 inch homemade chisel from the high school days that has seen limited usage over the years wanted to help. I used it like a “chisel” and as I was hitting it and the flat wide point went into the surfaces, it started to break up. Then cracks started showing up and as I stuck the chisel inside, it broke off larger chunks of solid colorful resin. Now, I was on a roll and in no time, the base was exposed and it came out easily to be disposed in the trash can. I thought about keeping the top portion of the smooth point and flowing of the different colors as a reminder. But, in knowing our small apartment, it would not fit anywhere, including the dinky side yard. So, I said goodbye and off it went to the landfill pick up for the next day.
I made this in college around 1973 or 1974. We used a shaper, files and a drill press. I just used it recently.
I needed to take apart my Hein-Warner jack cylinder cap and didn't want to scratch up the cylinder. I got some thick-walled tubing, drilled four 1/4-inch holes at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock one inch in from the end, inserted and welded in short 1/4-inch rod pieces and used a pipe wrench on the outside of the new tool to get a strong grip. My 300-pound son handled the torque tasks and got it apart.
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