Tool creation/modification for pulling parts, etc

[Joel_BC]

Here's a home-made tool thats made from a pair of vise-grip-type pliers combined with a slide hammer. (I'm indebted to Stan Campbell at ToolFools for telling me about this type of tool modification. http://www.toolfools.com/forum/index.php) There are quite a few illustrations on the internet from guys who've made these, but I feel this guy has come up with a very good basic design and has "tested" the tool roughly with much use.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=622122&highlight=vise+grip+slide+hammer&page=2
He explains his method of constructing it pretty well on that page.
One reason I like it is that he gives a fair amount of design/fabrication detail. And also he attests to the durability of the tool, in the way that he made it.

He posts about his slide hammer again on this page:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=798000

I'm thinking about making one of these, and one question I've got is: where can you obtain a heavy steel object to use appropriately for the slider? With luck, maybe you find an old slide-hammer slide. (Where I live, the used-tool stores and pawn shops have become fewer, and inferior.) But this fellow uses an old "sledge" head. Disadvantages: the hammer head would be forged steel with hardened ends - possibly hard to find just the right old tool to make it from, and definitely slow to drill. Instead of drilling-out an old hammer head, I've got another idea for the slider.

Why not a stack of washers? - good, flat. unbent ones of uniform outside diameter. Make a stack of the right inside-diameter washers, with enough washers to make the slider sufficiently heavy. Then maybe braze or weld thin steel strips at two or three points around the outside to unify the stack. Then maybe inner-tube rubber or even duck tape around the outside to smooth the surface for gripping.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Maybe a section of pipe with a washer welded to one end, or a cap with a hole drilled in it...fill it with lead. Or cap and drill both ends and fill it with shot or ball bearings...or just a mild steel rod of sufficient diameter with a hole drilled in it.

 

[Joel_BC]

Maybe a section of pipe with a washer welded to one end, or a cap with a hole drilled in it...fill it with lead. Or cap and drill both ends and fill it with shot or ball bearings...or just a mild steel rod of sufficient diameter with a hole drilled in it.

Good ideas... thanks. I don't have much spare lead around, but I suppose I could fill a pipe section with concrete. Lead would be a bit heavier, probably, and would stand up to shock without cracking.

I could melt lead/tin plumber's solder, I guess. I think I might have more of that on-hand than I need.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I often find myself modifying tools, bending, grinding, welding...I see no point in buying "GM part number..." for a single use. This is the only reason I keep lots of off brand crap around the garage. The last one I made was a spanner wrench to hold a dodge crankshaft pulley while I turned the bolt out of the end of the crankshaft, I used an old tire iron, cut two short sections off one end, ground out notches and welded them on.

 

[baymule]

Maybe a section of pipe with a washer welded to one end, or a cap with a hole drilled in it...fill it with lead. Or cap and drill both ends and fill it with shot or ball bearings...or just a mild steel rod of sufficient diameter with a hole drilled in it.

Good ideas... thanks. I don't have much spare lead around, but I suppose I could fill a pipe section with concrete. Lead would be a bit heavier, probably, and would stand up to shock without cracking.

I could melt lead/tin plumber's solder, I guess. I think I might have more of that on-hand than I need.

Used wheel weights are a good source of lead. And they make good bullets too!

 

[Boogity]

Hey Joel - I know that every slide hammer I've ever seen has a round cylindrical shape but I wonder if it is absolutely necessary. How about a piece of 38mmx38mm solid steel square bar 100mm long w/a hole drilled through. Or any shape would work as long as it has the mass required to act as a hammer head.

 

[Joel_BC]

Hey Joel - I know that every slide hammer I've ever seen has a round cylindrical shape but I wonder if it is absolutely necessary. How about a piece of 38mmx38mm solid steel square bar 100mm long w/a hole drilled through. Or any shape would work as long as it has the mass required to act as a hammer head.

My guess is that it's most comfortable, for the "average user", to grip a cylindrical slider. If you didn't need to use it for long, probably wouldn't make any diff.

 

[~gd]

Hey Joel - I know that every slide hammer I've ever seen has a round cylindrical shape but I wonder if it is absolutely necessary. How about a piece of 38mmx38mm solid steel square bar 100mm long w/a hole drilled through. Or any shape would work as long as it has the mass required to act as a hammer head.

My guess is that it's most comfortable, for the "average user", to grip a cylindrical slider. If you didn't need to use it for long, probably wouldn't make any diff.

BACK to that hammer head. most already have a hole where the handle goes. Think outside the box. Maybe add some parts to make it slide better or remove the wedge [if metal] and drill the wood part to slide on the shaft. If you do it right you could replace the handle to use as a regular hammer.~gd

 

[Joel_BC]

BACK to that hammer head. most already have a hole where the handle goes. Think outside the box. Maybe add some parts to make it slide better or remove the wedge [if metal] and drill the wood part to slide on the shaft. If you do it right you could replace the handle to use as a regular hammer.~gd

Thanks for posting your thoughts, ~gd. That'd make an interesting-looking one! LOL But what does the look matter? (I always tell my somewhat style-conscious wife that the look doesn't matter. heh, heh)

There are lots of makeshift tool combos that people put together in a pinch, for a peculiar need or function. I think for a very once-in-a-while useage, something like that would be fine. But I'd find it a bit inconvenient to switch (re-fit) the head either to the slide tool or to the hammer very often.

So, for myself, if I make one I'll set the thing up specially for the part-pulling function, and store it someplace where I can find it readily. I'd try to get the fit between the hole in the "rammer" and the shaft it slides over to be snug-and-loose enough to put the force where you want it, efficiently.