How about a home built or cheap tool modification thread?

[pepi]

Ok time for me to show one, nothing fancy a metal brake.

[astroracer]

I may have posted this before.
I decided to improve the working height of my H/V Bandsaw. At 24" it was a pain in the back to work with it. It had always been a problem with long stock to keep it level with the cutting surface. After this mod I will be able to use one of my roller work stands. Much better...
I had picked up 30 sticks of used 2 x 2 x 1/8th wall x 100"lg. sq. tubing so I made the new table out of a stick and a half of that. I know it's a little overkill for something like this but, at 7 bucks a stick, I can justify the 10 dollar material cost.




I used some brush on industrial red enamel I had left over from another project. It was very hot and humid when I painted this and it took a full day for it to tack-off and get solid enough to put on a second coat. Once it was dry though it is VERY tough paint...
This was after the first coat.

After the second coat

Added the casters and let it sit in the sun for a day to bake. The paint got real hard after this.


I didn't get any pics of the mounting tabs before I bolted the saw down but I made some angle brackets and bolted those to the top to use as mounting lugs for the original sheet metal leg attachment holes on the saw. Worked well, as I set the saw in place and then marked and drilled the thru holes for three 1/4-20 bolts. The saw is nice and stable and rolls around much easier now.

And let me tell you it is very nice not having to bend over to set up cuts!

Thanks for looking
Mark

[astroracer]

I think I posted this when I was rebuilding the '49 F1 a few years ago. This is the same rotisserie I used for Bad Ast.

I had been thinking about a rotisserie for the '49 frame. I got serious about it when I found 1000lb engine stands on sale at NAPA for $35.00 ea. I couldn't build the stands for that kind of money so I bought two and made a couple of mods to make them into chassis stands.
I didn't get any pics before I started cutting up the stands but you can see what I ended up with. I made new, taller necks to support the rotation part of the stands. This also got the frame high enough to work on AND still rotate (I left the running board brackets on it) over the lower tie bar.

I also replaced the lower tube with a longer one to increase the track width of the wheels.

All welded up and painted safety orange. I put solid 10" casters on one end and swivels at the other. It drives fine.



I made a couple of bars that bolt to the rotisserie head with some adapter brackets that bolt to the rails and are held on with 2" x 2" U bolts. This worked very well.

Here is a shot with the '49 frame installed.

Rotated verticle.

A couple of weekends of cleaning and grinding and it was ready for paint!

This rig made it a breeze cleaning and painting the frame. Actually enjoyable, if you know what I mean.

It also adapted nicely to the frame I built for my Bad Ast astro van

Thanks for looking
Mark