Another FNG

Hi Gang,

Just discovered this place while doing a search on making fixtures for sharpening end mills and looks like a great place with my kinda folks.

I've been a mechanic most my life and it seemed they never made the tool or fixture I needed, wanted or could afford. So I've been making and modding stuff for as long as I've been working with my hands. I guess it's in the blood because my grandfather was a Dust Bowl refugee who parlayed his black smithing background into being a Cornbinder mechanic here on the west side of the valley in CA for 40yrs. Not a straight unmodded tool in his small box of tools. Lots of bent wrenches and short handled sledge hammers.

I've transitioned into being a micromanufacturer here out of my garage. I work in metal mostly and have to design and make my own tools and equipment. So I've been acquiring old Harbor Freight equipment because it's cheap, plentiful and I don't feel bad about modding it for my purposes. 9x20 lathe, Rong Fu 30 mill and 40yrs of accumulation.

Hi C-Bag - welcome to HomemadeTools.net :welcome:

Interesting to hear about your grandfather; the bent wrench is our symbol!

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Sounds like you have a ton of experience :) Agreed on HF equipment - definitely not the top tier, but good value for what you pay, and a great cheap platform for tool modification.

So, what's next up on your projects list?

Hi Jon,

LOL, I saw the t-shirt and that's when I decided to go ahead and join. I did a little looking around and knew I was going to be spending some time here so even though I usually don't intro went ahead and jumped in. Looks like several of us new guys all found this place at the same time!

My current obsession is metal forming. So I've made a tool/machine/fixture? To cut convex/concave radii in hard maple and UHMW to put in my DIY air powered former press. Being the junkyard dog that I am I found an old DIY CNC router frame made out of 80/20 Inc 2"x2" alum. extrusion(I just found 80/20 and don't know how many others know about it) on the local Craigslist. So I've turned all that 75' of alum and the hardware that came with it into this former and cutter. Should I post pics of the cutter in another place on the forum?

Sure, you can post pics of the cutter in the Homemade Tools subforum. When you post your homemade tools in there, they get automatically added to the encyclopedia and credited to you. Looking forward to those pics!

Hi C-Bag,

Welcome - glad to have you here! :welcome:

Sounds as though you've got the beginnings of a great machine shop. I agree completely about HF tools - very useful, though often not as HF probably intended.

I'm looking forward to seeing your metal-forming tool.

Ken

Thanks Ken.

I've been enjoying my look around, there is a lot to see.

Welcome, C-Bag! Hope to see your tool/fixture contraption soon. :)

Thanks DIYer.

So Jon and Ken, in keeping with your logo, has there been a "show us your most modified wrench" thread yet? I was looking for something else in the old toolbox and ran into a candidate :)

That's a great idea - let's see what you've got… :thumbsup:

Ken