# Home Made Wrenches



## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

RetiredLE's thread made me write this thread, sorry it's not wood but I know there are many here that can appreciate it. I have a Honda Recon ATV that needed rear brakes. The pads cost about $30 and are not hard to put on but you have to take the axle nuts off first, with of course an expensive special tool. These are 2 locking nuts that are large (41mm). And they are also too narrow for a normal width wrench. They require a special set of axle nut wrenches that cost $50 a set. Well, I almost bit the bullett and bought them. In fact I was just about ready to click "confirm order" and I thought "No way am I paying that kind of money for 2 wrenches". I work as an application engineer for an EDM company. I specialize in wire type EDM's. If you don't know what an EDM is, google it. It's too hard to explain other that it cuts steel with an electrically charged wire that is .010" in diameter. So, anyway, I drew up a wrench on CAD, wrote a CNC program, found some hardened tool steel in our scrap pile, and made these. I cut them out of a 1/2" thick slab and then turned them on edge and split them in half. The kerf of the wire took out about .013", so I have two wrenches that are .2435 each. And I put a 1/2" square in them for a torque wrench. The entire process took about an hour. And for that whole hour, I was thumbing my nose at the OEM people. Pretty cool, huh? Woodworking is my outlet. With wood, I don't have to hold tolerances of .0002 or less. :thumbup1:


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Hey that's pretty cool, but couldn't you just use any old wrench? From the pic it looks like you could get an adjustable or something as equal in there. maybe I'm not seeing something.
I know you said it was narrow. But I don't see it.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Dominick said:


> Hey that's pretty cool, but couldn't you just use any old wrench? From the pic it looks like you could get an adjustable or something as equal in there. maybe I'm not seeing something.


No. Well, yes for the outer nut but the inner nut is too thin for a regular wrench and one side is tight against the brake drum and of course the other is against the outer nut.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Now I see the two wrenches. Lol. Understandable now. Cool tools. :laughing:


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Wow... That's awesome! Nicely done. I should think you almost broke even making them yourself but it's so much more rewarding!

You sure could make some nice moulding / combo plane irons the same way!!!...

Wish I knew someone with those kinda skills and equipment! :whistling2: :laughing:

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*awesome!*

That was some clever work and then to split them down the center for 2 separate wrenches, really smart.  bill


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Bud,
Brilliant, simply brilliant!

I have a 37mm (?) socket that is used to remove the top of the fuel filter chamber on a Ford diesel. The Mac Tools guy did sell it to me at his cost because he felt bad about backing his truck into mine. (Long Story / Not worth going into.) Still it was like $42 for the socket and it is about worthless for anything else.

The only thing that I can say about the socket wrench is that it is easier than using a basin wrench. LOL.

$30 Shipped anywhere in the 48 adjacent.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Well done!

That looks better than the OEM special tools I have.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

firemedic said:


> You sure could make some nice moulding / combo plane irons the same way!!!..


You mean like this? :laughing:


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

TS3660 said:


> You mean like this? :laughing:


Ahhhhhhh!!!! YES! After your initial post I did a lil reading on EDMachining and that's some pretty cool stuff! I had never heard of that.

It sounded like it would even be possible to cut out parts with beveled edges... ie cut a hand moulding plane blade out WITH the initial cutting bevel! That would be incredible! The possibilities for custom irons would be endless!

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Yes, EDM can cut lots of angles. Check these parts out.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*you need to give up woodworking!*

If you can do that in metal, is wood still a challenge? :blink: bill


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Oh yes, wood is a huge challenge for me. Couple of things: Finish (you don't put a stain on metal), Movement of wood, Glueing wood, heck, it's all different. Yes, I love wood. Metal is my real job, wood is my hobby. One thing that drives me a little bonkers with wood is trying to convince myself that + or - .010" is "OK". With my real job, that would be WAY bad. Even .001" would be way out of tolerance. Here's another cool part I made.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Man that's awesome! 

I have this pile of Starret oil hardened tool steel I got to make moulding plane blades then realized the only way I could ever hand machine it would be if I de-tempered it first. So I guess what I should do instead is find someone with EDM AND woodworking experience to get it done! :whistling2:

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

And my favorite. This part transitions from MOM to DAD on the other end. All done at the same time. The top of the wire is shaping out the word MOM at the same time that the bottom of the wire is shaping out the word DAD. Parts like these will mess with your head.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

firemedic said:


> Man that's awesome!
> 
> I have this pile of Starret oil hardened tool steel I got to make moulding plane blades then realized the only way I could ever hand machine it would be if I de-tempered it first. So I guess what I should do instead is find someone with EDM AND woodworking experience to get it done! :whistling2:
> 
> --------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


 
Give me a drawing. I may be able to sneak it in at lunchtime one day. Sounds easy. That's the thing about EDM. It can cut anything conductive. So hardened tool steel is no problem. Even carbide. In the old days for example, stamping dies or plastic injection molds, or extrusion dies were machined in the soft state but stock was left on it. Then they were sent out to be hardened. The process warps and twists the tool. Then it was brought back and ground and/or hand lapped to size after the hardening and stress relief. Now days all that tooling is made on EDM. It gets hardened first, then EDM'ed right to size...DONE. No warpage, no stress. There is almost nothing made out of plastic these days that the mold was not made on an EDM.


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## RetiredLE (Jan 20, 2011)

That is some WAY KOOL stuff right there. Wow! I want the machine that made those items..... Do I need the machine that made those items? No.... but....

Note: For those without the machinery to make them, you can purchase hydraulic wrenches in various sizes as depicted below. They are thinner than the normal wrench and great for tight locations.

I used them on aviation hydraulic fittings when clearance was an issue.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

RetiredLE said:


> That is some WAY KOOL stuff right there. Wow! I want the machine that made those items..... Do I need the machine that made those items? No.... but....


Yeah, I know the feeling. I'd like to have one in my garage. The neat thing is, the machine can run unattended. I could set up and program multiple parts and it could run for 2 days without anyone around. Then I'd go gather up the finished parts and load it up with more.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Bud,
that is some really cool stuff you made. I always envy people that work in shops where they have neat machinery that is just about capable of anything. I really like the mom/dad piece.
Mike Hawkins


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Unbelievable man. You got a great understanding of the machine to make it dance. That mom & dad it wicked. 
I've been making these iPhone cases for awhile now out of wood. I bet you could do one out of metal. It'll be indestructible.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

TS3660 said:


> Give me a drawing. I may be able to sneak it in at lunchtime one day. Sounds easy. That's the thing about EDM. It can cut anything conductive. So hardened tool steel is no problem. Even carbide. In the old days for example, stamping dies or plastic injection molds, or extrusion dies were machined in the soft state but stock was left on it. Then they were sent out to be hardened. The process warps and twists the tool. Then it was brought back and ground and/or hand lapped to size after the hardening and stress relief. Now days all that tooling is made on EDM. It gets hardened first, then EDM'ed right to size...DONE. No warpage, no stress. There is almost nothing made out of plastic these days that the mold was not made on an EDM.


Man, that's awesome. Why have I naves heard of EDM before? 

I sure appreciate it! I'll get back with you when I get things squared away with the new baby. Really though, would it be cost effective to produce things such as after market irons for combo planes?

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

firemedic said:


> I sure appreciate it! I'll get back with you when I get things squared away with the new baby. Really though, would it be cost effective to produce things such as after market irons for combo planes?


It really depends on the complexity of the part. Take a simple jointer blade. It'd be cheaper to put it in a vise at 45 degrees and grind it on a surface grinder. But complex molding blades would be better done on EDM. If you did it on a grinder, the first thing you'd have to do is shape your grinding wheel in the mirror image of the shape you wanted with a diamond dresser. Then, as you ground the shape into your molding blade, the wheel would wear and you'd have to dress it again. On EDM, one cut and done. Not only that, but to change the shape, it's as easy as editing the CNC program to make a new path. To give you an example of a CNC program, here's the program I used to cut my wrenches on my first post of this thread.

S501
M60
G92 X0 Y0
G41 G01 Y.25444
X-.25444
Y-.25444
X.25444
Y.25444
X0
G40 X0 Y0
M50
G00 X-.23409 Y3.86614
S501
M60
G92 X-.23409 Y3.86614
G42 G01 Y3.66929
X-.6278 R.19685
Y.52929 R.19685
X-1.37795 Y-1.53176 R.19685
Y-2.59609 R.19685
X-.88976
X-.81102 Y-2.51735
Y-1.53176
X0 Y-1.06351
X.81102 Y-1.53176
Y-2.51735
X.88976 Y-2.59609
X1.37795 R.19685
Y-1.53176 R.19685
X.6278 Y.52929 R.19685
Y3.66929 R.19685
X-.43094
X-.6278
G40 X-.6278 Y3.86614
M50
M30


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*thanks Bud.*

Now I have a headache.  bill


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

That's awesome stuff. When your bringing in to a CNC script do you have to free code or can you export the vector paths from say... Autocad or Illustrator?

--------------------------------------------- one day I'll be so good that I won't need this forum any longer... then I'll know I have full onset Dementia! ~tom


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

firemedic said:


> When your bringing in to a CNC script do you have to free code or can you export the vector paths from say... Autocad or Illustrator?


Can do it either way. If it's something simple, I usually type the code in by hand. Otherwise I use a CAM system to generate the code.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

RetiredLE, I just looked up a hydraulic wrench. HOLY COW those are expensive. $57 marked down from $103!!! Sheesh. Wow. That's robbery. No wrench can be that much money.

Amazon.com: Martin 638MM Carbon Steel 38mm Opening 15 Degree Angle Check Nut Wrench, 288.88mm Overall Length, Industrial Black Finish: Industrial & Scientific


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That's some cool metal work. Are these for a rosette cutter? For the thin skinny wrenches, I use tappet wrenches. They are pretty thin, and pretty cheap.










 







.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Bud, that is some awesome stuff. The possibilities seem virtually limitless. Any chance of that technology trickling down to mere mortals within our lifetime? :blink:


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Shop dad, sure, it's here now. Unfortunately the price hasn't trickled down yet.


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Actually a used edm can go for under 10k


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## Roger Newby (May 26, 2009)

The factory I retired from has lasers for making sheet metal parts up to one inch thick. Strictly flat work, but a wrench out of 10 ga. or 1/4" steel can be burned in just a couple of minutes. Draw in CAD an export directly as a DXF file and get a finished part accurate to +/- .001". And if you draw it wrong it will burn it wrong +/- .001" :laughing:


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Yep. I used to run a laser. They are faster but less accurate than an edm. Plus lasers can't put as nice of a finish or cut as thick as edm. Edm can cut 24" thick steel and put an extremely smooth finish on it. But lasers are way faster. Just depends what you need. Same with water jets. Edm's downfall is it is limited to conductive material.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

Wow, nice projects. Do you take orders? I'd like an offset ratcheting wrench for my router table.


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## dat (Nov 11, 2010)

looks nice, you are a metal arr-teest


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

And don't forget I am a banjo player like you dat. That's a lot more fun and more frustrating than any metal working stuff.


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## dat (Nov 11, 2010)

HA HA, for me fun knowing that it frustrates the folks listening, and fun picking


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

lol. Well, I'm gettin better. I have picked it up almost EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past 6 months. Even if only for 10 minutes. I'm playing it now. Sooner or later, people, instead of leaving the room I'm playing in, they'll gather into the room I'm in. HOPEFULLY !


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## dat (Nov 11, 2010)

My picking sure isn't close to anywhere profesional, but they don't run me off and throw stuff at me


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## Cedar fly (Feb 14, 2011)

Looks like a pretty neat thing to use:thumbsup:. I bet you could sell your custom wrenches way easier than OEM. On my Honda Fourtrax my dad welded a socket on a pipe so that it could go over the shaft, but no brakes in the way. Definately easier than wrenches when you use an impact:yes:


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## Cliff (Feb 5, 2012)

Back in the early 1980s I almost sprung for a CNC wire EDM thinking I was going to get into making blades for jet engines.
I didn't though.
Boy did I dodge a bullet there. 
Powdered metal technology ended that gravy train like bomb blast


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