Shop Made 1 1/2" X 7" Deep Socket

nc5a · Jan 23, 2021

To remove the spindle from the quill in my Tree milling machine I needed a special deep socket. So I bought a 3/4" drive socket cut it in half and tig welded the ends to 1 1/2" pipe. Pretty fast and easy, no filler rod, 125 amps, 1/8" tungsten. Wish I had a rotary table for welding tubes.

Limy Sami · Jan 23, 2021

I like it, and just how I made ''specials'' back in the day (40 ish years) - except I O/A bronze welded them.

michiganbuck · Jan 23, 2021

Looks good from here. Likely you won't need it often so you might lease it out.
That might be a good thread if we could keep it just about special tools.

RE: Tree milling machine spindle removal 1/2 drive extra-long 3/4 socket.

But I know the thread would just get full of T and B arguing

thermite · Jan 23, 2021

Limy Sami said:
I like it, and just how I made ''specials'' back in the day (40 ish years) - except I O/A bronze welded them.

"Poor boy", here. "Wasting" a large and costly socket was too dear, back in the day before cheap-Chinese black-oxide impact sockets were available.

I've cut one end off a box-end flat wrench or in a couple of cases before I had all the open and flare metric & US crowfoots- even an open-end wrench.. and welded it to square tube the right internal dimensions to take a breaker-bar or ratchet's square drive lug.

One-end needing torch work, only, that way.

The OTHER end of each chop-sawed wrench saved as a stubby-handle for tight spots ... or no tears shed if I had to smack it with a hammer.

I've got a nagging feeling the utility bizness has these as stock items, too. But going by what Reed Tool charged for some of my water-works special wrenches, at off-planet expensive prices, per-each!

DDoug · Jan 23, 2021

What's so special ?

Many people been doing this for years.

You need a "Rotary Table" to weld that up ????
And why not grab some filler rod ? Is it some kind of sin to use filler rod ?
:nutter:

dian · Jan 23, 2021

what gap did you leave?

crossthread · Jan 23, 2021

Over the years I have modified quite a few sockets and wrenches to do odd jobs. Yours is a good example. Sometimes you have to grind down a box or end wrench to fit in narrow spots. Another thing that needs doing sometimes is to turn down a socket in the lathe to make it very thin walled. There are just some places that a standard socket is too fat to fit in.

Limy Sami · Jan 23, 2021

digger doug said:
What's so special ?

Many people been doing this for years.

To be fair Doug, to many people (including on this board) doing something like that is considered ''special'' .........having been brought up on a diet of ''if Snap On / Proto / Craftsman Britool etc etc don't make it you can't get it'' they know very little different.

donie · Jan 23, 2021

Limy, didnt you notice, digger doug, shames those that actually post photos and projects, he learned it well from the termite.
Thus the problem here, why bother posting a project or ideas when the hecklers, like the two mentioned have nothing left in their lives but to ridicule others on this forum.
They have inserted themselves as leaders, but appear do no machine work at all themselves....

eKretz · Jan 23, 2021

Donie, go back to your corner, for crying out loud. People can take a little criticism, it doesn't hurt anyone without a fragile ego, and can be extremely HELPFUL to those who actually use it in a constructive manner.

And nobody has inserted themselves as a leader here except perhaps in your mind. I honestly don't know where you come up with this shite.

trevj · Jan 23, 2021

I'd have done it a bit differently, likely just welding the whole socket at one end of the tube or rod, and welding another at the opposite, so as to avoid carving up a socket, which can either be a cakewalk, or misery, the end result works and that really is what counts.

Gotta run what ya brung!

I have enough leftover and partial kits of sockets that I probably have what I need, but it's worth wandering in to any local Pawn Shops once in a while, as every one I was ever in had bins full of loose sockets for pretty cheap, and they never bothered to sort the 'good' brands from the 'bad'.
A handy way to fill a gap in a set, or get that odd size that you were after...

bhigdog · Jan 23, 2021

digger doug said:
What's so special ?

Webster:

4. Having a specific or particular function, purpose, etc.:

So now you know.

Nice job nc5a..............Bob

cyanidekid · Jan 23, 2021

Looks good, but welding tool steel without filler is asking for a cracked weld. I’d use 310 or similar.

nc5a · Jan 23, 2021

michiganbuck said:
Looks good from here. Likely you won't need it often so you might lease it out.
That might be a good thread if we could keep it just about special tools.

RE: Tree milling machine spindle removal 1/2 drive extra-long 3/4 socket.

But I know the thread would just get full of T and B arguing

Yeah, you're right about limited use. I see myself removing the 1 1/2" nut on my spindle and then tightening it back up after I replace spindle bearings. Then it will probably sit in my tool box until the end of time because I don't know of another Tree milling machine in Alaska.

nc5a · Jan 23, 2021

trevj said:
I'd have done it a bit differently, likely just welding the whole socket at one end of the tube or rod, and welding another at the opposite, so as to avoid carving up a socket, which can either be a cakewalk, or misery, the end result works and that really is what counts.

I made a deep socket because I needed to clear a shaft. Just like you use a deep socket to remove a spark plug deep in the cylinder head.

nc5a · Jan 23, 2021

digger doug said:
What's so special ?

Many people been doing this for years.

You need a "Rotary Table" to weld that up ????
And why not grab some filler rod ? Is it some kind of sin to use filler rod ?

WOW! now this kind of a reply was totally unexpected and unnecessary. This post was just a picture of a special deep socket made for specific purpose and probably be used one time and then put in a tool box and likely never used again.

I expect maximum torque put on the socket to be in the 25 to 50 ft/lb range so there was no need to get too carried away building it.

michiganbuck · Jan 23, 2021

Nc5a it's a great job considering you had to run an extension cord all the way to Alaska, trudge through a foot of snow and all the gold nuggets the prospectors left lying about and then ride a moose out to the shop with three hungry wolves in the chase.

PDW · Jan 23, 2021

michiganbuck said:
Nc5a it's a great job considering you had to run an extension cord all the way to Alaska, trudge through a foot of snow and all the gold nuggets the prospectors left lying about and then ride a moose out to the shop with three hungry wolves in the chase.

Not to mention peering over your shoulder every 10 seconds checking on digger doug's current location so as to avoid the knife in the back...

PDW

Steven-Canada · Jan 23, 2021

I would have thought some stainless filler to be needed.

Now put a good label on it so somebody else knows what it's for

nc5a · Jan 23, 2021

dian said:
what gap did you leave?

No gap just chamfered the pipe.

Shop Made 1 1/2" X 7" Deep Socket

Cast Iron

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Titanium

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond; Mod Squad

Titanium

Stainless

Titanium

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Diamond

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

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