It followed me home

[Michael Cochran]

I will definitely not be  taking these apart myself nor will i buy the tools to do it myself in the future. I looked at the cheaper ones and the make me nervous and I looked at them wall mount ones and they are a bit pricey for an item that I may only use a few times ever. The cost for them is still cheaper than the hospital bills I'd get if I got hit by one of these springs but I'll make nice with one of the local mechanics and bring him some little things for helping me out each time.

For the sake of discussion have a seen a few suggestions online that people share for removing the springs and I plan on starting a topic in the safety forum when I do some more research showing the dangers involved with haphazard setups.

I want to be sure everyone knows I do appreciate the concern for my safety. It feels good to know there are still some genuinely caring people left in this world. I sometimes forget that there are.

[Bud in PA]

Why not take them to your local garage and have them take them apart?

[dagr8tim]

46 minutes ago, Michael Cochran said:

I will definitely not be  taking these apart myself nor will i buy the tools to do it myself in the future. I looked at the cheaper ones and the make me nervous and I looked at them wall mount ones and they are a bit pricey for an item that I may only use a few times ever. The cost for them is still cheaper than the hospital bills I'd get if I got hit by one of these springs but I'll make nice with one of the local mechanics and bring him some little things for helping me out each time.

For the sake of discussion have a seen a few suggestions online that people share for removing the springs and I plan on starting a topic in the safety forum when I do some more research showing the dangers involved with haphazard setups.

I want to be sure everyone knows I do appreciate the concern for my safety. It feels good to know there are still some genuinely caring people left in this world. I sometimes forget that there are.

I agree with your decision 100%.

That being said, *IF* this was something I was doing on even a simi regular basis, I think I could come up with a safer alternative.

Take 2 or 3 of these and mount then vertically on a wall.  Then build a floor plate with a hold in the center for the strut to hang down through.  Then a top plate that is keyed into "rails" on the wall.  Then two chunks of threaded rod and some nuts to do the compression.



Then again, when my wife's car needed new struts and had over 100,000 miles on it.  I just ordered 4 "quick struts" that were the whole assembly.  No need to swap parts or disassemble anything.

[Glenn]

At some point you MUST ask yourself if the spring is worth the effort AND flirting with the danger involved? Why not look for a older type spring that is already removed?

You can make a spring compressor and then remove the holding mechanism, and slowly release the compression on the spring. Is you welding ability up to the task? Is your design such that it will keep the spring in line and not shift sideways? I can think of several ways to accomplish this, but none that I want to spend time and effort building and then testing the system when the local mechanic has the proper tools to do the job. Slip him a bottle opener, a 6 pack, or even cash. The one thing not mentioned is the soundness of the spring, or if it has microfractures, or it has how many miles and cycles of use?

[Frosty]

Unless you have experience working with struts making a tool you GUESS MIGHT work as a spring compressor is a B.A.D idea. Taking these apart is similar to opening air brake cans dangerous even with the right tools and experience, do it often enough and one WILL get you. Just like me cutting trees, go to the well enough times and you WILL drop the dipper.

Were I to need to take one apart badly enough I'd run the hardness out of the springs with a torch in an armored box / can and only risk the torch. Wrap it in chain, put it in a piece of heavy pipe I have laying in the yard put heavy stuff at the ends of the pipe and watch the heat in the spring through a mirror. Still I'd be sweating it. Putting too much heat in the strut itself could be a BAD thing, think bleve, maybe have to wrap the shaft in Kaowool. What's in the shock cylinder?

I can't think of a way to do this that'd make me feel safe. I leave them at the wrecking yard, plain old coil springs are just tooooo easy to find.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

Frosty, I didn't know they made struts out of white birch?

[Frosty]

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

Frosty, I didn't know they made struts out of white birch?

And I didn't know white birch play racket ball. Couldn't the pole/ post in pole/ post and beam construction be called a strut? Hmmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Dave51B]

Here are a couple of items that ended up here.....The rivet forge (Buffalo?)  needs more work. I got the blower (Little Champ?) cleaned out and freed up. It was full of mud daubers and hickory shells. The replacement pan has to small of holes in it for my liking, plus it's not bolted into the original so it flops around a bit. I did build a small charcoal fire in it to test. I have some old disk blades or plow coulters I could use to rebuild it. We'll see...

 The rat tail jack had a broken latch. I did manage to hammer out a replacement that works well. If only it matched the original a little better.  All in all I'm pleased......Both were freebies....... Life Is Good                  Dave

[SpankySmith]

what is it with blowers and mud daubers?  I disasembled/cleaned one that was full of 'em too, and I've read various posts here about the same phenom.  Weird.....

[dagr8tim]

5 hours ago, Dave51B said:

The rat tail jack had a broken latch. I did manage to hammer out a replacement that works well. If only it matched the original a little better.  All in all I'm pleased......Both were freebies....... Life Is Good                  Dave

Granted, I don't know much about the jack, but if I saw that somewhere, I would assume the handle was original.

I need to expand where I search, I cannot for the life of me find a little forge like that, but not for lack of trying.

[Dave51B]

Dagr8tim, the jack was just going to be tossed in the scrap, so I had to take it to save it...I'm not sure you can tell from the pic, but there is a foot on the bottom of the jack to lift low to the ground. I think the little forge will be handy to travel with.      Life is Good       Dave

[dagr8tim]

39 minutes ago, Dave51B said:

Dagr8tim, the jack was just going to be tossed in the scrap, so I had to take it to save it...I'm not sure you can tell from the pic, but there is a foot on the bottom of the jack to lift low to the ground. I think the little forge will be handy to travel with.      Life is Good       Dave

Looks good.

[ThomasPowers]

Dagr8tim; you will probably see a score of forges like that for sale at Quad-State; of course the IBA conference is closer in time if slightly further away in distance.

[SmoothBore]

On 2/28/2016 at 8:28 PM, Michael Cochran said:

I think I'll probably just buy a spring compressor if I get any more like this from that guy but these I think I'll try to take them to a local shop and see if they might be willing to take them off for me.

For what it's worth .....

Horror Freight has the screw type strut spring compressors, ... for $15.99.

 

---------------------------------

The first time I changed out a set of McPherson Struts, ( around 1980 ) I tried to use a pair of chain binders to compress the spring.

Would up with a neat round dent, shaped just like the end of the spring, in the fender of my Dad's car.

Live and learn .....

I made a set of compressors from some "all thread" and angle iron, in order to finish the job.

I still have them, ... and use them every decade or so .....

 

.

[dagr8tim]

26 minutes ago, SmoothBore said:

For what it's worth .....

Horror Freight has the screw type strut spring compressors, ... for $15.99.

I've used those before and they are scary.

I ended up having to cut one off of a Jeep because there wasn't room to unscrew it after getting the coil in place.

[Anachronist58]

It's important to note that these assemblies are under extreme pressure, as they are used to react against a portion of the weight of a motor vehicle. The unit pictured herein expanded 12" and even the last inch had the power to amputate or maim. As mentioned above, all of that stored energy is going to release like a gunshot, any way it can, including sideways.  As Frosty mentioned in reference to airbrake cans, no matter how many times you do something dangerous, it's always waiting for that moment of distraction or bad luck to Alter Your Life Forever. In Homage to The Lucky, don't let this become your White Birch (or Whale, if ye be Ahab).

All that aside, I now use the HF $15 strut kit - and I am not willing to post the modification details here, as ignorance of the laws of stress fracture can get you killed or disfigured.                          Robert Taylor

 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by Anachronist58
syntax, alignment

[dagr8tim]

I think I know what you are doing in terms of mods.  I'm not going to go into details.  I'll just say the whole process scares me.

Back to the original post.  Non strut shocks tend to not be under so much pressure if you are after the hardened polished shaft.

 

[Daswulf]

Even using the expensive strut spring tools I am always cautious. I almost bought one for $700. But couldn't justify the cost. If I can I'll just use the one at work. Tho I did buy a pair of the clamp style from a reputable tool dealer for if I'm ever in a pinch. And those were over $100. I'd be scared to use the HF ones myself. But if they work they work. I'll trust My life to a better name in trusted quality for that sort of thing. 

[Anachronist58]

Good call Daswulf.

[the iron dwarf]

large ball pein hammer, about nine and a half pounds

[Broadus]

Man! I've never had hammer envy so bad! I'm gonna have to make one those someday... the straight peen also looks cool, reminds me of the sledges those pictures of the anvil makers in mousehole forge, like the offset head that chain makers used but they looked slimmer with a longer peen. Great hammers!!!

[Klorinth]

I found a nice little drill. It's set up with a new chuck and can be belt driven... Not bad. Seems to be running very smooth.

 

 

now i just I just need to find the right spot for it.

[ThomasPowers]

Lovely drill but I'm not too gung ho about powering them.  Back 30+ years ago I met a knifemaker at the Guild show, (back when it was in KC) who wanted to save money and so had hooked up his old hand crank drill to a motor.  When drilling a fussy bit, (handle pins IIRC), he reached up to advance the bit and stuck his fingers in the moving gears.  He told me that he could have bought the most expensive drill press sold cheaper than the hospital bills, downtime and 2 years later the fingers were still not working right.  With the hand crank you are protected at least some from that.   There are reasons more modern machines have all those ridiculous guards on them...  Sure I use a hand crank drill press every now and then but boy am I careful about my fingers!  I use my cole drill a lot more often.

[Alan Evans]

On 29 February 2016 at 3:00 PM, Dave51B said:

Dagr8tim, the jack was just going to be tossed in the scrap, so I had to take it to save it...I'm not sure you can tell from the pic, but there is a foot on the bottom of the jack to lift low to the ground. I think the little forge will be handy to travel with.      Life is Good       Dave

I know those as toe jacks...

Alan

[Klorinth]

11 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Lovely drill but I'm not too gung ho about powering them.  Back 30+ years ago I met a knifemaker at the Guild show, (back when it was in KC) who wanted to save money and so had hooked up his old hand crank drill to a motor.  When drilling a fussy bit, (handle pins IIRC), he reached up to advance the bit and stuck his fingers in the moving gears.  He told me that he could have bought the most expensive drill press sold cheaper than the hospital bills, downtime and 2 years later the fingers were still not working right.  With the hand crank you are protected at least some from that.   There are reasons more modern machines have all those ridiculous guards on them...  Sure I use a hand crank drill press every now and then but boy am I careful about my fingers!  I use my cole drill a lot more often.

I will be setting up everything where there is no power so a hand drill is what I need. Having the ability to add a motor is just a bonus... Besides I got it for $80 which is less than half the price of all the others I have seen locally.

The safety advise is well taken. Thank you.