Garage Shop: Tools

As for purchasing, you can do a deposit.

Ton of forum members have already done so.

 

I tried I guess before it was ready to take my money. But it just worked. This is a really exciting piece of gear. Amazing.

 

So a simple project compared to what some of you guys do. With some success and some failure. I have a new planer for my wood shop coming and I'll pick it up from the trucking terminal with my taco. I need some ramps to get it off. I need to bend some 3/8" plate to make a hook for the ramps. So my idea is to use an arbor press to do that. I drilled a half hole in a block of maple scrap wood to make a bending form.





I removed a disc sander from a tool stand. It will be going where the dewalt planer is now. The planer is being sold to a friend when my new one arrives.

I mounted the arbor press to the stand.



I salvaged 2 of these heavy aluminum extrusions from a place I worked at.

I set one on the tailgate of the taco to find the angle I would need to bend the plate at.

And I used an angle finder to record the angle.

More coming......

 

Next I marked off two 10" pieces of the 4" wide 3/8" aluminum plate.
I then cut them on my metal cutting saw.

Then set up the press.

Set a round bar on the plate.

But it didn't budge. First failure.

I switched to a small piece of sqstock and took s.al bites, it was moving.

And then the second failure, destroyed the Harbour Freight stand. It just could take my 200+ lbs hanging on the handle, lol. Bent the crap out of it.

But wait there's more......

 

What series aluminum?

3 and 5 series can be bent, whereas 6 series can crack

 

So plan B. I clamped the plate to the top rail of my trailer and wacked it with a sledge hammer. It bent easily. The front rail of my trailer is seriously stout 2" x1/4" wall so i can mount a winch on it.
So success.

Next I used a drill press to drill and counter sink some holes for the mounting screws.

The screws are left over deck screws from when I built my trailer.

I used the plates as templates to drill the holes in the ramps.



The screewes where a little long so I cut them off with a cutoff wheel.

And sanded them smooth with a right angle grinder.

And now I have a pair of seriously stout ramps for next to no cost. I only purchased the plate and it was a cheap drop.

So I can use these ramps to get things off the truck, or on the trailer because it is lower and easier to load. Or I can get up the side door step to get things down to my basement wood shop.

 

I'm not really sure, it was a drop at the metal supplier. It did bend and didn't crack.
I was actually looking for a stainless steel drop but none where to be found.

 

Went from the small black box on the table to the 56” US General slate gray rolling tool box and top hutch.

 

Cut this a few hours ago; it's a garage tool right

https://youtu.be/UcShx0nboVI?si=Z5b7R_mpwSqkoCxs

 

Omg the internet is infinite.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx6nzsStMwp/

 

Nicely done. Maybe you have done so already but consider drilling a hole on each side of the ramp where the ramp sits on the tailgate so you can use some type of fastening system(ratchet strap) to hold the ramps to the tailgate so they do not slide out of position when you are using them.

 

Yeah I need to do that.

 

just learned today that anyone can sign up for a home depot pro account. it's implied for business owners, but is basically harbor freights 'inside track club' without the membership dues.

should help for anyone like me that buys their own tools, business or not.

 

Cheaper prices overall? Mainly bulk purchase discounts?

 

yes, and no. that's where the parallel to hf's inside track club is. there's varying special offers and discounts only available to members, as well as quantity discounts. the big draw for me is that it costs nothing for membership to get access to these deals, unlike hf's club. most of the time, i'm already buying things at home depot, so having another discount option is always welcome to find ways to reduce costs!

 

I'll have to set one up for me as well then.

 

Absolutely get sent more coupons and offers than the typical non-pro member. Also get rewards for spending marks. Every 5k spent I believe. I learned this last year when I bought my house and it’s been very helpful. It’s the closest big box store near me.

 

The Pro thing was pretty much automatic for military, and yeah anyone can enroll in it just using whatever your 'company' name is

They don't verify it

 

Plus you get priority parking up front.

 

lol, i've been using that parking since they put it in!

of course, i'm not very good at interpreting signs