The tool maker

by Brad Nelson

I think my loving wife keeps me around just to see what I will do next. We had a scheduled training session for the Royal Slope ambulance service tonight. I got there early and asked one of my fellow volunteer ambulance members to model for me, holding a tool I had recently made. After the official photo, we did a bit of clowning, all before my wife, who is the “honcho” of the ambulance, arrived. I got some good pictures during the “clowning,” but they are not suitable for publication.

One of the frustrations of my life is not being able to find the “right” tool for the job I have at hand. One of my greater joys is being able to make tools, or at least alter existing tools to do the job. Two of the drawers of my big toolbox are for tools I have either made or altered. Most are not very expensive and most are not available from the Mac or Snap-On tool truck. However, if the toolbox were lost or stolen, the custom-made tools would be the greatest loss, since everything else could be replaced by spending money.

One of my most often-used custom tools is the 7/8 inch combination end wrench, which I heated with the torch and then bent the open end of it until it approached a ninety-degree angle from the handle. Then the body of the open-end portion was narrowed with a grinder. This works nicely on hydraulic hose ends, which were assembled in such a manner that usually requires taking all the hoses off to reach the one in the middle that has the problem. My altered 7/8 inch wrench will reach “around the corner” and loosen just the fitting I need removed, without having to take apart all the others.

I have found that once I make a custom tool for a particular problem, I need to keep it. If I never need it again, someone else will. It must be hereditary. My son Dan told me that while working on his 3406 Caterpillar truck engine, he was told that he needed a mega-bucks special tool to remove the spring-steel part that held the camshaft follower rollers in place. After his engine was back together and running, I asked him how much the special tool ended up costing him. He laughed and shook his head. Dan told me he made his own from a $2 screwdriver with the help of a vise, acetylene torch and a pair of pliers. Someone had let him look at a tool made for the purpose, and that was all Dan needed to be able to make his own.

On the general subject of tools, a few years back, I was the unfortunate owner of a 1977 Cadillac automobile. When the transmission took to going forward only, we ordered in a used transmission from a wrecking yard. My son Ryan and his buddy Sevrin volunteered to do the removal of the bad unit and installation of the new one. I was up to my ears in another project and helped them when they came and asked for help; otherwise, they took the old transmission out by themselves.

When we installed the new-to-us transmission, Ryan announced that the bolt up behind the firewall that had taken them so much time to take out would be my privilege to put back. I asked what the problem had been, and was told they had to reach in with an open-end-wrench and turn the bolt an eighth of a turn, then bring the wrench out, turn it over, reach it in again, and give the stubborn bolt another eighth of a turn. It seemed to them that it took an hour on just that one bolt. I told them I would put in back in for them.

We got the transmission lined up and in its proper position. With a handful of bolts started and the bell housing pulled tight against the engine block, I went back to my project. In short order, I had two teenagers informing me they were ready to see me grunt, groan and cuss with the last objectionable bolt. I asked them to show me where it was. I took the bolt in my fingers and reached up to the place it went, near the top of the bell housing and fairly close to the firewall of the car. With it started and now finger-tight, I went to the toolbox. I came back with an impact style wobbly socket in the appropriate size, about twenty-four inches of socket wrench extension and a long-handled ratchet. I put the wobbly socket on the end of the extension and the ratchet on the other end. I took the socket end in my hand and reached up to the irascible bolt and attached the socket to it. Then holding pressure on it, I turned the ratchet until it was tight. Including the walk to the toolbox, this all took about a minute and a half. I still do not know what got into those two. They snorted, bellowed and threw things.

Now back to where I started. With the increasing popularity of big bales, both 4x4 and 3x4, it became a challenge to find out what the inside of the bale looked like. I remembered my father using a hay saw to make a cut down a stack of long hay so it could be forked onto a wagon without opening the whole top of the stack. More particularly, I remember the scar on one of Dad’s fingers caused by the hay saw.

After attempting several types of tools to cut into big bales, I customized a machete. I cut it down to just over ten inches of blade, lowered the top of the tip, did my best to hollow-grind an edge on it, including the drooped tip, and then made serrations on it with the edge of a grindstone. Once it is formed, a chainsaw file will keep it sharp. It is light enough to handle easily, yet strong enough to pry out of the bale a deep sample section. This is the new tool I took with me into the ambulance training session this evening.

The topic of the evening was, “Violence in the workplace.” Elli started her presentation by listing on the board the types of possible workplace violence. The first thing she listed was “co-workers.” I interrupted her by passing around my digital camera showing the image of one of the group holding the big bale sample tool near the throat of another member, and asked, “You mean something like this?”

I was told not to send that picture to the Progressive Dairyman magazine, unless I thought they would provide me with room and board.

Merry Christmas, and a better hay year next year to all! PD