Table of Contents!

Chapter 1 - Automotive 2

Chapter 2 - Electrical 6

Chapter 3 - Machining 9

Chapter 4 - Metalworking 15

Chapter 5 - Woodworking 23

Chapter 6 - Workholding 31

i
1
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Automotive Automotive category page.
 Heavy-Duty Rotisserie

By toolman8

Homemade, heavy-duty rotisserie fabri-

cated from square steel tubing and ca-
pable of supporting and rotating at
least 5,000 pounds.

See more Automotive entries

Engine Break-In Stand

By jniolon

Homemade engine break-in stand con-

structed specifically for a Ford 460 en-
gine. Fabricated from 2x2 tubing, a
lawnmower throttle/lever cable assem-
bly, Cadillac radiator, a fan from an 80's
Honda, and some spare gauges.

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 Tapered Axle Puller

By nonhog

Homemade tapered axle puller adapted

from a surplus Toyota MR2 hub and util-
izing a section of black iron pipe as the
tool's body.

See more Automotive entries

Chassis Jig Table

By astroracer

Homemade chassis jig tables featuring

sliding H-beams to accommodate varying
track widths. Mobility and leveling are
each facilitated with both casters and jack-
ing lugs, respectively, at each corner. One
table incorporates a melamine top to en-
able layout marking directly on the wash-
able surface.

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 Engine Stand

By jniolon

Homemade engine stand construction

project detailed in a comprehensive
photo-tutorial.

See more Automotive entries

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2
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Electrical! Electrical category page.
 Lathe Electronic Edge
Finder

By Rick Sparber

Homemade lathe electronic edge finder (LEEF) de-

tailed in an extensive writeup. Provides the capabil-
ity to detect the cutter coming into contact with a
workpiece, all without any modification to the lathe,
cutter, or workpiece. Utilization of the LEEF enables
one to quickly re-establish zero when changing cut-
ters and will also indicate boring bar touchdown at
the bottom of a hole.

See more Electrical entries

12v Car Battery Desulfator

By kmpres

Homemade desulfator for 12v car bat-

teries. Instructions cover building a
desulfator circuit, smoke testing, and
attaching the circuit to battery charg-
ers. Circuit schematic and parts list in-
cluded.

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 ATX Power Supply to Lab
Supply Conversion

By Abizarl

Homemade ATX power supply to lab supply

conversion. Includes comprehensive instruc-
tions, photographs, and video detailing how
to salvage the ATX power supply, discharge
it, drill the case, attach the binding posts,
and create proper wire connections.

See more Electrical entries

Detonation Detector

By Julian Edgar

Homemade detonation detector con-

structed from inexpensive electronics
parts, earphones, microphone cable,
battery clip, and battery.

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3
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Machining Machining category page.
 Cap Screw Holders

By Frank Ford

Homemade cap screw holders ma-

chined from brass and intended to facili-
tate the safe presentation of short
screws to a grinder. Mounted in turned
rosewood handles.

See more Machining entries

Boring Head

By ISHIMURA

Homemade boring head with a MT3/JT6 arbor.

Connected to the mill spindle through the MT3
taper. Boring head fits on the Jacob's taper. Bor-
ing head body, sub-head, and micrometer shaft
all machined from free-cutting steel. Gib plate is
mild steel. Moving the micrometer dial by one
increment moves the boring head by 0.02 mm.
Boring head is adjusted using an Allen key.

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 Taig Mill Screwless Vise

By Dean Williams

Homemade screwless vise constructed

from a section of 7/8" thick scrap alumi-
num and intended to fit a Taig mill.
Fixed and movable jaws are fabricated
from 1 1/4" square aluminum. Capable
of accepting 3" workpieces.

See more Machining entries

Rotary Broaching Tool

By mikesworkshop

Homemade rotary broaching tool intended

to be mounted on a lathe's cross slide.
Comprised of a tool post block and a cut-
ter. Block measures 25 x 50 x 50mm. Cut-
ter is machined from a 10mm diameter sil-
ver steel rod. Brass M5 screws secure the
cutter holder to the tool post block.

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 Stepperhead Universal 

Machine Tool

By jackary

Homemade Stepperhead universal machine tool. Util-

izes TurboCNC v 4.01 and powered by a 430-Watt, 1400
rpm, 240v AC three-phase stepper motor. Spindle
speed is 15-3000 rpm, forward and reverse. Nema size
23 motors for the head, cross slide, and saddle. Milling
head motor is 430 watts, 24v DC, with a speed range of
1000-4000 rpm. Overall dimensions: 1000 mm long x
600 mm wide x 500 mm high.

See more Machining entries

Fixed Steady

By ISHIMURA

Homemade fixed steady design based

on commercial units. Frame features
three channels, supporting brass fin-
gers with adjusting and locking screws.
An L-shaped base with vee slots mates
with the lathe vee way.

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 Kurt-Style Vise for 

Gingery Shaper

By Rick Sparber

Homemade Kurt-style vise for a Gin-

gery shaper. Separate and perpendicu-
lar screws provide clamping force in
both planes. Features soft jaws with the
clamp screw pulling on the movable
jaw.

See more Machining entries

Fly Cutter

By Frank Ford

Homemade fly cutter adapted from a

stock R8 arbor and utilizing a piece of
round stock for the head. Tool is able to
perform both rough and finish cuts si-
multaneously.

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 Keyway Slotter

By ISHIMURA

Homemade keyway slotter designed to

be mounted on a lathe's cross-slide.
Block is mild steel, bushes are brass.
Accepts HSS bits.

See more Machining entries

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4
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Metalworking Metalworking category page.
 Miniature 4-Jaw Chuck

By Dean Williams

Homemade miniature 4-jaw, 1" diame-

ter chuck intended for use with a small
model lathe. Spindle features M12 x 1.5
thread. Jaws machined from cold rolled
steel.

See more Metalworking entries

Scratch-Built Bead Roller

By Andy P

Homemade bead roller featuring a main

body constructed from 10mm laser cut
plates. The only proprietary parts used
were phosphor bronze bearings and
two reverse gears sourced from a Toy-
ota Celica transmission.

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 Hydraulic Press

By Dave Propst

Homemade multi-purpose hydraulic

press powered by a 25-ton Enerpac
ram.

See more Metalworking entries

Coffee Can Furnace

By W. E. Johns

Homemade coffee can furnace pow-

ered by a repurposed dishwasher
blower.

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 English Wheel

By idickers

Homemade English wheel with remov-

able legs.

See more Metalworking entries

Crucible and Tongs

By Rick Sparber

Homemade crucible and tongs fash-

ioned from 6" diameter x 1/4" thick
pipe. Bottom is 1/4" plate, welded to
the body. Has a capacity of 9 lbs. Lift-
ing and pouring handle was con-
structed from CRS rods and bars.

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 Leveling Ring Roller

By nitronorm

Homemade leveling ring roller powered by

a bottle jack. Assembly consists of top &
bottom carriages secured to the base by
2x20mm locking pins. Carriages were fab-
ricated from 10mm plate. Utilizes 100mm
rollers with 20mm spindles. Top roller is
driven through a 5mm keyway.

See more Metalworking entries

Freon Tank Forge

By Fred Frontino

Homemade forge fabricated from a re-

purposed freon tank and featuring an in-
tegral ceramic shelf to support work-
pieces during firing.

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 Light-Duty Bender

By Goff

Homemade light-duty bender fabri-

cated from flat bar stock and long
bolts. Designed to be mounted in a
bench vise. Utilizes homemade dies.

See more Metalworking entries

Gas-Fired Crucible 

Furnace

By Joe Hildreth

Homemade gas-fired crucible furnace

based on a Dave Gingery project. Fur-
nace refractory contains 1/3 perlite.
Fuel is propane. Fan motor rated at 1/
3hp at 1725rpm.

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 Boring Bar Holder

By Steven Vine

Homemade fixture designed to hold a

Glanze boring bar for a lathe. Made
from a solid piece of laminated steel.

See more Metalworking entries

Variable Volume Flask

By Rick Sparber

Homemade variable volume flask for

casting. Constructed from extruded alu-
minum channels and wood blocks.
Sides are bolted together to form the
cope and drag. Kit consists of 12 sides
and two bars for mounting the upset.

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 Custom V-Block

By Glenn Wegman

Homemade custom V-block fabricated

from A2 tool steel and intended to facili-
tate the securing of small parts for drill-
ing operations.

See more Metalworking entries

Waste Oil Burner and 


Furnace

By Lionel Oliver II

Homemade waste oil burner and fur-

nace adapted from a 20lb propane
tank. Frame constructed from steel
pipe and rebar. Powered by a home-
made blower.

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5
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Woodworking Woodworking category page.
 Drum Sander

By Ronald Walter

Homemade drum sander powered by a

1/3 HP, 1725 RPM motor. Rotating
drum is constructed from a stack of
MDF and Baltic Birch discs mounted on
a steel shaft.

See more Woodworking entries

14” Bandsaw

By Matthias Wandel

Homemade wood-framed 14" bandsaw

utilizing Ikea shelving components and
plywood for the frame and table. Pow-
ered by a 1hp pool pump motor driving
a V-belt mounted to a 2.5" pulley.

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 Blade Sharpening Jig

By John Heisz

Homemade blade sharpening jig de-

signed to facilitate the accurate honing
of planer and jointer knives.

See more Woodworking entries

Table Saw from Plans

By Hector Acevedo

Homemade, wooden table saw con-

structed from plans and featuring a
knee-operated panic shutdown bar,
micro-adjustment in crosscut and rip
fences, and dust collection unit pow-
ered by a vacuum cleaner motor.

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 Horizontal Mortiser

By Brian Grella

Homemade horizontal mortiser utilizing

bronze-sleeved shafts for the horizontal
slider mechanism.

See more Woodworking entries

Box Joint Jig

By John Heisz

Homemade box joint jig constructed

from wood. The jig is fitted with a
mechanism intended to advance the
workpiece a quarter inch at a time.

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 Ultimate Woodworking 

Table

By Dave Munkittrick

Homemade woodworking table incorpo-

rating space for a mounted planer,
router, and sander. Features an integral
clamping system and a downdraft sand-
ing station, as well as an outfeed table.

See more Woodworking entries

3D Router Pantograph

By Matthias Wandel

Homemade, 3D router pantograph ca-

pable of controlling the depth of cut.

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 Box Joint Jig

By niki

Homemade box joint jig for a router ta-

ble consisting of clamps utilized in con-
junction with a set of precision spacers.
Capable of producing accurate finger
joints.

See more Woodworking entries

Gear-Making Pantorouter

By Ken Coulter

Homemade, gear-making pantorouter

specifically constructed to facilitate the
production of wooden involute gears.

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 Router Table

By John Heisz

Homemade router table featuring a

built-in router lift and router bit storage
drawer.

See more Woodworking entries

Longworth Chuck

By Woodworker’s Guide

Homemade Longworth chuck con-

structed from two plywood discs. In-
tended to enable the finish turning of a
workpiece's normally inaccessible bot-
tom face.

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 Sphere Template

By David Reed Smith

Homemade template for turning

wooden spheres on a lathe. Scales are
utilized to measure proper distances.
Template is fastened to aluminum flash-
ing to provide working stiffness.

See more Woodworking entries

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6
Go directly to the HomemadeTools
Workholding Workholding category page.
 Bandsaw Vise 

Modification

By mikesworkshop

Homemade bandsaw vise modification to

enable the cutting of smaller pieces. In-
volves alteration of the moving jaw, addi-
tion of a jack rod and scale, repositioning
the fixed jaw, and replacing the lock nuts
with tee nuts and tommy bars.

See more Workholding entries

Bison 3-Jaw Chuck 


Soft Jaws

By Rick Sparber

Homemade soft jaws fabricated from

6061 aluminum and designed to fit a Bi-
son lathe's 3-jaw chuck.

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 Hold Down Clamp

By Matthias Wandel

Homemade hold down clamp con-

structed from a repurposed C-clamp fit-
ted to custom-made, wooden compo-
nents.

See more Workholding entries

Bench Vise

By slickSqueegie

Homemade bench vise constructed

from lumber, wooden dowels, and a 3'
section of 1" diameter threaded rod.

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 Hold-Down Clamps

By niki

Homemade hold-down clamps for

woodworking constructed from scrap
lumber, threaded rod, and T-nuts. Nuts
embedded in underside of the work-
bench enable a variety of clamping con-
figurations.

See more Workholding entries

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