DIY Shaft Extractor Finished

[David Hillman]

After shopping for an extractor for a while, and finding the prices mostly outrageous, I decided to build my own. I saw this thread and started to build one. I bought the vise, and cut the aluminum sections... but then I looked hard at the design, and changed my mind. In particular, I didn't like the looks of that bent metal strip pinching the shaft. I guess it works, but it didn't look right to me.

Then I noticed that the Wolfcraft vise came with an auxiliary clamp... and that it'd be perfect for holding a shaft. I just needed to build something to hold it in the right spot.

Voila!

It wound up being easier than I thought. The base started life as a 6x2x12" aluminum box channel ( $13.81 from McMaster-Carr, p/n 88935K721, http://planet-torque.com/golf/extractor3.jpg ) and that was the only piece I purchased, other than the vise.

I cut it about in half, which left me with a base for the shaft clamp, and for the vise.

After that, it was a simple matter of drilling a bunch of holes and scouring the garage for suitable nuts and bolts. Once the two pieces were mounted, I cut one-third off the scrap from the first cut, and made a shaft collar out of it. That C-shaped piece bolts directly to the movable jaw of the vise.

That's about it.

If anyone else is thinking about building one, I'd advise against using this vise. The safety release effectively prevents using it for the intended purpose. I'm going to have to figure out a better way to disable that; hopefully I'll be able to weld it 'open'. I can provide more details if someone would like to copy this, but I was designing as I went, and not measuring much

Also, if someone is looking to build the shaft puller in the thread I linked above, I have the aluminum bits and don't need them. All you need to do is buy your vise, and drill some holes. In fact, I have enough raw material for another couple sets, since I bought it for a different project that never happened. $10 shipped.

 

[MIKE1218]

Your garage tinkerer skills are impressive dude. Well done I'd say.

 

[slickpitt]

Very nice indeed! Good job!

 

[spartyon8]

Hey, that's my extractor!!!! Good job. I did find out some build issues after removing about 5 club heads. After a while. The c-clip that holds the screw shafts weakens and pops rendering the vise useless unless you put a new one in. The saftey feature does suck and was something I did look at before the build. My clamping system has started to fail so I will be keeping yours in mind.

 

[MIKE1218]

Man, that's just too cool. I'm going to have to go to Harbor Freight tomorrow to scope out a vice. I don't have any scrap metal for the base though.

 

[David Hillman]

Thanks guys. Mike, I consider that a very high compliment. I will have to tell my buddy next time he's mocking my racecar fabrication skills.

I just went back out to the garage, and used it for the first time. I'm very happy to say that I fixed the problem with the safety release on the vise, but the solution is ugly. I found a pack of 20 1/16" motor mount shims, and after widening the U in the middle slightly, I was able to wedge a stack of three between the red button and the body of the vise. This defeats the safety, but looks like hell. More thought needed here, but this'll work for now.

Also I learned that if you turn the rubber shaft clamp upside down, it works much better. Otherwise, the shaft wants to walk up.

The only other problem is that I just popped the head off a club I had no desire to take apart... just to play with my new toy

 

[David Hillman]

Man, that's just too cool. I'm going to have to go to Harbor Freight tomorrow to scope out a vice. I don't have any scrap metal for the base though.

I have $200 in HF gift cards from Christmas... but I'd already bought this vise. I should've returned it and picked up this one, instead.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Appears to be a little smaller, but it looks like you can unbolt the jaws. As far as metal goes, for mine, you only need to buy that one $14 piece from McMaster-Carr. You may optionally want to brace it with a section of angle along the bottom-side, though. I found, while testing my safety-disabler that I could bend the base-plate by cranking on the vise. I think the head would likely pop off before that ( I wasn't using a club to test ) but it's a simple addition. I cut a 12" piece of angle, and bolted it on using the same bolts which hold the vise.

Using angle is key, because it's almost impossible to bend. That's why the shaft collar is a C, I was afraid that'd bend.

 

[MIKE1218]

What was the total with shipping from McMaster?

 

[David Hillman]

What was the total with shipping from McMaster?

$19.91, $13.81 for the piece, $1.10 sales tax, $5 shipping and handling. If that's not up your alley, you could go with my first thought... which was a 2x6". There's no reason that wouldn't work, although you're going to have to engineer in some strength if you cut the base down to 1/8" like the metal is.

I took pictures of the workarounds from my previous post...

Shim stack...

Chassis brace...

You can see how much better the clamp works upside-down...

 

[Strider]

Would it help to use this shaft clamp?

DELUXE HEAVY DUTY SHAFT CLAMP

 

[David Hillman]

Would it help to use this shaft clamp?

DELUXE HEAVY DUTY SHAFT CLAMP

Maybe, but for $10, I'll never know With my current $1.99 clamp upside-down, you can secure the shaft sufficient to bend the aluminum frame of the device, if you are so inclined. ( Btw, an alternate way to prevent that, if you don't have extra angle for the brace, is to eliminate the gap between the vise body and the platform where the clamp sits. If the edge of the platform contacts the vise, the base-plate cannot bend. I thought of this too-late, but if I ever build another, it'll be slightly more compact. )

 

[MIKE1218]

I've sort of got a plan for this. I may use lumber for the base and stain it. I have the necessary wood in the garage, so all I would need is a vice, and a clamp and a little piece of scrap aluminum for the shaft.

 

[LBlack14]

Not to be a SCHILL, but I can get anyone a good hydraulic puller(same one I use) for around $100. I won't be making a dime off it either. Same one you see pictured on my bench.

 

[LeftyHoges]

Not to be a SCHILL, but I can get anyone a good hydraulic puller(same one I use) for around $100. I won't be making a dime off it either. Same one you see pictured on my bench.

I may be interested in one of these. Any time limit on these???

 

[Strider]

Not to be a SCHILL, but I can get anyone a good hydraulic puller(same one I use) for around $100. I won't be making a dime off it either. Same one you see pictured on my bench.

Is this the same one sold on WRX? Looks pretty nice. How well does it work?