Plumbing Zone - Professional Plumbers Forum banner

Need A Tool? Make One.

30K views 160 replies 25 participants last post by  DDDave 
#1 ·
Ever been in a situation where you needed a tool but didn't have because one wasn't made?

Well, make one. Show us your home-made tools. Mens' minds have produced many clever tools over the centuries.
 
#3 ·
... for some deep low torque nut or plug... but for something that I don’t deal with... I think?

For below ground check valve lids I have a 3’ 3” scl40 and a 2” chunk of pipe notched with a hole through the top for a screwdriver as leverage. Plenty of other tools that just aren’t coming to mind at the moment.
 
#4 ·
... for some deep low torque nut or plug... but for something that I don’t deal with... I think?

For below ground check valve lids I have a 3’ 3” scl40 and a 2” chunk of pipe notched with a hole through the top for a screwdriver as leverage. Plenty of other tools that just aren’t coming to mind at the moment.













You're a service guy right? Then you may have needed the tool that I posted or I should say could have used.

I want to see what my highly esteemed plumbing colleagues have fabricated. Maybe I can poach an idea or two which will make my job easier.
 
#5 ·
For those who do service work, do you guys ever replace that diamond-shaped gasket and flush valve on Kohler W/C's? The flush valve nut is surrounded by the rubber gasket and a large channel locks doesn't fit well. So I made a socket to fit it.
 

Attachments

#7 · (Edited)
This tool is to loosen moen cartridges in corner tub faucet. These cartridges are like 3 inches deep. I hate those! I can use a screw driver or wrench.






This wrench is for shower drains, Couldn't find it for sale on the net and no one ships here. I made my own with a more comfortable handle and the hex part is so I can use a wrench for extra torque. The small metal strip they provide with a new drain sucks, it always falls in the p-trap and the pipe has to be right on the money. This tool is perfect for service jobs.

 
#10 ·
When I used to work on commercial sites and had to pop those black sleeves between floors the ones that have the same shape as a top hat. The companies never provided proper tools to remove them so I made a sleeve cutter on their time on the job! Pry the sleeve away from the concrete then slice it all the way through. A lot easier than the huge and heavy concrete pry bar that you had to borrow in secret.



 
#13 ·
Nothing special. Just what we use to catch dust. Now every truck is stocked with a hepa filter because of this whole silica thing, but this works well too.
 

Attachments

#14 ·
We now have to wear dust masks with cartridges in our province to protect against silicosis. Anyone caught without wearing one when drilling anchor shots for example will get fined. I've been wearing masks since I can't remember.

When I went to work in the other province I was the only person to wear one and they looked at me like I was an extra terrestrial. They never saw masks with cartridges let alone know what the silicosis disease is.
 
#16 ·
The problem with hepa filerters is the employers don't want to buy new drills that accepts filters. When they do buy the filters they clog up fast, the guys don't take care of them. The employers don't buy more filters or the brush collector when they wear out and after a week you're breathing all that crap again.

The last decade as an employee I supplied my own safety equipment from masks, gloves, safety glasses, face shield, harness, ear plugs etc. The employers were supposed to supply that by law but they were D---cks. I was not going to lose my health for those clowns.
 
#18 ·
I wanted the original tool but since I'm up north the price tag was over 200$ including all kinds of rip off fees. Yes thats right that much. So I made my own. 1/8 flat stock with a welded Sawsall blade and shrink tube. 2 years later that tool is still 3 times as much as down south.

 
#27 ·
I needed a tiny flathead screw driver to close the “water stops” on a imported “tub and shower valve”
The smallest flathead I had, had a tapered shaft and It couldn’t close the stop %100.
Fak!
I was in the city, in a place that was very hard to find parking, so I wasn’t interested in going to buy a tiny flathead, coming back and trying to find parking- so I took my yellow aviator snips and cut a 1/2” copper pipe clip into a long thin flathead. The clip lasted just long enough to close the stops before it twisted.

Was back at this job today- but with a tiny Flathead.. that copper clip saved me 1hr of time and a headache driving/parking!
 
#29 ·
Did you ever curse and swear trying to install a one piece toilet where the flange bolts are inside? Your fingers don't fit and you get bruised and cramped and the nut falls off inside? Now you have to pull the toilet, shake it to get the nut back and replace the wax? Try again and again? I made this!

I had to order this pass through ratchet from South Korea, couldn't find it anywhere else and waited 2 month to receive it. I made my own special sockets for the nuts bolts. I start off with the supplied sleeves (cotter pin sleeve or the one with inward bent sleeve) then I can switch to my pass through sockets. No more fracking around. Guess what I didn't have to install one of them since!







Here's a socket for the dishwasher connection. I got the idea from this site I think.

 
#30 ·
Did you ever curse and swear trying to install a one piece toilet where the flange bolts are inside? Your fingers don't fit and you get bruised and cramped and the nut falls off inside? Now you have to pull the toilet, shake it to get the nut back and replace the wax? Try again and again? I made this!



I had to order this pass through ratchet from South Korea, couldn't find it anywhere else and waited 2 month to receive it. I made my own special sockets for the nuts bolts. I start off with the supplied sleeves (cotter pin sleeve or the one with inward bent sleeve) then I can switch to my pass through sockets. No more fracking around. Guess what I didn't have to install one of them since!







Here's a socket for the dishwasher connection. I got the idea from this site I think.


Nice!

I make my apprentice tighten those bolts!
1/8 of a turn, flip the wrench, 1/8 turn, flip wrench- repeat until tight!
 
#38 ·
Here's a tool I had to make to install 24 stories worth of shower faucets. The whole female part had to buried inside the wall, be exactly 1/8" below tile so I could install the shower fittings. Many occasions I had to shorten the "nipple" as seen here to be half that length. lots of mini hacksaw work and soldering and an extra layer of 50/50 to strengthen it.

The escutcheon were the size of the hex so a regular socket wouldn't of worked.

Stupid shower faucet rough design, I was the first guinea pig to install those directly from the manufacturer.

I bet no one else will ever install those faucets after me.
 

Attachments

#41 ·
Tub stoppage today. I pulled off the waste and overflow to access and noticed no plunger on the linkage. I asked the homeowner for a wire coat hanger. I put a bend on the end of it, stuck it down the w/o and plucked the plunger out. Drains great now.
 

Attachments

#44 · (Edited)
I will eventualy need this shower wrench again to use in a confined space. The one I bought originaly works only on hex nut shower drains and brass drain nuts (I've never encountered those). I modified it with extra notches to fit an ABS style drain. See the black marker points












I wanted to purchase a different wrench for other types of drains but the seller doesn't have it in his repertoire. I decided to make my own. I used this wrench as a template to make a version for confined spaces. I cut down a socket to allow to clip in a ratchet extension.











 
#49 ·
I will eventualy need this shower wrench again to use in a confined space. The one I bought originaly works only on hex nut shower drains and brass drain nuts (I've never encountered those). I modified it with extra notches to fit an ABS style drain. See the black marker points












I wanted to purchase a different wrench for other types of drains but the seller doesn't have it in his repertoire. I decided to make my own. I used this wrench as a template to make a version for confined spaces. I cut down a socket to allow to clip in a ratchet extension.












treat yourself to a plasma cutter, they work great...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top