Murphy's Law, sub-category ?? Those cute little screwdrivers and keys and wrenches that get included as a kit in order to service the tools they come with such as saws or cut off wheels will always disappear at the worst possible moment. Corollary #1: The dealer or vendor from which you bought the saw or cutter does not carry those tools as separate items; if they do happen to be listed in the catalogue, then there is no inventory of them anywhere. Corollary #2: the more desperate you are to find them, the more impossible they become to find.
What you see shown in the two pictures above is my solution to the problem outlined above; aka mia tools. See, my air cut off wheel did come with tools to be used for changing the cutting wheels themselves when they wore out. By description, they comprised a 3/16ths right angle allen key, and a 1/2" wrench that looked to be stamped from sheet steel. As you may have guessed by now, both have gone awol and only the keys are available but have to come from a central supply depot located in ???? North America.
Okay, before someone pipes up with obvious answer, yes I can get away with using standard generic hex keys and a 1/2 open ended wrench, except that then I would be not only looking for the correct tools but also for the substitutes as well.
When you can't buy, one obvious option becomes make or build. So I made the replacement wrenches as you can see above. The raw material was 1/8th x 1-1/4" wide flat plate; a scrap piece of which I scrounged from one of my bins. Two blanks were cut, each 5" long so that a full hand can grab the tool and hold onto it properly. The bottom curve of the throat of the wrench was drilled out on the drill press; 1/2" dia cause a 1/2" wrench did fit the collet body on the tool. The ramps were rough cut by scribing lines on the plate and using a micro-cutoff wheel on my Dremel to follow them and open up the rest of the throat. After that it was file and test on a 1/2 bolt until the bolt passed through and bottomed out. Final fit was to the tool itself which demanded a little more filing and with them both fitting nice and close on the collet flats, it was time for pretty. That was just some buffing on the wire wheel. Done. About three to four hours for both. Why two? Cause if I botched the first one, I would have a backup to go to, to try again. They both got drilled for 1/4 inch holes so that I can put leashes on them to keep them from running away like the other one did. Still have to get some keys but they can be store bought for cheap so easier to go that way.
Just my personal way of keeping busy on a brutally hot Sunday afternoon when the basement shop is the coolest place in the house.
Nick
