OK I know this is not gun related but...I need to make a "barrel vise" to hold a hydraulic cylinder while I unscrew a tie rod end threaded inside the shaft of the cylinder. The chromed cylinder shaft is 30MM. How much clearance would you allow when boring the hole in the "barrel vise"?

I know some just use tape around a rifle barrel. I usually use a layer of 5 minute epoxy to give a firm grip when clamped. I probably can't get a good application of epoxy on this one so I was thinking maybe tape this time. Like a barrel of course I can't scratch the cylinder shaft.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and God Bless, Louis

I use powdered rosin and wood blocks. Bore the blocks so you get a good fit. I use a hydraulic press as a barrel vise; no barrel can, or has, withstood that. Yet.

This is on a steering cylinder on the front of a backhoe. I can't get a hydraylic press in there and don't want to remove the whole front end of the hoe to remove the shaft. The steering shaft comes out of the cylinder on both ends and will unscrew in the center of the cylinder if not held securely in place. I will weld a handle on the vise so it can't spin and will weld a nut on the threaded shaft in the cylinder shaft.

Thanks, Louis

If your gonna replace the seals you'll save a lot of
cussing if you remove the cylinder.
If your just replacing the tie rod end you shouldn't
need a vise. The tie rod should have a collar around it
with a bolt going thru it. Loosen the bolt and it should
come out by hand. There should be wrench flats on the rod
this is what you use to adjust it. They could be left handed
threads also. If the rod has been replaced and is not factory
run the rod back and forth to see how much chrome sticks
out. You might have room for a small pipe wrench.
Also you could start up the machine and dead head the cylinder
to the opsite side your working on. This will hold the rod
better than any vise you can build, unless the seals are
wiped.

This is on a 310SE Deere backhoe. It is definitely not like any of the John Deere tractors I have worked on. There are no flats on the end of the shaft. The shaft is threaded internally and the threaded part is stuck. I have to figure out a way to hold the shaft. I can weld a nut on the end of the threaded tie rod end that is sticking out but need to hold the chromed shaft.

Seals are fine but the shaft unscrews in the center so it doesn't hold when turned to the extreme either way.

There is not enough shaft unused to hold with a pipe wrench, or to cut flats.

I am going to try to hold it with a "barrel vise" and just really need to know how much clearance and what kind of tape. Or maybe an aluminum bushing would be better.

OH; chromed shaft is 36MM not 30MM as stated earlier.

Thanks and God Bless, Louis

I use my barrel vise to unscrew lots of round things I don't want marred.
The vise has a 2' bore and I use an aluminum round bored to size, then sliced in half.
Have a rack of std bushings from 1/2" diameter to 1-3/4" in 1/8" increments.

I would bore it 1-2 thous over and wrench it
down tight in the vise. Soft AL is going to conform to that chrome plated and hardened 1045 shaft.

Thanks Doug! I believe that is what I'll try.

God Bless, Louis

From the sounds of it, I use something similar to Doug W. The bore on mine is 1-1/2 inches because I never thought I would run into a barrel bigger than 1-1/4 inch in diameter.

Gunsmith Rod Henrickson Barrel Vise2 by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr


Gunsmith Rod Henrickson Barrel Vise1 by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr


Gunsmith Rod Henrickson Barrel Vise5 by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

Here is my dirty pig, with a bagged V8 engine hanging in it.



And the rack of well loved bushings.

I can't quite put my finger on it. But I'm sure it will come to me. Just sayin, that engine rack looks mighty familiar like somehow Doug W. Mighty fawking familiar indeed !

Apologies for not browsing the forum while at work, I probably have the parts and service manuals for this machine there.

Anyway, to rod ends are usually not that tight it is just that you can't get a good grab on the shaft to hold it! Before getting too involved I'd suggest just a few wraps of duct tape and put a close fitting bar, 6+ or so, into the hole of the tie rod end then grap the tape with one hand and give the round bar a firm whack with a hammer with your other hand. Usually once they break free they turn easily and they aren't on that tight to begin with.

If you cannot hold it tight enough with your hand, cut a piece out of a metal can like a soupcan or something, wrap that over the duct tape and clamp a pair of vise grips over it all, then just hold the vise grips.

If for some reason it is still turning on you, then use the modified barrel vise clamping system but keep in mind I've never had to resort to that for cylinder shafts. Anyway, 30mm is 1 1/8 or 1 3/16 so just get a piece of hardood 2X4, just cut it from an old pallet and drill a hole through it in either of those sizes, then just cut it in half on a table saw. You can either drill it for bolts or I suspect you could use 2 big asssed C clamps to the same effect.

Rod: Your vise is about like mine, I did install springs between the halves to make changing bushing, taking out barrels, etc a little faster and I keep the nuts & hardened washers supplied with anti-seize

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
Rod: Your vise is about like mine, I did install springs between the halves to make changing bushing, taking out barrels, etc a little faster and I keep the nuts & hardened washers supplied with anti-seize

Our friend, Old Mr. Lambert put the bug in my ear a couple of years ago about the springs Duane. I was in a state of confuzzlement to the point of almost needing therapy that I hadn't struck on that idea years ago. Then I reminded myself that I'm not that bright and I felt much better after. I sort of put the idea on hold though. For the last few years I have been tightening the vise with one of those 3 foot, socket breaker bars because time has left my hands a bit grumpy. Old Rudy VanOwen had a vise similar to ours but had extended the one end 4 inches to increase the fulcrum. As I recall, he used to tighten the fool thing up with a damp Q-Tip and if things got really rough he would snug it a bit tighter with a pair of his wife's eyebrow tweezers. (That old Dutch woman had one eyebrow that stretched uninterrupted, from one ear to the other.) At any rate, I bought the steel to make one about 2 years ago, but it's one of those jobs that I have always said are best left to apprentices and having no apprentice, it hasn't gotten done. The new one will have springs ! It will get done. Eventually. LOL