Another Tubing Tool

[Dennis H.]

I am at it again, I am making a tubing tool to put in droplines into the laterals.

I have the handle part done and the top part that will hld the 2 visegrips. My idea uses 2 6" 5/16 bolts to keep the visegrips parallel to one another. You can see it in the pics below.

I am thinking of adding a spring to pull the handles together so that once a place a fitting between the ends of the tubing I will not have to have a 3rd hand to squeeze and hold the fitting. we'll see.

It took a little calcuting to get the distances from the central pivot to the ends to get enough travel that I had room for the fitting between the tubing.

I will post more pics and also the design plans, they are on my other computer, once I work on it tomorrow.

[Sugarmaker]

Nice fab work! Hope it functions as good as it looks.

Chris C.

[Dennis H.]

Here is few more pics of the completed tubing Tool.

The only thing that I had to do was redrill the thread couplings with a 1/2" drill bit to open it back up once I cut them in half. It was just a little too tight for the barbed ends to fit in. So all I did was clamp it shut with the vise grips and redrilled. Now it is back to a nice round 1/2".

I also now have it paint all red unlike the pic.

[Dennis H.]

And here is the plans I drew up to make the tubing tool for anyone who wants them.

The two long bolts that the vise grip slide on on 5/16x6" bolts. They slide thru 3/8" nuts.

To help keep the vise grip paralel to one another I clamped a short lenght of 1/2 all-thread into them and then welded the visegrips to the tops of the outside 3/8" nuts on the slides.

[smitty76]

Nice fab work. how do the vise grips mount to the 5/16 bolt slides?

[Dennis H.]

I welded them to the outside 3/8" nuts that the bolts slide thru.

[smitty76]

I was not sure if maybe they had nuts welded to them and they went between the nuts welded to the plates pinned to the red pliers.

[Fred Henderson]

I have just one suggestion and that is put a couple of wing nuts on the visegrip adjusting screw so it will stay where you put it, sort of like a lock nut. You did a nice looking job.

[Dennis H.]

That part was taken care of by a spot of weld. I figured that with the mod's that I did to them that they won't be good for anything else but this tool and for $3.95 at Harbor Freight I can just toss them if they should fail or need replacing down the road.

[jtthibodeau]

Very nice work, Dennis. And thanks for sharing the prints with us.

[red maples]

saving yourself some serious money there bud!!! those things don't seem like they are that hard to make but they sure are expensive!!! now just reproduce market and sell;)

[maplesyrupstove]

Thanks for the plans Dennis.My friend the welder and me made a set.They should work great and I painted then Blue as someone on here said. Darrell

[Dennis H.]

Looking good, I do have to say that even for the few drops that I had to put in this year they are worth every penny and time spent making them.

Glad to see the plans helped you.

[farmall h]

Dennis is it possible to make a tool similar for splicing in unions & star manifolds for 3/4" black poly? Maybe make the clamps bigger and the handles longer for leverage.

[deitzd]

I made one over the weekend using the specs in this thread. Mine are made from 1/4" by 1 1/2" because that's what I had. The sliders are 3/8" stainless steel mounted in brass bushings. Works great. Now for a coat of primer and paint.
15615

[jimmygarison]

Your question about the tubing tool is great,Tube tools are tools used to service any tubing material in industrial applications , but not limited to: HVAC or industrial heating and air hospitals and also universities.

[Nemo5]

I am in the process of making a set of these and was wondering something. I am making them out of 1 x 1/4” flat bar. When the arms are assembled one arm sits on top of the other. That means that when assembly is complete one vide grip will be 1/4” higher than the other. Is that right? Does it matter? Should I add a 1/4” shim to the low side?


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[blurr95]

I am in the process of making a set of these and was wondering something. I am making them out of 1 x 1/4” flat bar. When the arms are assembled one arm sits on top of the other. That means that when assembly is complete one vide grip will be 1/4” higher than the other. Is that right? Does it matter? Should I add a 1/4” shim to the low side?


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I don't know if it really needs it or not. But I made them equal on the one I built. I can see were it would be a huge pain if they were not lined up.

Jason

[Nemo5]

I don't know if it really needs it or not. But I made them equal on the one I built. I can see were it would be a huge pain if they were not lined up.

Jason

How did you make them equal?


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[Bricklayer]

I made a set last year. And if I can remember correctly you add a shim to it , the same thickness as the metal you used for the handles.

[blurr95]

How did you make them equal?


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Anyway you want. A shim like bricklayer said, whatever it takes. I think I added a nut to the backside of mine. One other thing that will help is adding pipe to the handles, cut a 4 or 5" long piece and slide over the bottom of the handles and tack weld them on. It will save your hands in the long run.

Jason

[psparr]

Just remember to make it sturdy. If there is any play in it when you put pressure on it to squeeze the T in, it will twist and make it not line up.

[mcgyver]

Nice write up. What size rod coupler should I use for 3/16th tubing?

[DocsMapleSyrup]

Digging up this thread.

A couple of questions:

The threaded rod couplers, what size rod do they take?

How did you cut the couplers down the center?

Thanks

[Chickenman]

I have made 2 sets. I used 7/16 couplers, bored out 1/2 of the threads with a 1/2 inch drill bit. welded it to the pliers, and split with a porta bandsaw I have. Filed a bevel the get rid of the sharp edge, then use a chainsaw round file to knock the edge off the threads. Grips 5/16 tubing really tight but does not cut it. I think those who used a 3/8 coupler cut with an angle grinder.

[Lukie]

I had someone make me this tool works great 2077820779

[DocsMapleSyrup]

Thanks Chickenman. That's the information I needed.

[craigwade2005]

20864
Thanks for the plans. Came out great!

[Kyle LaPorte]

So you don’t have any threads left inside the couplings

[Kyle LaPorte]

I don’t understand the angles and such. Wish I could find a step by step video of this being made. I’m having no luck building this no good with blue prints

[deepwoods]

Curved jaw Vice grips are most common in 10" and 7" size. Which size is used to build tubing tools?

Followup- for the benefit of anyone else seeking the same information.... The 5WR size of the curved jaw vice grip works well for the tubing tool I made using the OP's plans. The Pruno website is where I found the answer to the vice grip size question.

I built the tool for use with 3/16 tubing, using 5/16 coupling nuts for the tubing gripper. The geometry of the plans is good. Rather than cutting and rewelding the handle parts, I heated the 3/16 X 1" flat steel bar with an acetylene torch and bent the steel to the final shape.

[maple flats]

So you don’t have any threads left inside the couplings
When you drill out the long nuts you only drill half way in from the end facing the other long nut. That way the threads grip the tubing, while the fitting barb can fit into the larger half of the long nuts. I might also be a good idea to grind off a little extra from the cut surfaces where the long nuts were cut in half. That allows more adjustment to get a good grip. Also suggested you use a round file to "blunt" the remaining threads in the long nuts so you don't nick the tubing, giving it a place to fail.