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Good Length and Weight for Slide Hammer

A common tool in a mold shop (I am told) is a siide hammer pin puller. I don't have one, but I have had to pull a few pins. If the end of the pin has a flat what I have done is drill and tap it, then drill and pilot drill a larger piece of stock to make a pulling sleeve. One hole is large enough to fit over the pin, and the next is clearance size for a machine screw. I hold the sleeve, and screw in a machine screw. This draw the pin right out of the hole. Works similarly to a bearing or wheel puller.

There are a couple problems. First is its slow, and often I can't find the last one I made and its faster to just make another one. Next is that often there is little or no flat on the pin I need to pull. For alignment pins in molds I put a radius on the end so that the molds go together faster and easier for the end users.

I can quite often get a grip on a pin with a pair of vise grips and twist it, but its extremely difficult to twist it out. What I have heard of, read, and been told a couple times is that lot of guys will take a pair of Vise Grip pliers and make a slide hammer out of them, by replacing the adjusting screw with a piece of decently tough rod like

4140 with a knob on the end. Then put a slide weight on the rod. They grip the pin with the pliers and knock it out with the slide hammer portion.

I can certainly make the slide hammer as a replacement for the adjustment screw, but I wonder how long the slide bar needs to be to be effective. I imagine if its to short you wont be able to get much striking force without straining yourself, and if its to long it will be awkward to use and to store. If I were to hold a small mold in my hand I can't imagine being comfortable with more than about 16 inches of rod. Maybe 10-12 inches of hammer travel. If I clamp a larger mold to a bench I might be able to go a bit further, but striking up could be awkward if its to long.

Then there is weight. I'm pretty comfortable with a 3lb cross pien hammer. When I need to move something with a hammer that's the one I reach for, but this is a whole different movement. Would 2 pounds be more easy to control? Would 4 lbs deliver more usable force due to limited striking distance?

Reply to
Bob La Londe
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P.S. I'm frugal and I hate to waste stock making two or three of them. (Ok cheap.) Whatever I make is likely to be what I live with indefinitely.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

I'm tempted to snark "Long enough for you to use, and no heavier than needs to be" The numeric values are to be left as an exercise for the student.

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

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pounds, 27" long, protective hand grip flanges on the weight.

Some models come with Vise-Grip adapters;

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The adjuster screw thread on my old Vise-Grips is 7/16-14.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins
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Strong Hand Tools makes one:

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or you could make your own like Jody did that uses a generic slide hammer:

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Reply to
Leon Fisk

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is what I use to pull flywheel dowel pins before grinding the flywheel.

Reply to
Al Bosch

That's pretty slick using a collet chuck instead of a clamp or clamping plier. I might try it, but the pins I am pulling are pretty cheap. I buy them 1000 at a time. Throwing one away is no big deal. I don't expect to be pulling pins every day.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

On 8/28/2019 10:07 AM, Leon Fisk wrote: > On Wed, 28 Aug 2019 08:47:26 -0700 > Bob La Londe snipped-for-privacy@none.com wrote: >

I'm glad you showed me that one. First he looks like he uses a shorter hammer. Closer to the length I was thinking of, but he also reminded me of something I had thought of before, but had forgotten. Lining up the hammer rod with the pulling point so you don't mess up the hole when pulling the pin. Thanks. I'll probably make almost exactly that setup.

... well except that I'll probably use stock I have on hand rather than buying a slide hammer just to toss most of the parts in a drawer to be forgotten.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

The best place for a puller is on the wall of your shop. It's out of the way, is easily dusted <snort>, and it's visible for quick pick when you need it.

I have a 6" pair of needle nose pliers dedicated to that use. They work best when you don't need an exactly straight shot.

Smaller weights can work better. For limited areas, try a 1/2# weight. It's light enough to get up to a decent speed and that gives a decent smack when it does. If the pins are that tight, sand them down so they're easier to fit. What's a tenth among friends?

I grok that in its entirety, sir. (Me arse squeaks when I walk, too.)

My current slide hammer is maybe #2 with a 16-18" travel, and it will pull truck axles/bearings.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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