This topic is for sharing ideas about and showing off homemade tools for unscrewing hubs.
I'll start with my first tool and how I improved the design when I made a second tool recently. The first one was cut from 3.7mm thick steel. For some reason I thought it necessary to cut all 16 splines which turned out to be a waste of time. The accuracy of the hand cut metal is not good the tool only engages with the hub in about three places.
My second tool is made from 1.7mm aluminium which I know is not really durable enough for tools but it's meant to be a light weight traveling version and was much easier to make. So far it seems to be up to the job despite being a little soft. I increased the thickness to three layers where it tends to bend. There is no point making the spline part any thicker than 2.5mm as that's the maximum that will engage with the hub. Its better to make the ring that supports the splines wider rather than thicker for strength. The weight is about 100g which makes it feel like its made of plastic. However its not usable without a minimum 8" long adjustable or 25mm spanner.
Feel free to copy and improve upon my design. I think a better tool would be one made of 2.5mm steel with 4 splines, 8 if aluminium. A long handle would be a good idea, extending at least 36cm ideally 40cm from where the hubs axle will be, I never had a big enough piece of metal. It really does take a lot of torque to unscrew a hub because the thread diameter is 110mm. Any handle will need to be quite substantial to avoid buckling which is another reason i choose to use a spanner.
I'll start with my first tool and how I improved the design when I made a second tool recently. The first one was cut from 3.7mm thick steel. For some reason I thought it necessary to cut all 16 splines which turned out to be a waste of time. The accuracy of the hand cut metal is not good the tool only engages with the hub in about three places.
My second tool is made from 1.7mm aluminium which I know is not really durable enough for tools but it's meant to be a light weight traveling version and was much easier to make. So far it seems to be up to the job despite being a little soft. I increased the thickness to three layers where it tends to bend. There is no point making the spline part any thicker than 2.5mm as that's the maximum that will engage with the hub. Its better to make the ring that supports the splines wider rather than thicker for strength. The weight is about 100g which makes it feel like its made of plastic. However its not usable without a minimum 8" long adjustable or 25mm spanner.
Feel free to copy and improve upon my design. I think a better tool would be one made of 2.5mm steel with 4 splines, 8 if aluminium. A long handle would be a good idea, extending at least 36cm ideally 40cm from where the hubs axle will be, I never had a big enough piece of metal. It really does take a lot of torque to unscrew a hub because the thread diameter is 110mm. Any handle will need to be quite substantial to avoid buckling which is another reason i choose to use a spanner.
- Oran