Roof Ripper production line

 

The roofing remover tool heads are austentized in my homemade forge and then quenched in water.

  

Then its twenty minutes in my homemade tempering tunnel to complete the heat treatment on the roof shingle tool heads.

Ferrules top

The hand version of the shingle stripper gets a ferrule so we can weld the steel head to the wooden handle. A sheet is chopped into strips at the steelyard, then precision blanks are cut on my tricked-out plate shear. .

 

The plate shear is re-jigged to trim the ferrule blanks.This will render a square end once rolled.

 

This homemade forming rig rolls the tapered ferrules for the roofing tear off tool.

 

A jig made for the vise closes the hand powered roof stripper's ferrules for welding.

 

Three jigs are made for notching the shingle tool's ferrule. The clamping jig fits the drill press jig to get us a properly located hole.

 

The clamping jig also fits the band saw jig to complete the notch on the roof tool's ferrule.

 

An anvil piece and die are used to form the end, which welds to the hand powered roof stripping tool's head.

Power shafts top

A gauge helps to chop out shafts for the air powered roof tool's heads.

 

The power stripper's shafts are then sent to the machinist for lathe work.

 

The other end of the powered shingle tool’s shaft gets an attitude adjustment with a two-handed grinder for a nice deep weld.

 

The shafts for the air powered roof tear off tools are austentized in my homemade forge, then quenched in my homemade water-cooled oil bath.

The shafts then spend an hour in the homemade tempering tunnel. They are drawn only slightly at this time. Selective tempering will be applied after the power stripper's tool head is done being welded.

 Hand tool mounting top
 

The hand version of the roofing remover tool has its tool head fitted up to the ferrule. First, two tacks while on the jig. Then each piece is inspected for alignment before being locked with a third tack.

 

A spatter shield is placed on the roof tool head prior to welding. The shield saves huge in cleaning.

  

Be it a dormer or a tenon, I like to weave nice and tight. This butched-together tenon trimmer is micro-adjustable to render an awesome fit.

 
 

The head is placed on the stick, then slammed end-wise onto a heavy plate on the floor. When the head is properly seated, the roof tear off tool bounces off the anvil and rings like one solid piece.

 Power tool head assembly top

Each tool head for the powered shingle stripper is tacked to its shaft, checked for alignment, then welded solid. A spatter shield saves big on clean up.

 

The heads for the powered tear off tool get wings, which will guide the air tool under the roof shingles.

 

Final heat treatment on the powered shingle tool using two torches.

 

We need pry-bar properties in the high-stress areas of this powered roof shingle remover. Heating to an upper blue has been yielding good performance while tearing off roofs.

Power handle modifications top

The stock air tool gets stripped to the frame, stuffed with a rag, then the bevel is carved with the two-handed grinder. this helps guide the pneumatic tear off tool under the roof shingles.

  

Two less pounds of weight and six more inches of reach are some sweet on the roof, especially for the steep/staged roof shingle stripping jobs. Most of the air powered stripping tool’s heavy handle is hacked off and replaced with lighter material. A couple of butched-out jigs ensure nice allignment.

Finishing top

What can I say? Two seconds into a shingle removal job, and whatever finish is toast! We’re not paying for anything fancy in the paint department here. Bombs are good, cheap bombs are better. They’ll retain their factory look about long enough to get up on the roof.

 

 

Although it won’t help much with tearing off a roof, a fancy sticker on the roof remover does give a nice factory look.

  
  
 
 

Heat treating top

 

The propane forge is used in the heat treatment of the roof shingle removal tools as well as other projects. It features every imaginable adjustment and folds down somewhat for storage.   She’s a fine piece of butchery, bed rail and re-rod woven to fire brick and propane. Set me back a light hundred.

 

The tempering tunnel fine-tunes the heat treatment of the roof remover tools. It features plenty of power, and brain-controlled elements for steady heat. Accessories include a tray for general tempering and a drop-in conveyor beam for shingle stripper tool heads.

 

If this isn’t the ultimate in hack, it’s gotta come close. She started life as 1 1/2 side-loading toaster ovens, whereupon she was ripped open, muzzled shut, flipped over, tacked down, and run through. Scabbed up a heat shield with the first thing that came in hand and splattered the brains out onto her.   She’s actually a smooth-running rig. Ran me a light hundred and has since tempered hundreds of parts.

The water cooled oil quench hardens the power roof stripper’s shaft. The ¼” copper coils are non-schedule soldered to the ¾” copper manifolds. This heat exchanger drains into the water quench tank, which feeds the pump. The water quench tank is a mechanical scale trap and keeps debris out of the radiator.

The roofing tear off tools are first fired in the forge, then quenched in the bath. A small area on the tool part is cleaned to shiny metal before going through the tempering tunnel. This way, the tempering colors can be read upon exiting, so we know the steel is cooked right.   Much of the heat treating line is covered elsewhere. Here, the bath cooler can be seen bodged together out of a FHW pump, a truck radiator, and a house fan. The water quench tank is actually a mechanical scale filter (trap). A line log is kept so that we can get in-spec. roof tool parts right from start-up.   The shafts for the air powered roof shingle removal tool are quenched in oil.

Cool shop contraptions top

The machine lamp is an arm-mounted halogen fixture on a fully adjustable base. It features the ability to put the light right where you want it. It has been very handy for fine work, painting, and photography for the roof stripping tools and other projects.   This one was scabbed together when the boss wasn’t looking. I had to make one nice cut, but the rest was all hack. None the less, she’s light-weight, well-mannered, and has served well.

 

The cam lift mechanisms enable a table or machine to be rolled into position, then set down on solid feet for thrashing out the work. The welding table has a camshaft under each end, while the band saw only needs one up the middle. Handy for setting up repeat operations for the roof shingle tear off tools or other projects.

This 8” discount plate shear has paid for its self many times over with thousands of cuts. Powered by a four foot lever, it features about 3/16” capacity and an infinite throat for long cuts. She was in the bottom $100s from Enco.   Put the gas axe to her before she made her first cut and butched off the cheesy hold down bar in favor of a platen and clamping beam. A micro-adjustable back stop was later added when the roofing removal tool required it. The platen system is also handy for clamping on jigs for repeat operations for the roof shingle tear off tools or other projects.

The rock-solid newel post is sturdy enogh to stop a stumbling human and will last for years.The trick to a solid bottom newel post is weaving it onto the SECOND stair riser and the full girth of the stair stringer. This is opposed to the traditional practice of merely using the tip of the stair stringer, which loosens up after a short time. Run that SECOND RISER on by, then notch the 4x4 around it. Nail both the riser, and the full width of the stair stringer to that bottom newel. That's pretty (flippin) rugged already, but you can overkill it with bottom or back straps. Full plate the bottom if you're setting on dirt.   Driving around, I see a lot of loose, crooked bottom newels on exterior stairs, so I hope this helps. It is a contribution to my fellow framers in much the same way as my roof shingle removal tools are to my fellow roofers.

Trebuchets top
 

The brick launcher was my first trebuchet launching a brick 120 yards downrange. Impressive, but cumbersome.

The egg thrower came next, throwing an egg 100 yards. Easy to transport and load, but not as impressive.

 

The can crusher is high performance, but temperamental. When it is running right, two guys can put a 12 oz can of soda 100 yds downrange every 45 seconds and have it packed up in two minutes.

This steam experiment was to test the viability of building a steam engine and runs on compressed air. An all-out butch job, it is kinda fun to watch it run.

The pedal boat was just another cool project. It runs ok.