Can I turn a socket?

BTDT, its just easier to go to your nearest auto parts place and plunk down $5-6 for the socket and get on with cutting it down.
 
This was one of my first projects since I didnt have any round stock for my Lathe. I shortened one up a bit.
 
done that! i turned a socket for a BMW motorcycle swing arm nut, BMW wanted an arm and a leg for the socket
i bought a snap on impact socket and chucked er' up...BaddaBing!
grind past the chrome and chuck er' up take light cuts.
or buy a cheap set of impacts from hf, they cut like butter w/ no prep.
just don't put a lot of torque to the finished socket it will crack easier!
mike:))
 
One day I was doing something (dont remember exactly now?) far away from a lathe and desperately needed a thinner wall on a socket - looking around at what I did have I came up with this: Stuck the socket on the impact wrench and locked it in the 'on' mode, got my trusty HF 4 1/2" angle grinder and proceeded to grind away the wall of the socket - took about 3-4 minutes.

Nice! :) I did something similar. Put an extension and socket into my drill press. Turned it on and held a file to it to thin the walls down. Worked like a charm. :thumbzup:
 
I've done this kind of thing many times. Working on something late at night, I made a stubby wrench out of a regular wrench, a crows foot wrench out of a box wrench, I made a O2 sensor socket out of a perfectly good deep socket. When you got the tools and the will, it's amazing what you can do.

BMW sells this special thin 22mm wrench to keep the fan clutch from turning while removing the fan, it was like $85 AND SPECIAL ORDER. I made one out of 1/8" flat steel, cut it out with my oxy/acetylene torch. It aint pretty but its in my tool box for the next time.

Given the choice I'd rather go out and buy what i need, but sometimes, It's too expensive, Or I'm in a pinch and I gotta getter done.
 
Here is an example. This is a homemade rear axle lock nut wrench for my Honda Rancher 420. It is no longer available from Honda according to the local dealer.

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I have turned a 3/4 inch drive 17/16 socket down a bunch and used it to install and remove the nuts hoding the yokes on multi-speed heavy truck transmissions. They dont last long at the high torque they get exposed to, but the do pretty good. Yo have to be extremely carefull to not thin the walls too much and cause a socket to fracture along the broach lines and shatter. You want the socket to fit snugly into the well and be the proper size for the nut, no metric for english swaps or sloppy used up sockets. The Black oxice coated impact sockets turn down the best and seem to last the longest. I have two or three that have held up for more than ten years. I do throw them away at the first sign of failure after I destroy them with a torch to prevent scrounging an unsafe tool. You would be suprised how many sockets I threw away into other guys tool boxes over the years. All they needed to do was ask and I would whip them up a brand new socket that night for the next day. Just use common sense and keep an eye on splits forming and wear your saftey glasses when using any impact tool and you will be just fine for a limited production specialty tool.

Bob
 
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