DIY impact screwdriver from a starter

DIY impact screwdriver from a starter

Hello to all homemade lovers. In this article, I will show you how to make an impact screwdriver that will help you unscrew rusted or sour fasteners, such as a bolt in an aluminum case. All the parts that are needed to assemble this homemade product are easily accessible, especially if you are a car owner.

Before you start reading the article, I suggest watching a video showing the entire assembly process, followed by testing the finished impact screwdriver.

In order to make an impact screwdriver from a starter with your own hands, you will need:
Angle grinder, cut-off wheel, goggles, gloves
Locksmith vice
Defective car starter
Old knob with a square
Metal pipe with a diameter equal to the diameter of the bendix
Metal lathe, straight cutter
A pair of small springs
Metal washer
Welding machine, welding mask, leggings
Drilling machine, drill for metal with a diameter of 5 mm
Tap with M6 thread
Kern
Bolt М6
Boring cutter
Small hammer
Masking tape
Can of hammer paint

Step one.
The first step is to disassemble the faulty starter from the car, only two parts are needed from it,
this is the anchor of the electric motor and the bendix, on which the principle of unscrewing will be based. You can buy a non-working starter at the metal reception, for which they will ask for a penny in comparison with buying a factory version of an impact screwdriver.

Step two.
Now a part with splines is needed from the bendix, it can be sawed off using an angle grinder with an installed cutting disc, and then modified on a lathe to the desired size. When working with an angle grinder, be careful, hold the power tool firmly in your hands, and do not forget about protective glasses and gloves. The spline part will further put on the shaft and transfer rotation to it from the impact.

Step three.
In order for this screwdriver to be able to install various heads, you need to cut off the square part from the wrench using an angle grinder.

Impact homemade

Many people wonder if it is possible to make an impact screwdriver with your own hands. You can, but before you do this, you should think carefully. The hammer or push screwdriver is made of special alloy steel. It should be impact-resistant, but not fragile. Mechanical processing of such steel at home is hardly possible; this requires a special tool. To transmit the shock impulse to the turning mechanism, the mating made must have a certain curvature. You can only grind them on a milling machine.

Some designs use bevel gears for the torque transmission function. Replaceable bits require a self-centering chuck or similar. Alas, all these details cannot be done at home on the knee. You can make a kind of homemade impact screwdriver using softer materials. But in this case, there is a high probability that after several blows to such a device it will become unusable and go to the scrap.

Without special materials and skills, you can, perhaps, make only a handle for a screwdriver with your own hands. Some models have a standard plastic handle. It often cracks, and craftsmen replace it with a wooden one of their own making.

This tool is an indispensable tool for the repairman. They can unscrew not only screws, screws and self-tapping screws. By fixing the hex adapter in the chuck, you can use heads of various sizes as a nozzle to unscrew the nuts.

An impact-turning screwdriver can also perform the reverse operation, that is, tighten the fasteners. If this is done, it will no longer be possible to unscrew such a connection with an ordinary hand tool.

Using the tool at work

Before starting work, you need to clean the screw head as much as possible and especially the slot into which the working nozzle is inserted. To do this, you can use a metal bristle brush. Then apply a drop of brake fluid to the head to wet the rust. You can also use:

• universal aerosol lubricant WD-40 or any of its analogs;
• antifreeze;
• kerosene;
• any machine oil.

After applying to the joint, it is necessary to give the grease a little time so that it penetrates into the loose structure of rust.

Next, you should select the desired tool attachment by fitting it to the slot. As a rule, the set of such equipment includes the necessary set of various bits and nozzles. It is important to correctly insert the required nozzle into the head of the rotary mechanism. screw the cartridge with the nozzle into the slot as tightly as possible. Now you need to make several light blows with a hammer on the heel of the striker, while holding the power screwdriver so that its axis coincides with the axis of the fastener being unscrewed.

If the screw has moved from its place. switch the device to reverse rotation and again make a few light blows. You can repeat this operation several times, periodically adding a little lubricant to loosen new layers of rust. Then you can use a screwdriver or hand tool to unscrew the hardware completely.

Unfortunately, even this kind of impact screwdriver does not always help. Mating parts are sometimes so affected by corrosion that when you try to unscrew the screw or screw it just bursts. In this case, the only way to remove it is to drill.

How to use an impact screwdriver

To make the unscrewing process as simple and high-quality as possible, it is enough to avoid irreparable mistakes and observe a number of individual rules:

• The fasteners are preliminarily prepared for unscrewing, so they are cleaned of visible rust and wiped with a rag. After that, the compound is coated with a special chemical composition, for example, a highly effective cleaning agent WD-40. Brake fluid and kerosene perform well.
• Next, you need to fix the tip in the slot, observing strictly perpendicular placement relative to the screw head.
• Then you should strike with a hammer on the end of the handle with approximately medium forces.
• The blows are repeated until the screw head begins to move relative to the axis. Try to check the propeller stroke after each stroke.
• Unscrewing is completed with a conventional screwdriver.

If the tool is equipped with a reverse, many experts recommend setting the tightening mode after each head movement, repeating the blows several times, and then unscrewing the hardware again. This is due to the fact that with this approach, rust elements are removed from the thread in a special way.

To avoid trouble, it is recommended to follow safety precautions:

• It is important to put on good working gloves or gloves beforehand, which will prevent the handle from slipping inadvertently during processing.
• Do not put too much effort into the punches. You can do with an ordinary hammer, weighing up to 500 grams.
• The blows should remain light. Do not tilt the hammer, as the firing pin can easily slide off the screwdriver, which will entail additional problems.

Step-by-step instructions for making an impact screwdriver

To make a home tool with your own hands, you need to stock up on a starter from a car. Perhaps the part was lying around in the garage. We start turning the starter into a useful impact screwdriver for the home, focusing on the drawings and diagrams below. Follow this guide:

• Separate the part of the rotor shaft where the winding is fixed.
• In the part that remains, remove unnecessary components. The shaft and bushing should remain. They act as a single mechanism.
• The handle is made from a pipe. A sleeve is placed in the pipe, but only at one end. A plug is placed on the other side. It will become a shock heel. A large bolt is suitable for the plug. It prevents the tube from changing on impact and limits the sliding of the shaft on the inner surface of the sleeve.
• Next, weld the parts together.
• At the end of the shaft, make a square sharpener. This seemingly insignificant detail will allow you to change one nozzle for another. If you plan to unscrew the fasteners, a bit is fixed in the head. Disassembly requires a different tip.
• When starting to cut the starter, arm yourself with an angle grinder. Other low power equipment will not take high quality steel.

To extend the life of a homemade device, regularly apply an even layer of lubricant to the splines. Be careful when using the fixture. Strong blows to the heads with a hammer can damage the tool.

A visual video instruction for making a do-it-yourself impact screwdriver is shown below:

Additional ways to unscrew the bolt

If a hand-made impact screwdriver does not unscrew the rusted fasteners, you need to use a “vedashka”. This is the popular name for the professional tool WD-40. Coat the surface of the fastener with liquid. After 20 minutes, the rust will lag behind and the threads will become malleable for handling the impact screwdriver. A special softening composition will cost 120-150 rubles.

Making an impact screwdriver with your own hands

Many people try to make such a tool with their own hands, arguing that the upcoming action does not require much effort or skill. It is enough to take into account all the subtleties of the instructions and avoid mistakes at the assembly stage.

When making a homemade screwdriver, you need to take the rotor from the electric motor and cut everything off from it, leaving only the bushings and the shaft. A piece of steel pipe should be placed on the sleeve to be used as a handle. At the opposite end, a nut is inserted into the cut, which will prevent damage to the handle. At the next stage, all parts are connected to each other by welding.

Basically, making a high-performance impact screwdriver at home is not as difficult as it might initially seem. If you doubt that you can carry out such an assembly yourself, just study the existing instructions and watch video tips.

• Effective distribution of impact energy.
• Much less need for physical effort. The classic version requires stronger and more intense blows.
• Possibility of operation without the help of a partner.

As for the disadvantages, they are practically absent, however, if the basic rules are not observed during operation, such disadvantages often appear:

• The probability of damage to the shock-slewing unit. The version of the simplest impact screwdriver is made of a monolithic structure, therefore its service life exceeds the modernized solution. To prevent unexpected breakage, it is enough to avoid too strong impacts on the shock-slewing mechanism.
• Propensity to wear quickly. Gear teeth and races are subject to extreme friction, coupled with shock loads. With prolonged operation, their resource significantly deteriorates.

DIY impact screwdriver: how to make a tool from a starter

Conventional screwdrivers are useless in such cases, and impact drivers allow you to combine the force of a hammer and torque in one tool. So how do you make an impact screwdriver yourself using a car starter?

Helpful hints

Quite often there is a need to unscrew heavily rusted fasteners. What to do in situations when a standard household tool cannot cope with the task at hand? What to do in this situation, because household tools do not cope well with this task. For this, the use of an impact screwdriver will be a good solution. Thanks to it, unscrewing rusted parts will not be difficult. It is enough to moisten the fasteners with brake fluid so that when dismantling the part unscrews as easily as possible.

However, in some situations this does not help. There is no need to panic. Try to lubricate the bolt with brake fluid again and leave it on for a while. The liquid will corrode the stagnant texture and with the help of a percussion tool you can do everything without significant effort.

The advantages of a homemade tool

• The screwdriver is equipped with a reinforced housing made of high-strength steel.
• Differs in large size compared to factory screwdrivers;
• Operation of the tool is safe for humans when hitting correctly with a hammer. Observing safety rules, it is impossible to get injured and injured with a screwdriver;
• There is the possibility of changing the nozzles, based on what type of work is being carried out;
• Easily made at home without significant physical and financial costs;
• Multifunctionality. It can be used for various tasks in the field of construction, automotive, and any other craft.

What is an impact screwdriver

There are practically no visual similarities between the impact screwdriver and the standard one. This tool is an impact-rotating mechanism that allows you to convert impact force into torque. With the help of it, installation and dismantling of threaded connections for which additional efforts are required is carried out. Using an ordinary screwdriver for these purposes will result in damage to the tool or damage to the dismantled element.

By its principle of operation, an impact screwdriver resembles a bolt. In the process of work, the locksmith has to hold the screwdriver handle with one hand, while with the other he hits with a hammer on its end part.

To simplify the workflow, you can pre-lubricate the fasteners with brake fluid. After that, you need to install the tool at a right angle to the head of the hardware and use a hammer to strike at the end of the screwdriver. After a noticeable twist of the fastener, you can continue unscrewing with a regular screwdriver.

Even a person without experience can work with this type of instrument. However, in order to make an impact screwdriver, you need an idea of ​​how it works and the availability of the corresponding parts from which it will be made.

DIY impact screwdriver from a starter

To create this unpretentious tool at home, a faulty electric starter from a car is suitable, which is not difficult to find today.

First of all, we need to cut off the part of the rotor shaft where the winding mount is located.

We remove unnecessary elements from the remaining part so that only the shaft and bushing remain, which we will use as the main mechanism.

As a handle, you can use a small piece of pipe, in which we must place the sleeve on one side. On the other hand, we need to insert a plug, which will also act as an impact heel. We use a large bolt as it, it will prevent deformation of the tube during impacts and will limit the displacement of the shaft inside our bushing.

The next step is to weld all the parts.

Finally, at the end of the shaft, it is necessary to perform a square sharpening for a possible change of different attachments. So to unscrew a screw or nut, it will be enough to insert the necessary bit and dismantle the fasteners. If it is necessary to unscrew the screw, insert the corresponding bit into the head.

It is worth noting that the electric starter is made of high quality types of steel, so you will have to use an angle grinder to cut it. But thanks to its strength and hardness, the tool will be quite powerful and durable, and in some respects it will surpass even factory products. Periodic lubrication of the splines will help to increase the service life of such a tool. However, you should use it carefully, without applying strong blows, so as not to rip off the heads on screws or bolts.

Of course, the resulting product will be less presentable than a factory screwdriver, but its cost will be minimal and in terms of reliability it will be in no way inferior to the factory analog.

DIY impact screwdriver

With such a homemade screwdriver, you can easily pull out a highly corroded bolt. She is an indispensable tool in the country house.

There are times when you need to unscrew a screw whose edges are torn off, or a decently rusty bolt.

There will be little help from an ordinary tool here, but an impact screwdriver will become very effective, for the manufacture of which I used the rotor of a faulty electric starter from “Zaporozhets”.

Cut off the winding part of the rotor shaft, removed the excess from the rest.

After that, only the shaft and the bushing remained.

A piece of pipe was put on the sleeve, which acted as a handle. At the opposite end, a large size bolt plug was inserted into the tube. Due to this, the handle does not lend itself to deformation by hammer blows, at the same time, the movement of the shaft in the sleeve is limited.

Electric welding was used to connect all the elements of the handle.

At the end, the shaft is sharpened in the form of a square. now you can put a head on it under the bolts. Need to remove a screw? We take the corresponding version of the bit and install it in the head. When struck with a hammer on the end face of the handle, the shaft on oblique splines turns to a small extent in the handle. this is enough for the bolt to break loose.

Since for the production of elements of the electric starter, high-quality hardened steel was initially used, which is cut by an angle grinder, we received a screwdriver with high strength, hardness, and long service life. To work efficiently, do not hit hard with a hammer on the handle, since the heads of bolts and screws will break off. You also need to ensure that the splines are lubricated all the time.
It should be noted that a starter from almost any car is suitable for this homemade product. Larger tools will be more powerful and efficient.