I had a brain storm today and for 15 dollars in material a Home
Depot, and a 20 dollar hand winch like you use on a trailer, and my
el-cheapo stick welder, I built a bench top wire drawing machine.
Anyone interested email me and I will send you a photo and how I
made it. I still have to do a few tweaks, but it works pretty well.
Im happy!
Daniel
Daniel, I used one of those for several years. The main drawback is
in doing larger wire. The amount of force required can be easily
applied with the winch but if you have say a three foot long cable
with the draw tongs on the end and you have applied 1500 lbs of
force to it to draw a piece of 6mm wire it will come out of the draw
plate like a bullet and the tongs and wire will go flying in a three
foot arc. So you must always keep a hand on the draw tongs so that
they will not fly up and hit you or anyone else also you can have a
great time looking for that piece of wire that was thrown across the
shop. A draw bench with a roller chain does not do this as the
chain can’t leave its track.
Jim
Wow , didnt think there would be this much of a response to my home
made drawbench. I just want to let everyone know I will be making
drawings for anyone who needs them , with materials and possible
modifications. Remember, I just came up with this so its still in
the rough. But it does work well. Sorry for not having the details
now, but my Dads in hospital and that comes first.
Hi Gang,
A draw bench with a roller chain does not do this as the chain can't leave its track.
Another source for a power unit on a home brew draw bench is a
garage door opener.
They’re available in 2 types, chain drive & screw drive. A couple of
nice things about using one of these is, they’re electrically
powered & most have over 6 feet of travel…
Dave
Using a Winch, 54" C channel & a Draw Tong. You have one
professionally made for $176.00. The advantages aRe:
1.It uses a belt instead of a cable that curls up.
2.Tong travels in the C channel (prevents falling on foot.)
3.Has a holding slot for the Draw Plate.
4.Draw Tong is Heat treated so it lasts long.
5.Portable does not need to be fixed can be put away.
6.39 lbs can be shipped UPS Comes in a Storage Tube.
7.Finished, painted and guaranteed.
Happy Thanks giving to you’ll.
Kenneth Singh
Ringtools.com
John Burgess from New Zealand brought up a safety thought for my
drawbench design. When the end wire of the wire comes out of the
draw plate it may snap a bit, so everyone please be careful. Also, a
few of you have ask if I didnt want to patent it. I thought about
that and have contacted an attorney about it. Not that I have
thought of producing it. But I wouldnt great if someone else did and
profited while I cant even afford to go pay for school. So anyone
who wished to use the design for themselves, and or friends for non
profit are more than welcome. Even pass it along for others to see.
Of course it is all at your own risk, as I wouldnt be worth suing
anyway HA I am happy so many of you are interested in this and
hope it can help out. Any improvements or additions I come up with
I will be sure to pass along to everyone who has been, and is
interested.
Daniel
Here are a couple photos of the rough unit. Haven’t had time to put
a finish on it for rust protection. Sorry but I just made it the
other day. I have tested it though and it works !
http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/draw-bench.zip
Basically, its 36 inches long and will bolt to a work bench top via
lag bolts through holes in every cross brace and at both ends. The
3/8 screw eyes at the end are used to clamp the draw plate down so it
doesn’t move. And I’ve made a slip over holder to use hand held draw
pliers. I will try and make some plans up within the next week with
more detail and get them off to you… Remember, you can make it any
size, mine is 36 inches as that’s what my space limits me to.
You are in luck as I just came up with an slip clamp to hold the
drawing pliers.
Daniel
Oh, one tip. its not in the photos, but I made a cut out on the
plate that has the screweyes through it so the wire lies through flat
several concerned Orchid members have pointed out the possible
safety problems with my bench unit. The main one is possible wire
whipping out of the draw plate when pulled through or a brake in the
wire. Also the fact that using the hand pliers may ad momentum to
the wire when or if it flies lose. Another was something to do with
the slack in the cable used with the hand winch pulley may cause a
problem as well.
Basically, this is a home brew design and a recent one at that. I am
sure there will be many quirks to iron out and possible safety
issues for users. My main hope is that anyone who builds something
like this, or any device, makes safety the number one concern and
uses common since. The same should be said for aftermarket devices
as well. Not paying attention to whats going on can be dangerous no
matter what you are doing.
Be safe
Daniel
PS, checked with attorney on patents. Cant afford it and there are
several of these type of units out currently out there for sale
anyway. Like I said, I dont want money, just want to help others
with a strict budgets and or disabilities like I have, get what
they need to make life a little easier.
daniel, Why don’t you try sellling your idea to stuller, swest, or
rio grande, just to name a few tool suppliers… they may not make
the tools there but they could head you in the right direction of who
does. wouldn’t it be great if this tool paid your way thru school.
just a thought lisa
Also, a few of you have ask if I didnt want to patent it
You might have trouble. Using various arrangements of winches, both
with cables and straps, as draw bench substitutes has been published
(tim McCreights books, for one), and common practice here and there
for quite some time. Commercial versions in several types, also
using this method, are already available. You’d have to show something
in your design that’s a signficiant improvement over the current
public domain prior art…
Peter
You might have trouble. Using various arrangements of winches, both with cables and straps, as draw bench substitutes has been published (tim McCreights books, for one), and common practice here and there for quite some time.
In fact, I have been using a boat winch that I bought at Lowes for a
couple of years now. An invention that has been in practical use for
over a year is no longer patentable. Publishing has nothing to do
with it. Prior art has nothing to do with it. The patent office wants
you to rush your idea into the marketplace. Remeber the “one year
rule” if you have a good idea. I had no knowledge of it and now I am
the proud owner of a trade secret.
bruce
I am making one as well but using the 18.00 winch from harbor and
freight. I thought that the best way to compensate for any potential
whip effect is to not have the winch pull the wire directly.
My approach is to have locking pliers connected to a t-bar that
slides in a channel. So the cable is pulling the t-bar that the
pliers are connected to. Since the cable rides in the channel offset.
If the wire breaks then the t-bar rides within the channel and
contains it.
Can tool making be an addiction?
Guy…
The Draw Bench using a winch has been around for may years it is
made in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and we are the manufacturers of
this in USA for the last 5 years.
You can check this out on our Website www.ringtools.com
If you need any advise we will be happy to guide you.
Kenneth Singh
Hi Guy,
Can tool making be an addiction?
Worse than jewelery making!
When ever I have to make anything, one of the 1st questions I ask
myself is; ‘Will there be more than 1 made?’. If the answer to that
question is yes, the next question is; ‘Would a tool make it faster,
easier, more repeatable?’. If the answer to that question is yes
then the next question is; ‘Does that tool exist or does it have to
be made?’ If it has to be made, then I get to engage in the 2nd most
fun thing, tool making!
Dave
In fact, I have been using a boat winch that I bought at Lowes for a couple of years now. An invention that has been in practical use for over a year is no longer patentable.
“Practical use” has no meaning in patent law (as far as I know).
“Commercial use” and “public use” do however and if you are making
jewelry for sale with the tool for more than a year you certainly hit
the commercial use 1 year bar on patentability in the US (most
countries have a similar rule if not a stricter one).
The patent office wants you to rush your idea into the marketplace.
The Constitutional mandate requires that patent law “promote the
progress” thus the distaste, in law which the PTO follows, for folks
that delay.
I had no knowledge of it and now I am the proud owner of a trade secret.
The “protection” of which can last forever…as long as nobody else
comes up with it too. But there is a risk. An independent inventor
who invents your trade secret invention and properly applies and
receives a patent has the right to sue you to stop using your
process/invention when they find out about you. (There is now one
exception to this latter and that is a “business method,” the term
conveniently left by Congress for the courts to define.)
PS I went away for a 2 week vacation and never caught up so I
finally just today deleted 3,500 messages and started fresh. My
apologies for butting back in with what might be perceived as a
negative blast (rather than just a clarification of facts which it
is).
James E. White
Inventor, Marketer, and Author of “Will It Sell?
How to Determine If Your Invention Is Profitably Marketable
(Before Wasting Money on a Patent)” www.willitsell.com
Also: www.booksforinventors.com and www.idearights.com
"Practical use" has no meaning in patent law (as far as I know). "Commercial use" and "public use" do however and if you are making jewelry for sale with the tool for more than a year you certainly hit the commercial use 1 year bar on patentability in the US
I stand corrected. That’s true.
The "protection" of which can last forever...as long as nobody else comes up with it too. But there is a risk. An independent inventor who invents your trade secret invention and properly applies and receives a patent has the right to sue you to stop using your process/invention when they find out about you.
I am having a little difficulty with this concept. At this point the
item has been in commercial use for over a year and is no longer
patentable. How could they defend their patent? Just because the
patent was granted doesn’t mean that it is legitimate. Otherwise,
millions of former employees would be lining up at the PTO with
their former employers trade secrets.
The use of a boat winch for the construction of a draw bench is not
new nor original. On a trip to London back in the eighties, I visited
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and I purchased a number of
technical pamphlets. Among these was one titled “Special Report No.
28 Ideas from North America for Jewelers and Silversmiths” by Peter
Gainsbury. Published April 1976. I scanned the part of this report
which describes the use of a hand winch, and it follows: "Of interest
perhaps more to the individual worker and small work- shops than
larger manufacturers was the home-built wire drawing bench seen in
the home workshop shared by Fred & John Paul Miller in Cleveland and
in the jewellery department of the University of Kansas.
This, as can clearly be seen from the photograph, Figure 18 consists
of a single ratchet winch of the type used to winch small boats on to
car trailers, a length of stout steel cable and a ‘Mole’ wrench. In
the US suitable winches were obtained from Sears-…"
The photo shows a winch mounted on a table used for pull wire.
When I returned I constructed one mounting the winch on one end of a
6 foot length of a 2X4. On the other end I attached a small vise to
hold a draw plate. However, instead of a cable or chain I used a
non-stretch nylon rope to pull a vise-grip needle nose pliers
(increased serration’s for better gripping). To fashion the union of
pliers to the rope, I soldered a steel ring to the adjusting screw
of the pliers and attached a S-hook to the free end of the rope
using dental floss. This “draw-bench” is portable and easily stored
upright in a corner and has served me well (without break down) for
almost 20 years. In drawing, before the wire comes through the plate
I grab hold of the pliers to prevent flying up of the pliers. This
may not be too sophisticated, but it works fine.