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Fence spinner
Here is the build of the making of a wire spinner. It can be used to wind up other things as well but I have high tensile wire fence. When you build it or repair you need something that will allow you to unspool the wire. I never cared for the ones they sell so lets get to making it.
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Enlarge photo 1 I'll start with making the center shafts. Grabbed some 1.125" round stock for the collar that will be attached to the top sections. Center drilled, then .375 and then to the finish size of .750". Had to use a long drill as there is some length here.
Enlarge photo 2 Here is how far it was in there. I want a shoulder so I didn't drill all the way through. Just chucked to drill to desired length, then bottom it out. Had to do a lot of plunges as no where for the chips to go. You have to drag them out or you'll bind the drill up and can even break it if you go too far.
Enlarge photo 3 On the other end I drilled a .3125 hole. I'm going to use this as an attachment point and to put some drag on it so it doesn't freewheel.
Enlarge photo 4 Cleaned up a section of .750" round stock for the bottom half.
Enlarge photo 5 I drilled and tapped one end for a .3125 bolt.
Enlarge photo 6 Here you can see my plan. I'm using an old die spring on top of the .750" shaft. The bolt will pull it down on the spring and create some drag. I can adjust the drag by how tight the bolt is.
Enlarge photo 7 For the bottom feet I'm making a simple cross out of 1.500" box tubing. Making a 30" spread. Cutting them up here with the chop saw.
Enlarge photo 8 One 30" and two pieces 14.25".
Enlarge photo 9 Before welding them on I'll go ahead and drill a .750" hole on the drill press. This will keep the shaft nice and straight for welding.
Enlarge photo 10 Pressed the shaft in and TIG welded the bottom flush.
Enlarge photo 11 Pressed the shaft in and TIG welded it flush on the bottom.
Enlarge photo 12 Flipped it over and welded the top side.
Enlarge photo 13 Now I'm welding the box tubing together with the MIG welder after tacking it all and double checking squareness and such.
Enlarge photo 14 All welded up and it's not going anywhere!
Enlarge photo 15 here is another visual of how it works. Some may wonder how I'm going to keep the bolt from threading in or out. I could use locktight but I have another way of doing it.
Enlarge photo 16 Sand! Since it is a blind hole all you have to do is put enough sand in it till it bottom out. The tension on the threads will lock it in position and won't spin on or off. Simple and cheap.
Enlarge photo 17 Before doing the upper collar I decided to add a grease Zerk to keep everything turning smooth and not wearing out.
Enlarge photo 18 Cut out another round of box tubing for the top and drilled a 1.063 hole as I had that drill bit on hand. I wanted to keep a little meat on the sides anyway. I'll just turn the shaft collar till it fits.
Enlarge photo 19 Turned it back the thickness of the box tubing, 1.500" and basically turned it to a press fit.
Enlarge photo 20 Pushed it in with an arbor press and its self aligning to weld.
Enlarge photo 21 Just TIG welded it with no filler rod, Just cranked it up for good penetration and it lays flush.
Enlarge photo 22 Finish welded it all and now I need an outer ring. This is needed to keep the wire from catching. Something the factory made ones don't do. I've pulled a lot of wire building fence over the years and it's very annoying when it does that because you have to walk back if your alone on the job.
Enlarge photo 23 Had some 1.500" strap on the metal pile but it was too short. Grabbed another one and welded it back. I need about 8.5' to make the circle.
Enlarge photo 24 TIG welded it too as it lays flush and would give me fits when using the ring roller.
Enlarge photo 25 Got out the ring roller and snugged it in. Then went one pump and it started forming the ring. This is .125 thick so it's like butter to it.
Enlarge photo 26 A total of 3 pumps and less than 5 minutes of time from start to finish.
Enlarge photo 27 Cut one end off and tacked welded it in the middle of the tube section. Then pulled it tight to the next till they all were on. Then cut the excess off to mate up to the other edge.
Enlarge photo 28 Makes it nice and smooth and wire won't catch on anything.
Enlarge photo 29 Welded everything up and now I need to make up the slides to hold the spools or to size them if you will. So far so good.
Enlarge photo 30 Now I need to make adjustable slides to hold the spool of wire in place or to wind around. I got some rectangular tubing that will slip over the 1 1/2" bob. here I'm cutting  the short lengths on the surface grinder using a cut off wheel. Set it on the chuck, turn magnet on and cut halfway through.
Enlarge photo 31 Flip it over and do the same. Gives you exactly the same size pieces with nice cuts. Very little to deburr.
Enlarge photo 32 While it's still a box I'll drill 5/16" holes for the slid bolts.
Enlarge photo 33 Here I'm using the surface grinder to cut open the box. It now becomes a C channel. Cut one side and flip and repeat.
Enlarge photo 34 Few minutes on the belt sander deburring and round the corners.
Enlarge photo 35 Used 7/16" stainless for holding rods. I cut 4 to length and rounded one end.
Enlarge photo 36 Need a bend in these so marked them all and went to the press. Slide it in and use a chunk to square and start pumping it down
Enlarge photo 37 doesn't take long and makes for a nice bend. I don't want a full 90 degrees so I stop short. Creates a funnel type thing for the wire.
Enlarge photo 38 All of those bent the same and took less than 5 minutes.
Enlarge photo 39 I drilled 2 holes in each one. One was drilled and tapped with 1/2" course thread and the other was reamed to 7/16"
Enlarge photo 40 I run a nut onto a bolt then snug the nut to the box beam. Self aligning that way and gives you more strength as the box steel is threaded too. welding the nuts on here. This will lock them in place when adjusted to the desire size.