Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
I'd seen a friend using a retriever to pull items from the front of his truck bed to the rear, or across the bed from one side to the other. Simple principle. Described as a "cargo management tool". Here's a link for a commercially made one:
http://www.carid.com/bed-accessories/access-bed-accessories-290366.html
Very handy. So, I decided to make one. It's basically a long-handled, L-shaped tool:
I had a length of broom handle on-hand (about 52" long), and some 5/16" round steel rod. I forged an eight-inch piece of the steel rod, using a hammer and an improvised anvil. I used an acetylene torch to heat the rod into the bright-orange-hot range (around 1700* F), and hammered it flat for about three inches or a little under on one end, and hammered the opposite end into a fanned-out, flattened shape at the other end. Then, also using heat, I bent this metal head to about 90 degrees. I did a bit of grinding on the tip to round it off a bit more and remove burrs. At the other end of the head (once it was cooled), the part that would attach to the handle, I drilled a couple of holes for screws.
I flattened off about a fiour-inch portion of one end of the broom stick. Then I spread some epoxy glue on the flat side of the metal head, applied the head onto the flattened part of the wooden stick, and put in a couple of short wood screws. A day later, the epoxy had cured, and the retriever was ready to use. I keep it in the bed of my truck all the time.
I hope the 'detail' pics give a good enough idea of how the head is shaped. Sorry, my camera doesn't take close-ups too well... they tend to turn out blurry.
http://www.carid.com/bed-accessories/access-bed-accessories-290366.html
Very handy. So, I decided to make one. It's basically a long-handled, L-shaped tool:
I had a length of broom handle on-hand (about 52" long), and some 5/16" round steel rod. I forged an eight-inch piece of the steel rod, using a hammer and an improvised anvil. I used an acetylene torch to heat the rod into the bright-orange-hot range (around 1700* F), and hammered it flat for about three inches or a little under on one end, and hammered the opposite end into a fanned-out, flattened shape at the other end. Then, also using heat, I bent this metal head to about 90 degrees. I did a bit of grinding on the tip to round it off a bit more and remove burrs. At the other end of the head (once it was cooled), the part that would attach to the handle, I drilled a couple of holes for screws.
I flattened off about a fiour-inch portion of one end of the broom stick. Then I spread some epoxy glue on the flat side of the metal head, applied the head onto the flattened part of the wooden stick, and put in a couple of short wood screws. A day later, the epoxy had cured, and the retriever was ready to use. I keep it in the bed of my truck all the time.
I hope the 'detail' pics give a good enough idea of how the head is shaped. Sorry, my camera doesn't take close-ups too well... they tend to turn out blurry.
