July issue hairpins

I like seeing the good Tech articles in R & C, I was an engineer for one of the Big 3, Taught auto college classes but I like to see how to in your back yard articles . I started out in the 50's with a grinder,  hacksaw. drill and welder.  We build our own hairpins at home.  I have a Harbor freight hyd pipe bender and a tubing notcher that uses a hole saw to cut the ends.  If you Don't have a lathe to thread the ends here's how I do it .. I cut the ends that have to be threaded one inch longer than the final Dimension. I use a BIG right angle 1/2 elect drill and start drilling out the end of the tube using the drill bit that will just remove a little bit of metal, use a lot of oil or cutting fluid.   I keep changing bits to just cut a little bit at a time until I get to the final size required for the tap.. Most of mine use 5/8 clevis so I drill out that extra one inch with a 5/8 drill that extra one inch deep. This will keep the tap going in straight. Tap as deep as you can then cut off that extra one inch. redrill with the correct size for your tap then finish threading.  This will give you good straoght threads