I need to come up with a right angle gearbox (example)

I’m not a blacksmith and local hardware stores are coming up empty apart from selling a right angle drill attachment (which would work but they’re a bit pricey for my purpose).

The purpose: to hide a water valve (positioned upright) & control it from the other side of a wall. (back story)

My ideas so far:

  1. find a broken angle grinder that someone threw away (seems unlikely) & cannabalize the gears
  2. build right angle gears out of wood
  3. harvest worn down bicycle cassettes from the trash and orient them at right angles against each other. They are designed to mate with a chain, so I’m not sure how well it would work. The valve is only turned on/off a couple times per year, so maybe I can get away with it.
  4. go to a toy store and find a kid’s Capsela set (do they still make these?); though I imagine it might exceed the cost of a right angle drill accessory anyway and it would possibly break under stress.

What other tools or appliances should I look for on a dumpster dive which would likely contain a right angle gearbox?

  • @cynar
    4•1 year ago

    After having a look at the use case, I would likely go with a modified project box, rather than your right angle gearbox idea. It sounds like you’re going to run into a world of pain, with some of the details.

    You can buy project boxes of various descriptions that are waterproof. Some even have doors on them! If you took one of these, and cut a hole in the bottom or back (as appropriate) you could mount this over the valve. This could be sealed down and stsy in place. When you need to use the valve, you can either open the door if it has one, or remove the lid from the project box. This gives you access to the handle. Afterwards, close it back up, and the project box’s waterproof seal will keep the water out.

    A couple of examples of what I mean.

    Link 1

    Link 2

    Link 3

    • lettruthout
      2•1 year ago

      Maybe this plus camouflage the area by making it into a small bench or shelf. The enclosure would keep moisture out of the valve area. The camouflage would hide the enclosure, and if done well, would make the area easier to keep clean.