I’m not going to beat around the bush: having access to metal working tools is a major advantage for any home improvement project. I bought this demo hammer from Harbor Freight on sale after weighing the rental costs from the local big box store. It was an excellent purchase, and saved me a ton of money and running around time. The only thing I needed was a wide blade for tile removal. I looked into buying one, and they are in the $300 range. This is a professional contracting unit, but I needed it for one job. Out to the shop!
My thoughts were to shorten the included spade bit, then build out the rest of the chipping tool. A horizontal band saw made quick and clean work here.
Mocking up my material. I cut the triangle supports on the band saw from a piece of bar that came off of the chipper. You can see the reliefs I ground into all of the material to make room for weld penetration.
I have access to a Miller Multimatic 200 on 240 volts, and cranked it up as high as it goes for MIG welding. This welder is amazing, and makes laying high quality beads a piece of cake.
All trimmed up and ready to go! This tool made mince meat of ceramic floor tiles when used at a 45 degree attack angle. There were some stubborn tiles on the cement underlayment, and we did manage to break the chipping bit off of the tool.
Back to the shop to fix it and add some additional reinforcement. All in all, I saved time and money by buying and modifying this tool. If I were a pro, I would skip straight to the good stuff; but alas I am not.