"Ghetto" Water Meter Key

Step 6: The working end of the key

To make the key end I attached a 10 inch abrasive cutting wheel to an arbor and manually worked the end of a 1 inch piece of pipe against the edge of the wheel until I had a slot that would fit over the shut off valve in our water box. That would have been sufficient, but I wanted to add a little leverage and make the key easier to align on the shut off valve. So, I welded two small pieces of strap iron onto the end of the pipe.

I have not needed this water meter key often, but it works very well. And, I used up some scraps I had without a penny out of my pocket (other than for welding electrodes).

Comments

[jbeil]

I cut a slot in a pipe cap to make mine.

[Phil B]

Excellent idea!

[Cooldeal]

Great and useful project. I needed one but I just cut a slot in 1/4" thick metal bar I had that was an inch wide. Fit perfectly. Nice when you can make a needed tool out of whatever you have on hand and it works well. Thanks for the lesson.