I needed about a dozen "S" hooks. Those I saw in the hardware section of a big box store cost too much and were not the right size or shape. I decided to make a jig for making my own "S" hooks.

Materials

1 1/4 inch angle iron (old bed frame)
3/4 inch water pipe
3/8 inch rod
1/8 to 3/16 inch rod for the hooks

Tools

Angle head grinder with a steel cutting wheel
Bench grinder
Spring clamps
Vise
12 inch adjustable wrench
Arc welder

The photo shows hooks I made. The thinner, shorter hooks were made from stubs left over from reinforcement screen wires sticking up out of a concrete wall. A friend needs these hooks for hanging parts from a rack for spray painting.

Step 1: Parts

The photo shows a piece of angle iron from an old bed frame. It is about five inches long. There is also a short section of 3/4 inch water pipe about 3/4 inch long. And, there is a piece of 3/8 inch steel rod about 1 1/2 inch long.

I ground some of the paint from the angle iron for better and easier welding.

Step 2: Weld

I used a 220 volt stick welder. The piece of pipe is set about 3/16 inch from the edge where the 3/8 inch rod will be placed. I wanted the outside surface of the pipe to be smooth, so I welded inside the pipe when welding the pipe to the angle iron. You can see part of the weld looking at the first photo. The electrode I used was 3/32 inch in diameter and type 6013.

The second photo shows how I placed and held the 3/8 inch rod for welding along both sides of the rod.

Step 3: Prepare the Steel Rod

The photo shows 3/16 inch rod for the larger hooks in the introductory photo. I cut pieces of rod seven inches long and rounded each end of each rod.

Step 4: The First Bend

Put the jig into a bench vise. Let the end of the rod pass a short distance through the space between the pipe and the rod. Pull the rod around the pipe by hand. Pull until the long part of the rod is parallel to the short section between the pipe and the 3/8 inch rod.

Step 5: 2nd Bend

Turn the rod over and make the other bend in the same way you made the first.

Step 6: Straighten, If Necessary

When pulling by hand, the results sometime vary. One curve on the "S" hook may not align well with the other. I used a vise and an adjustable wrench to align the two curves.

I could have used smaller diameter pipe to form smaller hooks. 3/4 inch pipe produces a nice "S" hook shape for my needs.

An advantage of this jig is that the results are quick and uniform.