Clamp Handle Upgrade

[Jim Summers]

I was reading through the current parallel clamps thread and it made me think of the trouble I have with loosening bessey clamps. The small handle and slick paint make it hard for me to get a grip on them.

I saw a can of rubber dip at the hardware store. Do ya'll think dipping the Bessey handles in that will help. Or will it just peel off? Any experiences with the stuff?

TIA

[Jeff Nolan]

yeah, same issue.

Rockler has "clamp handle grips"... 4 for $5. I'm thinking about getting some.

[Dave Lehnert]

I use the rubber dip on my drill press handles and screwdriver. Two years now and no problems.

[Rick Moyer]

Or you could just drill a hole thru and insert a dowel when needed.

[Matt Meiser]

yeah, same issue.

Rockler has "clamp handle grips"... 4 for $5. I'm thinking about getting some.

Cool option. I don't remember seeing those before.

[glenn bradley]

Jorgie F clamps leave that notorious oil behind even after years of use. I ditched the pads and plastic dipped the top jaw tips and pads and did the same to some Bessey mighty-mini's a long time ago. No problems with it coming off.

On the handles I just routed small v-grooves, very shallow. that was all it took to up the grip. I put a straight bit in the router table and aligned the fence so that as the handle passed by it cut a 90* groove.

[Jim Summers]

Many Thanks for all the ideas. I may still dip a couple and see how they do. I'll report back after a few months.

Thanks again

[Todd Franks]

Rockler has "clamp handle grips"... 4 for $5. I'm thinking about getting some.

But they don't come in red, won't work with my Bessey's.:p I may have to give them a try too. Thanks for the tip.

[Dave Lehnert]

yeah, same issue.

Rockler has "clamp handle grips"... 4 for $5. I'm thinking about getting some.

Do you have a link? Can't find them.

[Doug Hobkirk]

Rockler Grips (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16881)

[Kent A Bathurst]

....The small handle and slick paint make it hard for me to get a grip on them........

I'll give you one solution that works great and is free. Use a block plane to plane a flat surface on the handle - exact size doesn't matter, just don't try to plane the steel ferrule at the base of the handle. Then lay that flat side flat on the bench, and plane a flat surface opposite it. Torque you can apply just went way up.

Then, take a scrap of hardwood somwthing like 3/4" x 2-1/2" x 5". Make a elongated hole throug the block with 2 drilled holes and a keyhole saw/coping saw/chisel to remove the material in between. This elongated hole should be a bit larger than the modfied handle - sketch below. Slip the block over the flattened handle, and your applied torque jumped way up again.

Works on anything with round wooden handles - Besseys, Jorgie F-clamps, handscrew clamps, whatever. Just make one key for each different size handle. Soooo much less effort to tighten and loosen, and you can really reef on those clamps if you ever need to.

[Matt Meiser]

Rockler Grips (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16881)

So after seeing these I decided to just order them for all my Besseys and they came today. I just tried one on a clamp, and first, let me say DON'T TRY THEM IF YOU WANT TO GLUE THEM! Can't get the thing off, which leads me to think maybe gluing isn't all that necessary.

On the one I've got it on, the handle is a lot more comfortable. It doesn't add a ton of diameter but a little, and obviously its a lot less slippery which means you don't have to grip as tight to keep your hand from slipping.

I think I might use some kind of cement like Goop inside before sticking the rest on just to be safe, but not the recommended yellow glue. I don't see the latter doing much to glue rubber to wood. This-To-That recommends contact cements which would make getting the handle on impossible if you let it dry.

[Mark Engel]

I'll give you one solution that works great and is free. Use a block plane to plane a flat surface on the handle - exact size doesn't matter, just don't try to plane the steel ferrule at the base of the handle. Then lay that flat side flat on the bench, and plane a flat surface opposite it. Torque you can apply just went way up.

Then, take a scrap of hardwood somwthing like 3/4" x 2-1/2" x 5". Make a elongated hole throug the block with 2 drilled holes and a keyhole saw/coping saw/chisel to remove the material in between. This elongated hole should be a bit larger than the modfied handle - sketch below. Slip the block over the flattened handle, and your applied torque jumped way up again.

Works on anything with round wooden handles - Besseys, Jorgie F-clamps, handscrew clamps, whatever. Just make one key for each different size handle. Soooo much less effort to tighten and loosen, and you can really reef on those clamps if you ever need to.

I like this tip. Going to try it on some of my older Besseys this weekend.
Thanks.

[phil harold]

Many Thanks for all the ideas. I may still dip a couple and see how they do. I'll report back after a few months.

Thanks again

I Dipped a bunch of my old f-clamps wood handles 10-12 years ago
still going strong
3 dips worked great for me

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

You could take a piece of shrink tubing, commonly used for surf fishing rods. Most rod building supply houses would carry this product. It comes in many colors, including black, red, blue, green and yellow, and has this cross-hatched pattern on it. This stuff is waterproof, uv-resistant and grippy...it's designed for use on a fishing rod that gets wet, slimy and exposed to sun and sand. It runs around $3-$5 per foot and easily shrinks down with a heat gun. :)

[Alan Schaffter]

I made a little cradle to hold the handle and index it. I use it on my router table with a core box bit to cut 8 nice, equally spaced flutes on the handles.

[Jim Tobias]

I dipped about 1/2 of my Besseys several months back. They have held up well and make it much, much easier to tighten and loosen.
Make sure to use the PlastiDip brand. I bought a couple of cans of another brand and it was actually slick. Ended up returning it.

Jim

[Mike Heidrick]

Jim, Have some pictures by chance?

[Bob Frey]

Cut some blocks of hardwood about 1.5" x 1.5" x 3" long. Drilled a hole in the center the same diameter as the stock round handles. Glued the new larger diameter square handles over the stock thin round handles. New larger diameter provides greater torque and the flat sides are easy to grip.

[Jim Tobias]

Someone asked for pictures , so here they are. As you can tell, I did not even trim off the drip on one of the handles. The PlastiDip really gives you a rubbery grip that allows you to tighten down consdierably more than before.
I do not own PlastiDip stock or anything, just a satisfied customer(especially afer buying another brand that was actually slick).

Jim

[Todd Willhoit]

PlastiDip also works well to repair the plastic coating on your dishwasher racks. Use a Dremel to knock off any accumulated rust, and a small brush to "paint" the PlastiDip over the cracks or bare metal.

Todd

[Jim Summers]

Hello All,

I held off closing this thread until I had time to use my clamps for a while. I plasti-dipped several of my clamp handles and have been using them pretty regular lately. They work great now. I haven't had to resort to wearing nitrile or rubber gloves or use channel locks or anything since plasti-dipping them. No other problems to report. I'll try to remember to update in six or so months.

[Alan Schaffter]

In my earlier post I did not include photos of the simple jig I made that makes it easy to cut flutes in the handles of my Besseys.

Here is a SketchUp drawing of the jig. The small dowel is slipped in the slot after first flute is cut in the handle. I use it to index the handle so 8 evenly spaced flutes can be cut quickly and easily. The main slot at the bottom allows a 1/8" core box or fluting bit to slide part way into the jig.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Bessey_fluting_jig.jpg

Here is the jig cradling a clamp handle and ready to go on the router table.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230007.JPG

Fully fluted handle. Easy to grip.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230008.JPG