veritas hold down handle

[Mark Rainey]

I have a Veritas bench hold down. The brass handle can be a pain to twist. veritas hold down.jpgI saw Christian Becksvoort had a molded handle for use on the tool.
Any ideas on how I could fashion a comfortable handle? Epoxy mold? Wood? Thanks.

[Jamie Buxton]

On the Lee Valley site, there are pics which show that the handle is threaded on to a threaded shaft, and secured by at least one set screw. It seems like you could undo the set screw, remove the existing handle, and replace it with another handle. The new handle would have the same thread pitch. Threaded knobs are available from Lee Valley, Woodcraft, and McMaster-Carr.

[Richard Coers]

Record made one with a T bar through the threaded shaft. That's what I have and it works great. So maybe you can find a coupling nut of the right thread and just drill a hole through it.

[Phil Gaudio]

This is a great holdfast, although the ergonomics of the knob could be improved. My solution (I think this is referred to as a pump wrench):

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[Tom M King]

That’s called a service wrench.

[George Yetka]

Not sure if these threads would match but these are pretty comfy. They have a rubber overmold
https://www.rockler.com/rockler-easy...-threaded-stud

[Dan Barber]

Know anyone with a 3D printer? It would be pretty straightforward to print a press fit larger knob to work with that. If you wanted to send me the knob, I would design and print one and send it back to you. All it would cost you is one way postage.

[Doug Garson]

Not that hard to make a wooden knob that fits over the brass handle. Cut a disc in a piece of hardwood or plywood the diameter you want, trace out the existing brass handle, use a Forstner bit to remove most of the waste and use a sharp chisel to get the final shape, epoxy or CA glue it in place. Wrap the outside with some grip tape and you're done in under an hour and one less piece of scrap wood in your scrap pile.

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks for all the good suggestions everyone! Dan, I will PM you! Mark

[Dan Barber]

Mark sent me the Veritas brass knob, yesterday I designed and 3D printed a much larger knob that should be more comfortable to handle. I printed it with ABS filament and while it was still warm from printing, I slid it onto the brass knob after cooling it's a shrink fit and I'm pretty sure it won't easily come off. I'll be mailing it back to Mark today!

PXL_20231221_151051073.jpg

PXL_20231221_151059991.jpg

[Patrick McCarthy]

Dan, you are a class act. Good on you, sir.

[Michael Burnside]

Dan, you are a class act. Good on you, sir.

100% and it looks great too!

[Carl Beckett]

Very nice Dan. I especially like the texture on the top surface - how was that done?

[Dan Barber]

Very nice Dan. I especially like the texture on the top surface - how was that done?

Hi Carl, That is a side effect of the Textured Print plate in my Bambu Carbon X1. The top of the knob is the first layer being printed and consequently it mirrors the surface of the print plate. Said another way the knob is printed upside down. I like that effect.

[Dan Barber]

I have received a request from another user for two of these knob covers / expanders. Is there anyone else that would like one?