Tool handles

[Rusty Nesmith]

I needed some more tool handles for some tools I am making. The cheapest adapters are $22. I had a piece of 1” aluminum round bar in my tool box from where I used to work. I was a beater bar to tap bearings and things you didn’t want to damage. I cut the mushroomed ends off and got two 12” pieces. I drilled the appropriate hole in the end for the tool, and drilled and taped two holes for the Allen screws. Then I put a piece of bicycle tire tube to make it comfortable. Really happy with how they turned out. Put a scraper I made in this one and the balance was really nice. I can but two 1” by 11” aluminum bars for under $20. I might be making more of these in the future.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Clever use of the inner tube. A lifetime ago, I worked in a bicycle shop for a few seasons. We used cheap hairspray (Aquanet?) as a lube to put hadlebar grips on the bars. After a healthy shot of hairspray into the grip, you had about 5 seconds to get the grip in place before the shellac in the spray grabbed ahold of the bar like superglue. It would probably work well with the inner tube, too.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Clever use of the inner tube. A lifetime ago, I worked in a bicycle shop for a few seasons. We used cheap hairspray (Aquanet?) as a lube to put hadlebar grips on the bars. After a healthy shot of hairspray into the grip, you had about 5 seconds to get the grip in place before the shellac in the spray grabbed ahold of the bar like superglue. It would probably work well with the inner tube, too.

If it doesn’t stay in place I will have to try that, thanks.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

If anyone is thinking of trying rubber inner tube as grip material, here is a generic sizing chart. Circled in red, the numbers 18 to 32 refer to the tube range diameter in millimeters, same tube fitting tires in that size range. Stop at a local bike shop and buy one of each of the 700x18-25 and 25-32. Should be plenty of rubber for a few handles of different sizes. Tubes are generally butyl (if I recall), but in recent years other materials have come to market. Admittedly, I'm not as well versed in this gear as I was a few decades ago.