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.

 

[Bill Alston]

I’ve used thick wall Aluminium Tube for some of my handles. I cover them with plastic hose pipe to make them more comfortable.
Grip is surprisingly good, the clear reinforced hose being a bit better. Not my idea, I just copied the idea from some commercial handles I saw on the net.

Five with ER collet chucks and three with shop made ferrules:

 

[Gregory Hickman]

I haven't seen anyone collet nut like you have on number 4 and 5 (from either side). Do you prefer it over the others? Have a link to where you got them from? Very nice looking handles btw, @Bill Alston .

Gregory

 

[Bill Alston]

ER collet chucks normally come with one of three types of nut. I’ve used both A and M types and found finger tight is good enough that I’ve never needed to resort to using a spanner.

A random picture from eBay.



Give me a while and I’ll find some more information I have filed away, and I’ll try and find a link for you of the general type I’ve bought in the past.
These things used to be incredibly cheap at under £7 each but the price has gone up since Covid. You also need collets for them as well. The smaller sizes were about £2 each, not sure how much they are now?

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Stop at a local bike shop and buy one of each of the 700x18-25 and 25-32.

My guess is that most bike shops would be more than happy to give you old punctured tubes that they’d otherwise throw out. I patch tubes on our bikes a couple of times before replacing them. Rubber is usually still in great shape for alternative uses.