Help me get a grip

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
My older Bessy's and many of my "F" type clamps have plain wood handles that are not very large in diameter. This can make it rather hard for my old and slightly arthritic hands to get a good grip and crank them down. I need some form of application or tape I can wrap the handles in to give me a bit more torque.

I've looked at sports tape for raquets and clubs, but they don't seem to have a lot of tack and the sales person noted that; 1, I'd have to put electrical tape at each end to keep the tape from inraveling, and 2, sawdust might make the little bit of tack the tape did have go away. Wrapping electrical tape at each ent would effectively reduce the grip area and likely would not last long without peeling off itself.

I know that there are many of you who have faced this same problem. How did you cope?:huh:
 
Many woodworkers on this and other forums use a rubber dip similar to this one. I've got a few items I've thought about using it on, but keep putting it off for no reason other than laziness! :eek:
 
I use the rockler grips as well. The regular price is too high IMHO but, at the current sale price of a buck apiece I would say they're worth it. I have used dip too but, on the larger grips, the rockler product is cheaper per clamp based on the amount of dip you consume.
 
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I have the same grip problem, but my solution is somewhat different. I bought a pair of those gloves that have a zillion rubber grippy things on them. They work wonders for other things, too, like shovels, moving sheets of plywood and sheetrock, a lot of stuff like that. It's a bit of a PITA to put them on but they're so good for so many things that I don't mind.
 
Richard, your solution is extremely smart, efficient and should be ably done by all of us with our current tools. Thanks for sharing the "screwdriver through the drilled hole in the handle" idea.
 
Richard, your solution is extremely smart, efficient and should be ably done by all of us with our current tools. Thanks for sharing the "screwdriver through the drilled hole in the handle" idea.
Thanks for your comment but I can't take credit. I saw that on the internet somewhere. It does work well.
 
I just wonder why ya need to clamp stuff that tight to begin with. Ya squeeze out all the glue. The church furniture I built 3 years ago is all M&T joints and I just used regular clamp pressure and tight bond, last time I checked (this morning) everything even the chairs were still rock solid. In Arizona we do have some pretty wild humidity swings between monsoon season where it can be 60-70 percent to regular where it is less then 10%. I can see where for comfort reasons some tape can help but I really see no need to use the screwdriver through the handle.
 
Wow - lots of great input. I can look around for hockey stick tape - thanks. The screwdriver through the handle - Simplistic elegance! Thanks to everyone for the responses. :D

Don - I really don't need to crank them down that much most of the time. The problem is more my ability to grip those small handles coupled with dry skin in a dry climate. I try gripping tight and my skin just slips over the pained wood like grease on glass. I often resort to exhaling into my fist to bring some moisture to my skin to improve my grip. I've even been known to do the old 'spit on my hands' routine when trying to tighten them (anyone want to borrow my clamps now?):rofl: In essence, I can't always apply necessary (not excessive) clamping pressure.
 
I had much the same thought as Don regarding clamping too tight and squeezing all the glue out of the joint, but then I realized that for some of us, our grip is weakened by arthritis or other things, making it painful to apply even moderate pressure. So :thumb: to Richard's "hole in the handle" approach.

i think ole jim bradley uses a screw driver as well jonathan.. dont know where he got the idea from,, maybe mathuzeala :)

This wouldn't be nearly as funny if it wasn't true. :rofl:
 
There is one concern i would have about the screwdriver through the hole and that is that the most likely grain orientation of a handle would have the grain go lengthways along the handle. I can see the force of the screwdriver bar splitting the handle if one gets to heavy on it. Not as if the use the best woods on the painted handles.


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