Broken Handle

I have a cross slide vice which I use on my pillar drill. I brought this second hand with one of the handles broken. I moved it today to make room for another job on the drill press and managed to break the other one so now I have two winding handles broken.

Can members suggest where I might buy them from or will it be a case of having two made? I am not set up to do this myself yet.

Many thanks in advance

Hi Derek,

A google image search for Ball Crank Handle throws up quite a lot of results.

ATB,

Daniel

Especially if you add ‘square hole’ if that is what it needs. MSC seem to have a wide range of options.

I would just cut a bit of 1/2" thick aluminium plate to the size, drill a hole the same size as the sides of the square spindle and hand file the square until it fitted. The handle would be even easier to make.

It is just a bit of cast zinc by the looks of things but might be aluminium. Scrape a bit off and place in vinegar to see if it bubbles =zinc. You might be able to solder it with one fo the low melting solders sold for mking dicast railway models.

Anyway if it is a square hole just drill and file square hole in a bit of bar, simple bolt in hole at one end for handle. Make do with that until you are in a position to make proper fancy handles, of perhaps find some in a junk sale sometime.

+1 for what old mart says.

In later years Beaver mills were fitted with simple plate handles with an ordinary rotating handgrip screwed on. Less than posh but effective and no one in their right mind would quibble about the overall quality and capability of a Beaver.

Your broken die cast handle looks like the ones on my cross vice. Fit is less than wonderful, finish poor and everything wobble'n wobbles. If I ever break mine they are getting replaced with something nicer.

Clive

I'm not surprised that you are suffering breakages. Die-cast zinc alloys - especially from older machinery - are known to be unreliable. And even when new and sound, they are not strong. I would not consider for one moment using such a handle that had been soldered - when as you can see, easy alternatives are at hand, and need only a drill and a square file by way of tooling.

Regards, Tim

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Thank you, everyone, for the responses. I did think of just a round bar drilled and filed for the square hole. I have a wood lathe at the moment and have turned a Ali pen on it using carbide-tipped tools so maybe have a go with that. It would be no difference as using a graver (not sure of spelling).

Also now I know what they are called can look for them on the web.

Try...

**LINK**

Should be able to find something to suit yu .

George.