Hi all,

I'm struggling a bit trying to make a few grab handles for a project I'm working on at the moment (2.8cm s.Pz.B.41 Anti Tank gun). These need to be quite small actually and for the life of me I can't seem to make them all look the same. I don't have any of the tools that are out there for this purpose so I thought about asking you what methods may you use that yield fair results.

Any info will be appreciated,

Rob

Rob;

I make my handles from one of 2 things; stretched sprue, or copper wire.

Sprue is used when the handle will be attached with a bent-and-welded foot- as the sprue can be pinched flat as well as angled as desired. Also, sprue can come in many diameters for various sized handles, and, of course, it glues on with typical cements.

I use wire when I can drill small holes to receive it, and when I intend to end-butt the attachment (into a hole with CA glue). Wire also comes in many sizes, and is a bit better at holding a specific bend and form than is sprue.

In either case, the handle is formed in a pair of taper-nose pliers- mine taper from about 6.0mm wide down to about 2.0mm. I grab the wire or sprue at the right width in the plier jaws and use my finger and/or the flat of a number 11 knife to fold the wire/sprue down on both sides. The blade flat allows a sharper-angled bend, the finger gives a broader rounded bend.

Once bent on both sides, I now have a handle-blank. I then cut off both tails to the desired length. Voila! Handle.

To make replicates, I simply eyeball where on the plier I want to be- pretty consistent if you are sitting there making several at a time. I have also used a small marker to line the point I like (the marker can be washed off with solvent afterwards) to ensure that I am being consistent.
If I am worried about equal length of handle-legs, I lay my handle blanks out on a board and cut all of the tails at one time for equal lengths.

It's old-school, and it works well for me!

Hope this is of some help! Bob

I have a piece of multiply wood with holes drilled in them which match several grabhandles. Simply measure up what the lentgh of the grabhandle should be on your vehicle with a Slide caliper. Choose the matching holes in the wood jig. Run a copper wire of the thickness you desire through it. Pull it thight and cut it off a bit longer then you actually need it. Drill some holes in your vehicle where the grabhandles should be and glue with CA. Voila you can make grabhandles by the million if you like and you can make them all the same.
If you encounter grabhandle lengths that are not on your jig... Measure them and drill new holes.

Robert;

Nice idea, using a wood template! I used a piece of plexi-glass as a pull-thru template, but same effect. Works well with metal wire, but not so well with sprue - which came to be why I mostly do what I laid out. I like sprue for many of my handles, owing to its glue-ability.

You can get the same bending effect without the drilling by simply using any edged object of the right size- a cut piece of metal or plastic or wood such as a small block or stick, edge of a file, etc. Just pull the wire around it and cut to length. Actually, this is exactly what I described ... pulling a piece of sprue or wire around the jaws of the pliers!

If you have one of those PE folding tools- and it has a finger of the right width for your desired handle- you can easily do this with that tool- use the finger as the wire form and pull your wire UP and cut the legs as desired. The tool will yield very sharp bends, if that is what you want! And it will be very consistent without any "placement guesswork"!

Just for fun: A guy in my club uses a set of nails with flat heads for handle templates - he chooses the nail-head of the desired handle size, presses a wire down onto the board with it, pulls his wire up along the nail-shaft, and cuts to length. It works pretty well and very fast.

@Rob: If you are doing TINY handles (or things like net loops and tie-downs on gun shields...), you will need to scale-down your wire. And, there is the question of shape... IF you want it rectangular or square-bent, a template like Robert uses could be really good. If you want rounded loops or mini-handles, pull your wire GENTLY around whatever form you use. A really-round loop can be done with a nail or screw of the right size as a form. Lots of these small tie-downs were (and still are) made from "stacking" pieces of welding rod, re-rod or the like and welding them together. To make these, I use pieces of stretched sprue for rod; cut 2 lengths to size, glue them down onto the plastic armour with a space between the ends for the handle base, and glue a 3rd on top as a "bridge" across the gap to complete. You see these things on stuff like German SPG armour and PaK 40 gun-shields and the like.

Options, Gents, Options! Choose your approach. They all work well!

WOW guys, these are definitely great ideas!!! I'll try them as soon as I get home.

Here's what I'm trying to accomplish



The handles are very very small and are pretty hard to do as the kit itself is really tiny.

Thanks again!

Rob

For something that size, I'd use thin brass wire (beading wire from the crafts store comes in several different sizes).

If not beading wire, then the copper core wire from some scrap electrical wire might work.

For forming, a square or rectangular piece of K&S brass stock the same size as the interior width of your desired handles (or as close to that as practical). An alternate to that would be Plastruct or Evergreen plastic square or rectangular rod. Wrap the wire around the form in a tight spiral (like a spring with no space between the coils). Slip the coil off the form.

On a piece of glass (a hard cutting surface), use a no. 11 blade to slice / cut the coils apart by inserting the blade inside the coil lengthwise (not crosswise). A single cut will create several square or rectangular rings. Each ring can make two identical handles.

Cut the handles off of each side of a single square ring.

To mount on the model, two methods. The first requires two holes exactly the right distance apart. Glue the handle in. Use a piece of Plastruct or Evergreen square or rectangular rod between the model surface and the handle as a spacer. This will get the height of the handles uniform.

The alternate method is to cut one "leg" of each handle the correct length (to achieve the desired height of the handle). The other leg is left longer. Drill only one hole per each handle. The long leg is glued into this hole, the short leg establishes the height of the handle and is "butt" glued to the model surface.

If the rings are slightly out of "flatness" after cutting from the coil, simply press them flat using the end of a no. 1 X-acto handle against the glass cutting surface.

For larger handles, I use a Mission Models "Grab Handler" to get uniform-sized multiple handles.

BTW, the coiled wire / ring trick will work to make multiple wire rings for many different purposes, not just grab handles. All you need to do is change the size and shape of the form that you wrap the wire around to get circles, ovals, etc. Using fuze wire wrapped around two pieces of larger wire will create oval rifle sling rings, for example.

Finally, if the wire you're using is bent and wavy, you can straighten it out by rolling the wire with a metal ruler on the glass cutting surface. (Another good and useful trick!)

HTH,
Mike

Rob:

Looks like you have at least a few approaches to choose from - and again every wrinkle works somewhere and for some! Give a couple a try and you'll be happy!

And Thanx for posting a pic! I thought you were talking about that little gun! And I have it, attached (well, when I build it, it WILL be) to an SdKfz 250, in a Dragon kit. One of the features which had caught my eye from early on is that bunch of TINY "handles" on the gun-shields. They are really quite small. And, perversely perhaps, I just "have to do them"! I do have a hard time believing that they were useful "grab-handles" for most hands- they look more like little grabbies for kids (Hitler-Jungend and the like )!

Anyways, various of the things folks have punted will work for you here! Hope you post it. I would certes like to see what you fit onto that shield.

PS: The small size of those shield handles may be about the same as for handles on some ammo cans, if you are doing some... something I think many modellers seem to skip past when detailing the big piece. (hint? )

I make grab handles with brass wire and bend them under the fingers of my Hold-N-Fold Bug. I make tie down loops with lead wire and wrap it around a drill bit, then cut the loops off.

I USE FINE BRASS WIRE FROM K&S ENGINEERING AND BEND WITH A PAIR OF NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS OR YOU CAN GET A BENDING JIG FROM MICRO-MARK. IT LOOKS LIKE ONE SIDE OF A PAIR OF NEEDLE PLIERS WITH GROVES.JUST LAY YOUR WIRE IN A GROVE AND BEND THE TOOL WILL MAKE SEVERAL SIZES OF GRAB HANDLES. ACESES5

Thanks for the reply, Matt. I tried the same thing this time with my 4" Hold & Fold but without much success as the handles are just too small. I'm still looking for a way to solve this but I appreciate the feedback.

Rob

Thanks for the feedback, Mark! I'll have to try that jig as it sounds interesting.

Rob