Soft touch finger

[mklotz]

My welder's Grasshopper (TM) third hand tool works well for silver soldering (I'm not a weldor)...



but is way too heavy for more delicate work, especially thin wood used in modelmaking. What I needed was a really lightweight finger that was adjustable in both attitude and pressure applied.

So I dug around in my scraps of brown stuff and came up with this monstrosity...



The body is a 2 x 4 cutoff and the "finger" is made of popsicle sticks with spacers cut from the length of 3/8 x 3/8" that forms the "forearm" and the "outrigger" that prevents tipovers. The body...



has a 1" blind hole that can be filled with washers to provide more finger pressure. The hole can also hold a small plastic bottle partially filled with bird shot (see second picture) for more precise pressure control than I'll ever need.

This photo...



shows the finger. Three adjustable height positions (more are easily obtainable with a 3 mm drill) and an axial hole through the "fingertip" that has a 4-40 bolt to allow various future attachments. (A spreader bar and a V-block for cylinders will probably be the first to be made.)


This build was a real vacation from more serious shop work. No plans were drawn, just a vision of what it should resemble in my head. No detailed dimensioning or measuring, sizes were determined by the stock found in the brown stuff bin. Design was changed during construction (guided by TLAR logic) and errors (like screw holes drilled in the wrong orientation) were allowed to remain without agonizing over it. While I don't recommend that you do all your work this way, an occasional excursion into slapstick construction can be fun and a great stress reliever; it can even produce a useful tool.

[Manitoba Man]

My welder's Grasshopper (TM)

third hand tool works well for silver soldering (I'm not a weldor)...



but is way too heavy for more delicate work, especially thin wood used in modelmaking. What I needed was a really lightweight finger that was adjustable in both attitude and pressure applied.

So I dug around in my scraps of brown stuff and came up with this monstrosity...



The body is a 2 x 4 cutoff and the "finger" is made of popsicle sticks with spacers cut from the length of 3/8 x 3/8" that forms the "forearm" and the "outrigger" that prevents tipovers. The body...



has a 1" blind hole that can be filled with washers to provide more finger pressure. The hole can also hold a small plastic bottle partially filled with bird shot (see second picture) for more precise pressure control than I'll ever need.

This photo...



shows the finger. Three adjustable height positions (more are easily obtainable with a 3 mm drill) and an axial hole through the "fingertip" that has a 4-40 bolt to allow various future attachments. (A spreader bar and a V-block for cylinders will probably be the first to be made.)


This build was a real vacation from more serious shop work. No plans were drawn, just a vision of what it should resemble in my head. No detailed dimensioning or measuring, sizes were determined by the stock found in the brown stuff bin. Design was changed during construction (guided by TLAR logic) and errors (like screw holes drilled in the wrong orientation) were allowed to remain without agonizing over it. While I don't recommend that you do all your work this way, an occasional excursion into slapstick construction can be fun and a great stress reliever; it can even produce a useful tool.

I love the philosophical shift. Unfortunately I tend to go overboard in the free form method.

[Toolmaker51]

It's good to cultivate both. Being able to plan ahead is important, like integrating other components. Working on the fly still requires a mental diagram. Probably more actual mental exercise than working off a drawing, especially getting it done in the right order.
Best of all? Nobody will know how many times you erased a thing.

[DIYer]

Thanks mklotz! We've added your Soft Touch Finger to our Model Making category,
as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Soft Touch Finger by mklotz

tags: third hand

[old_toolmaker]

Necessity is the mother of invention! I often find a need to cobble something together at the last minute to get a job done.

[rebuilder1954]

Great work, as usual Marv.

Another nice thing about a cobbled-together Mk1 is that if it lives up to expectations, your Mk2 with all the refinements is easier to visualize, design, and build.

Bob

[old_toolmaker]

Most of my projects begin by brainstorming and day dreaming. Then its off to the CAD system.