Plastic dipping tool handles to give them a better grip has been around for many, many years and to be honest, I have seen some pretty poor results from these so I thought it was time to try this out myself to see if the product is the problem or is it user problems??
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/gABvuo7OXxw
I read the instructions a few times and even did some research online to make sure I understood how this liquid product worked and hopefully I would get the best results from it ...
My main reason for even attempting this project was not so much to make a tool easier to handle, but to try and make it stand out by coating it RED. The tool in question is the "Key" for my drill press. I have tried 3 different tethers and I hated all of them. What works best for me is a big magnet on the column of the drill press and that is the home for the key ... as you can see in the picture below.
Unfortunately for ME ! ... I sometimes tighten a drill bit in the chuck, then decide to look at a different size drill bit or get otherwise distracted and lay the drill press key on the deck of my table saw, which is right beside the drill press. What happens next is that with all the clutter that can end up on the table saw deck during a drilling process, I have on occasion ended up not putting the key back, then "losing it" in the myriad of other black tools, wood cut-offs and other clutter that may be on my table saw deck as I am doing this drilling ... end result, I misplace the drill press key and have to stop everything to locate it.
I wanted this to end, so the best thing for me is to os top somehow "color" the key, which I tried with some tapes, but you can see in the video that didn't work all that well ... plastic dipping was the next experiment.
As you can see in the picture above, despite the fact that I had a goof up and didn't think to check to make sure the key would fit in the plastic dip can and had to wrestle it in and out ... it STILL ... turned out pretty awesome. Way better than I expected and much better than any other dipping I have ever seen in person.
In fact, I was so impressed I started looking around the shop for more black tools that I can change the color of to make them stand out more when I am using them, below is a sampling of some of the things I have done.
All the plastic knobs I purchase for jigs and other things are all black ... now I can easily color them and WOW do they ever stand out !!
Below is the screwdriver that is designed to work with my Incra Mitre Gauge, which I use quite often, and needs to adjust the fence back and forth on that miter gauge to get the best cuts, but I often forget which screwdriver it is ... now I can easily find it, and those painted red pliers ... awesome red grips now!
These are the dual wrenches for one of my routers, they often lie on the workbench as I am using the hand router and like all other black tools they blend in with one another, now they stand out ...
All in all, I was VERY impressed with this dipping product, but you NEED to remember 4 things
1 - Stir the product VERY WELL
2 - If what you want to coat is shiny or soothe, it best to rough it up a bit with some 400 or 600 grit sandpaper to give a "tooth for the
plastic to adhere to
3 - Clean your tool super clean, I used acetone to make sure I got all dust grime, and oil off and after you clean it, clean it again
4 - Ease the tool in and out of the dipping agent slowly, they say 5 seconds for every inch, I might have been slower, but slow is good for this.
If you do these things, and make sure you read the instructions, you should get results the same as I did ...
Copyright Colin Knecht
woodoworkweb
