Hello all,
I thought I would pass this little tip I have for making soft jaws on my aligator clips along to the group.
All I do is buy shrink tubing used in electronic work from one of the stores (Radio Shack, or Fry’s, etc…)
I usually buy the assorted size pack because I find it very useful for other things in model building.
Well find a size that fits over one of the clip jaws till it reaches the pivot pin, then trim it off to a little longer then the tip of the clip.
Then with a hair dryer, heat gun or lighter (careful not to get it to close with the lighter or it well burn the tube)
Let the tube shrink around the clip jaw and repeat for the other jaw.
Clean the jaws with a little soap and water to remove any residue.
Now you can securly hold your parts without marring them or the finish and when they get too dirty with paint, just use an hobby knife to cut them off and apply another set.
hth [:D]
Cheers
Thom
Excellent tip, Thom I’ll have to try that.
[tup]…works great !!!..last a long time
And if you use a lighter or match, use the black tubing - anything else will show carbon marking which is very hard to remove. A good soldering iron will also work on shrink tubing.
hey mate i do something similar with my tweezers,
i got some clear insulated wire (dunno what diameter, but its about 1/2 cm) took out the wire from the middle, cut it into 1cm lenghts, than i slip the insulations over the tips of the tweezers and there u have tweezers that wont scratch the plastic!!!
i also fin that he rubberyness (if thats even a word!) help grip smaller parts
hope this helps!!!
Drat, and I thought I was clever using electrical tape wrapped around the teeth [banghead], Thx 4 a much better system, i’m learnin’ , i’m learnin’.[swg]
Thom, thank you for that tip. excellent idea!!! [tup]
Glad I could be of some help on the fourm and give back a little bit. [:D]
Cheers
Thom