Has anyone replaced or made a new habdle/knob for their presses?

[paraord]

So I sized and deprimed something an unholy amount of 44mag and 357 mag thanks to some gracious people I know. Well about 2k rounds later I have some good old tendonitis. Ice, advil, a drink or two, and some sleep helped but I'm glad to be done with the sizing and depriming for a bit. Flaring/seating/crimping is much easier on the hands.

Anyways have any of you made some custom alterations for better fit in your hand for your presses?

[fryboy]

I screwed a Hurst t-shifter to a handle once ...does that count ? Lolz ,the roller handles are available for some presses ,I found that I like ball handles best ,old pool balls work decent enough ;)

[VHoward]

http://inlinefabrication.com/
I have either ergo roller handles or standard roller handles from these people for my presses.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I add rubber grips purchased from CH/4D to all my presses, and wear a work glove if I am going to be doing a lot of reps.

168233

[Handloader109]

+1 for in-line handles. I made a different handle that I used for a while, but broke down and bought in line. Ball hurts my hand /palm after a while

[44Vaquero]

Roller Handle for a LOAD MASTER, made from scrap parts!

[daboone]

If it's a ball handle already just pull a very small sock over it, I use my granddaughter's. At least try it before buying a roller handle because it really smooths and eases the operation out for my arthritic wrist and elbow.

[paraord]

My rcbs special IV has a ball. Idiot me didnt grab a glove or anything. I didn't even know they had an aftermarket for those. I wish I had a shifter around here, but I'm sure I have a few throttle grips from my shovelhead floating around haha.
I'll try the sock before dropping 55 bucks on one. With a 3 year old I'm sure I can snag a mismatched one.

Or try making one! That looks great 44vaquero.

[country gent]

I turned up a wood one for a buddies press tht was more of a pear shape than an actual ball. Made it from 1/4" laminates of hard maple and walnut. Turned it up to the pear shape and poliched it down to 800 grit in the wood lathe then started working oil finish into it and sanding while wet to fill grains. Statrted with 320 and finish worked to 1000 and thined oil finish. The 3 coats of finish allpied with soft felt pad. Looked great and was a very smooth surface in the hand. Was a pain gluing the block up for it and getting it started. Its got easier as the corners were knocked off and cuts became smoother though. Epoxied a thread insert in to match threads on his press.

[seagiant]

Roller Handle for a LOAD MASTER, made from scrap parts!

Hi,
44, that handle makes my South Georgia sensibility's PROUD!

[dudel]

Several years ago, I replace both the RCBS ball and the Dillon 550b ball with green and blue pool balls. The larger size is much more comfortable in my hand. I tried the roller handle; but found I liked the larger pool ball much better. I had more flexibility with the ball than with the roller handle. IIRC, I got the ball from a member on this site. I believe his name is Adam.

Found a link. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103090-pool-ball-mod-for-dillons

His username is ANeat. Very good guy to do business with.

[Safeshot]

Pool Balls, Wood "goose egg" from Hobby Shop, & Shifter Knobs all work very well.,

[Wayne Smith]

Turned a ball in a piece of drilled scrap, bought a piece of steel rod, glued it up and stuck it in the handle-less Trueline Jr. Gotta pull it and turn/file a groove on the other end for the lock bolt.

[C.F.Plinker]

Hobby Lobby has wood balls in several sizes. Get the size you like, drill it to match the size of the handle, and glue it in with J-B Weld. After each loading session I apply some JPW to the ball. Now I am going to have to try the sock idea.

[marlinman93]

I recently replaced the arm on my RCBS Rockchucker. Mine was the old round shaft, with just the soft plastic sleeve over the end. Always a pain on longer runs. I found a new Rockchucker with the large round ball on the arm, and swapped arms to my press. Then re-sold the new Rockchucker to get my money back. I like the round abll a lot, but going to try that sock trick also, to see how that works!

[Walter Laich]

I've fab'ed some longer handle extensions to lessen the effort needed for resizing. My range of motion is longer but the effort is less.
Have them on a SDB, as well as bench primer and shotshell resizer. They are all removable as they are just slip fits.

[Mytmousemalibu]

I didn't mind the OE ball that came on the Dillon 650 but the fact my hand wouldn't "glide" on it would make my palm tender after a while so I tried the blue aluminum roller Dillon makes and it is pretty good, looks sharp too. I do have a good size International Harvester shift knob that was probably on some equipment or a big diesel truck, it would probably be nice! I had a small rounded, cylindrical Hurst knob in my single stage that I like.

[alleyoop]

Tendonitis was probably the biggest reason I decided to go progressive. I basically do the same amount of loading with about 1/4 of the effort. It's not for everybody but it was a better deal for me than adding a roller handle to the Rock Chucker.

[gwpercle]

I have an old blue Pacific Super Deluxe cast iron C press that has a reversible linkage , you can push down on the handle or change it around to pull up on the handle to size . For me , I found that pulling up was easier on the tendonitis , arm , wrist and elbow and shoulder joints than shoving down on it . I mounted the press low so I can sit in a chair and size.
If your press linkage can be changed you might want to try it.
Gary

[fred2892]

Before I built my new bench my old set up was just a few inches shorter. I used to get a really bad flare up in my elbow after any reloading session over an hour or so. For some reason one day I found myself standing on a four inch high crate while reloading (too lazy to tidy the floor).
The difference was unbelieveable, not a twinge to my elbow after a marathon reloading session. This convinced me to add the extra inches when building the new bench. It may be worthwhile trying to vary the height you are loading from, you never know it may help with your hands.

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk

[steelworker]

A buddy of mine turned some threads on a 5/8" shaft for me. After that I bent it into an "ergo" shape and added a roller handle that I bought from Inline. Made one for my rockchucker and for my Dillon 650. They work well.

[No Blue]

I bought a pair of leather shooting gloves, the kind with half finger coverage. Put those on when I'm going to be there pumping the lever for a couple of hours. They have padded palms, and the half fingers give me complete touch and dexterity.

I do like the miniature sock idea....that's cost effective. Much better than $50+ for a different handle.

[VHoward]

Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Some prefer a roller handle and some prefer the round ball. That's why there are choices.

[1_Ogre]

Check with "Errokk" on this site, he makes custom roller handles that save your hands, no more blisters. You can PM him here and give him the information, he'll get back to you

[paraord]

Thanks s-3, I sent him a PM but it doesn't look like he's been active in a while

[RP]

I used some old pool balls on some of my presses which all ready had some round balls on them just the increase in ball sized fit my hand better. Also some lets say lube for the best way to describe it goes along way on wear and tear on the hand on long runs of working that old handle. Just something to let the ball slip in your hand I found this out when I was doing some sizing.

[fralic76]

I used pool balls because the bigger size is easier on the hand. Made a ergo roller handle for the Lee Classic Turret.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[imashooter2]

I replaced the bicycle grip on my ancient Rock Chucker with a ball. Just used a large wood ball from craft store and oiled it. That was a good upgrade.

Added one of the Inline Fabrication roller handles to an SDB. Keeps my hand / wrist alignment consistent through the pull. Really helped with my arthritis.

Conversely, I added a roller handle to my 550 and removed it in short order. A slight difference in body position and length of pull made the roller worse than a ball (for me) on that press. I'm back to the ball. Fortunately, I load the vast majority of my ammo on the SDB.

[Geezer in NH]

I am 64 with arthritis that made me retire 15 years ago. Trust me at your age get some weights or join a gym you will thank me 20 years from now but I will be gone.

Sizing 2K 357 or 44 cases I would be ashamed now to admit it bothered me but not judging dude. :kidding:

[daboone]

Just something to let the ball slip in your hand I found this out when I was doing some sizing.

Yep that what a baby's sock covering the ball does, allows the ball to slip and slide in your hand during each stroke .

[websterz]

Stereotypical 8 balls on all my stuff. I get them cheap on eBay.

[dikman]

I made a couple of roller-type off-set handles for my presses (need to make another one) that don't push down as low due to the off-set.
168995

[Pressman]

I had a glass shift knob from the 50's or 60's. It is threaded to fit a truck shifter. Found a short bolt of the same threads and ground the head round then got some Accra Glas Gel from Brownells and set teh bolt into the tube handle on my RCBS 2A press, threaded the knob on and it is better than new. Feels great in thehand.

Ken

[OS OK]

I made a couple of roller-type off-set handles for my presses (need to make another one) that don't push down as low due to the off-set.
168995

Pretty sexy! I like it!

[jmorris]

The best replacement I have come up with so far.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFhnDQ-eUU

[jmorris]

Did something similar for a Lee single stage.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zbImsdkbg

[OS OK]

Very nice! I envy these upside down press setups. "If you'd glue a set of furry Rabbit ears to it, it would look like a mechanical rabbit pooping on a stump!
Sorry morris, I have a twisted sense of humor!"

charlie

[psychbiker]

I'll post a pic later with my handle. I used a real 8 ball. Then I drilled a somewhat center hole about 1/2" diameter, glued in a piece of brass bushing, bent a piece of all thread around 90 degrees, slid the 8 ball on, drill and tapped the end of all thread, put a flared washer and screw in the end. The ball now acts like a roller handle.