Great question! And thanks for all the info, everyone!
I am a LOUSY scratch-builder and can't cut a straight piece of plastic sheet. My main problems with grab handles are when I break one or lose one (only happened once), and I need to match the others in the kit.
The Grab-Handler looked like a good tool (out of production, I think), but was wildly overpriced for what it was. But you'd never need another one, that's for sure. I keep hoping someone will be selling a used one at a show, etc.
I will check out some of these other options. I always say I will get one, and I never do. Then, I'm scrambling when I need a replacement at the last minute.
Again, thanks for the info. This link is getting saved.

Gary

A very simple homemade tool can be produced by drilling a hole in a 2 mm thick sheet of aluminium.
The drill diameter is selected to be slightly larger than the metal wire used for the handles. Measure the wanted size of the handle (measured inside the "legs" of the handle) and drill the hole so that the distance from the edge of the hole to the edge of the aluminium sheet matches the wanted handle. If the hole is drilled near a corner of the aluminium sheet it would be possible to make two, maybe more different sizes of handle.
Insert wire in hole,
Bend towards the edge,
Press down to make a tight bend (use pliers if necessary)
Hold wire down and bend over the edge.

Two variants of handle bending templates

The one on the left uses one hole and multiple edges to make different sizes of handles, the one on the right uses multiple holes to achieve the same thing.
The rectangular one is probably easier to manufacture.
The odd shaped one can be given new measurements by filing down a corner to make an additional edge.
Notches on the edges can be used to provide different size handles over a single edge.

/ Robin

[quote]A very simple homemade tool can be produced by drilling a hole in a 2 mm thick sheet of aluminium.
The drill diameter is selected to be slightly larger than the metal wire used for the handles. Measure the wanted size of the handle (measured inside the "legs" of the handle) and drill the hole so that the distance from the edge of the hole to the edge of the aluminium sheet matches the wanted handle. If the hole is drilled near a corner of the aluminium sheet it would be possible to make two, maybe more different sizes of handle.
Insert wire in hole,
Now we need some one to do the up in metal so we can buy them

Bend towards the edge,
Press down to make a tight bend (use pliers if necessary)
Hold wire down and bend over the edge.

If someone desides to make these make me set I will buy them

Robin, that’s brilliant! The only thing is, you’d need a pretty good drill press to get the holes straight up and down, and some good drill bits too— but those challenges can be overcome.
VR, Russ

Getting the hole or holes totally vertical isn't absolutely necessary, nice if possible but not an absolute requirement. Small deviations can be adjusted with flat nose pliers afterwards. Getting the bend in the right place is the main purpose, adjusting the angle can be done afterwards.
The rectangle type is a simplification of an etched tool I bought many many years ago. It was a brass square with angled rows of holes along each side where each hole provided a unique handle width.

A copper wire is easier to bend then brass and if you happen to squeeze it or give it a bump it will bend instead of breaking out of the hole in the model.
This is easy to repair, straighten with pliers and dab some paint on it. It can also be left dented and twisted (battle damage).

/ Robin

When can we expect the first batch of Robins tool to be available?

You have the basic design drawing so just get the measurements you need for your next or ongoing project and start drilling

Robin

Yes, I remember having to make your own slot cars in the early '60s. Don't worry about the hobby. Every time I go to Home Depot I can not find what I am looking for and end up buying 3 items and kitbashing them together to make what I need.

For generally large grab handles, I use exclusively .032 aircraft safety wire. For smaller type grab handles, a variety of brass rod (or other bendable/soft metal) in .005, .010, .015 and .020 will work too, of which I keep in stock as well. Using a ruler pretty much is all I use to measure length from one bend radius to the other, and to indicate where I drill the holes for insertion. To me, the KISS method still prevails.

Back in 1992, when I was living in Colorado, I built a HOn3 Rio Grande Southern “Galloping Goose” at my kitchen counter using brass sheet, a few files, a Dremel tool and a soldering iron, with just a few cast-off parts for the wheels. It occupies an equally cast-off wood Xacto knife box today, and occasionally I’ll pull it out of the box and marvel at my patience back then. I don’t think I have as much patience anymore to build stuff from scratch at the kitchen table, If I had the money I’d probably just buy it.
VR, Russ

Pliers are VERY consistent. You just need to purchase the right ones. Look for tapered (or needle nosed) pliers that have serrations on the inside of the jaws. It's too easy. Lay the wire across the serration that looks about the correct width. Bend wire down on both sides. Clip remainder. D U N done, son. If the width is off a bit, go up or down one serration. Once you're dialed in, mark that serration with a Sharpie, a dot of White Out, even a small piece of masking tape. I've built dozens of Centurions using this technique, making many consistent sized handles for each one. My time is too valuable goofing around trying to invent a better mousetrap.

And if you look closely at the models they made, they are what you would expect using those tools. If you saw them on a show table today you would laugh.

When people read magazines a model that is 10% better than the state of the art is seen as amazing. The SOTA is much higher now. What you described will get you grab handles that are out of square, varying heights and widths, and out of alignment. Why would I be satisfied with that? Nostalgia?

People are going this route because they want something equal to or better than what you can find in a kit, something that is uniform like a machine made the part - which is what happened on the real vehicle.

KL

i would agree

Huh? The discussion was about the conclusion that the hobby was dying because people were looking for tools to make better models instead of getting by with cast off metal junk and a hand drill on the kitchen table.

You're considering false alternatives. How do you feel about Bristol board boxcars with dented corners, paint jobs that raise the fibers, lettering done by a 1:1 hand with 1:1 waves and faint spots, air and steam lines with solder gobs, running on sectional track and beach sand ballast past scenery details ran from from 1/64 to 1/32? That's what I saw in the old issues of MR. There really wasn't much useful (unless you were working with O-gauge track and wiring) until about 1965.

It's pretty much like the guys who hand twist their own tow cables. Yeah, they took the initiative and tried something, but it still looks like hand twisted motor wire, not 1/35 wire rope cable. I have more respect for the people who try something, realize it isn't working and throw it away rather than keeping it solely because they put so much effort into it they can't bear to toss it.

KL

There is a place for building a Shepard Payne build. It is challenging and fun. However, with today's high level of molding my handmade modifications look handmade. With Monograms or early Tamiya, my worked blended in. Now early aftermarket items stand out as their quality is not to the level of molding on today's kits. My initial question about the grab handles was that I was seeking a way to produce very consistent handled to look like they were designed for the current kits.

IMHO, you can rest assured of getting very consistent and great-looking wire grab handles by using any of several suggested tools and routes. It's not hard to actually make them, and no refined or specialized tool is at all necessary. And they will actually look as much or more like a "machine-made handle" than almost any AM bit.

But maybe there's some other point(s) worth considering in what should have been a pretty gentle and non-caustic discussion...

1) ANY handle which is represented on a kit by some molded-on ridge is going to look vastly better when replaced with a piece of formed wire - regardless of exactly how close to true "scale" the wire gauge being used is, or whether the wire bit is exactly as long as the removed ridge, or whether the wire handle stands a little "high" or "low" compared to the height of the removed ridge, or whether the bends are exactly like scale versions of the real thing as seen in a photograph.

2) Consistency in handle length, bends, or height is actually only relevant when you have multiples of the same handle on a build, AND they are installed such that one can closely compare "neighboring" handles to possibly detect some variation among or between them. In my experience, most of the handles I have replaced have been singular items which are not closely adjacent to other like-sized handles. There is ONE safety grab-bar on the dash of a Horch 901, for instance.

3) Short of actually learning in detail about the exact pipe or rod-gauge, length, bend-arcs and relief-height of the real handle you seek to model, and then carefully calculating and measuring out and faithfully applying these details at your chosen scale... ALL the discussion about how "accurate" your model handles are is, to say the least, an empty and moot point. And NO, I wouldn't begin to count on any dimension of any molded-on ridge on a kit-part as being a reliable reference for anything - save MAYBE for there likely having been a handle there somewhere in or on the real thing.

4) Regardless of how close to the real thing your model handle really is, NOBODY will be able to recognize that when viewing your accurate-to-scale handle. Viewers WILL see if it's straight and level, if it looks cleanly done with the same bend at either end, and if it looks pretty much like other replaced handles on the build. NOBODY arrives with a micrometer to actually measure and compare your effort to some putative real thing. So, if it pleases YOU, you have likely accomplished your realistic goals.

In my opinion; Those who like more and specialized tools and feel better able to make nice handles with a specialized handle-tool should get one. Those who feel good about using their dad's battered old needle-nose pliers (myself) or any other opportunistic tool should do that. Those who are curious about tools and routes they haven't actually used before should avail themselves and explore new ground and continue to be what I believe we actually all ARE - Life-time LEARNERS!

What I sincerely HOPE everyone does is strongly and consistently AVOID, like you would "the plague", loudly and publicly claiming that your particular handles are the "MOST ACCURATE and BEST scale grab handles ever made, AND everyone else's are some sort of plaebian, "off", amateurish bit." This is a hobby, friends, and we should, I think, freely accept that each of us does it as we see fit and to the best of our abilities for our own goals.

Cheers! Bob

Well, you should be happy because no one has come close to saying anything like that. "That doesn't look at all like a real tank part or the kit part you are trying to replace" and "Your piece looks perfect but you used the wrong diameter wire" may both be statements about "accuracy" but they shouldn't be viewed the same way.

What I have heard here is that it is much easier to make consistent, uniform, shapes with some sort of tool or jig than by free-handing them. Whether you want to make a tool or buy a tool doesn't really matter.

My advice (which is applicable to all scratched details) is to play around with your devices, your materials, and your dimensions until you get a part that looks and works right, and then make several more than you need. Then sort out the best ones. Wire and Evergreen stock are cheap.

KL

I hope some readers have gained some knowledge from the responses as I did.
I learned several ways to make grab handles. If you use a tool with two holes or the comb-type tool you can make consistent handles that have a more gentle curve to the handle. If you use the plyer method it is easy to make sharper cornered grab handles. Depending on the length of the handle you can use plyers for mid to smaller length handles and a two-hole or comb-type tool for longer handles.
I saw several tools and several designs I could make myself. I see that there is no best way and that different techniques or tools lend themselves to different style handles. The next piece is to learn what diameter wire best represents the different grab handle diameters.

That's ridiculous.

What are you bothered about anyway? Those authors in 1939 were doing the best they could and were probably about 10% above the SOTA, as I said. But now, 80 years later, the SOTA is much, much higher and there's not a lot a 21st century modeler can use out of those magazines. Even the prototype research has been superseded. It wasn't until the mid - 70s that the magazine issues consistently had articles that are worth having today. Do you think otherwise?

KL

Looks strikingly like the method I described above. However, I don't recommend using a No. 11 blade to cut it, unless you like buying blades. I have a set of dykes that leave a nice tapered cut, without widening the wire. The taper makes it easier to insert.

What I found more interesting is his method of scribing underneath a detail instead of removing it completely. I can see that working nicely on the triangular handles on AFV's.

By the way, this is one of the better Youtube videos you'll find - on any subject. The guy's pretty funny.