Better Mill Handles

The handles on my mill, have been slowly getting squeaker and squeaker over the last year or so. About 2 weeks back, I had become so fed up with the situation that I decided to design some new and hopefully quieter handles. My requirements in order of priority were as follows:

1. as quiet as possible
2. no modifications to the stock wheel
3. not expensive
4. better ergonomics if possible

The design shown below is what I came up with and it checked off everything on the list. The shoulder bolts are off the shelf items that you can get almost anywhere. The aluminum bar stock and MDS impregnated Nylon used to make handle body and bushings, is also readily available from several online retailers if you can’t get it locally. Making them ended up being a really fun project.

Reference:

• SmallHandle.pdf
• SmallHandleFrontBushing.pdf
• SmallHandleBackBushing.pdf
• LargeHandle.pdf
• LargeHandleFrontBushing.pdf
• LargeHandleBackBushing.pdf