jonathan kaplan on tue 22 nov 11
Good Morning:
Some time ago before Axner was purchased by Laguna, Axner sold a
trimming bat called the "Grabber Pad". It was a type of rubber pad,
sticky and kind of activated with water, that was laminated onto a 12"
or 14" PlastiBat.
Does anyone have a gently used one(s) they might like to sell? Or
better yet, does anyone have any knowledge or information as to what
exactly was that special rubber material that was used? I know the pad
was invented by potter Lee Shank of Florida, but attempts to contact
him have proved fruitless.
Thanks in advance, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan
jonathan@plinthgallery.com
www.plinthgallery.com
Plinth Gallery
3520 Brighton Blvd
Denver CO 80216
303 295-0717
Fredrick Paget on tue 22 nov 11
The material is not rubber but a plastic that is used to make fishing
lures in molds. Some big fishing supply houses probably still stock
the material. Cabellas sold it in bottles. It makes a sort of flabby
gel for making worms and flabby things with hooks in them.
Ten or fifteen years ago I made a couple of grabber bats with the
stuff and it was not easy. You have to melt in a pan using gentle
heat and pour it out onto a prepared bat. You need a rIm to hold it
in while it cools. As I recall and it is getting a bit hazy now, I
had a problem with adhesion of the quarter inch layer to the bat that
I solved by riveting window screen to the bat and pouring onto that.
After it set up I put it on the wheel and sliced a series of
concentric rings about 1/4 inch apart to make it more able to take in
water.
It worked ok for a while but I got a Giffin grip and started using
that a lot. I have somewhat modified the Giffin grip so I can grab
smaller diameter items and I found some individual adjustable sliders
that allow centering an off center piece. These appear to have been
made by Giffin but they no longer sell them. And of course I use all
the other stuff that goes on the Giffin grip too. Depends on the job,
it is one of my favorite tools.
Fred
--
Twin Dragon Studio
Mill Valley, CA, USA
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