Will This Work As A Way To Rgc Grippers?

[chilliman64]

I am not very mechanically minded and don't have a lot of tools and cannot weld, but I have been thinking of a method to RGC my grippers and thought I'd ask for some input from you guys.

I have an idea where I place the gripper handles in a bench vice (the jaws would need v-cuts or grooves in order to hold the handles steady while under pressure) and the vice is then tightened with a torque wrench that is able to record the peak torque measurement. provided I could get the handles fully closed I would be able to record a measurement that could be duplicated provided my torque wrench was correctly calibrated and I placed the gripper in the same position in the vice jaws.

some minor modifications to the handle and jaws of the vice will be necessary as well as some sort of safety chain to attach to the gripper spring should the gripper shift and be expelled from the vice at high speed as I imagine that under such high pressure it could become lethal. I had thought of using DH Thumbscrews as a means of holding the handles in place while in the vice but then I may not be able to achieve a full close. I would also need to fit some type of socket/nut/drive/etc to the handle of the vice in order to attach the wrench as all the vices I have seen have rounded bars as handles attachments (or rather the part that the little sliding handle attaches to). maybe I could just grind it hex or square.

would the spindle on the vice affect the torque wrench's readings? I'm thinking that it would still give a reading specific to different strength grippers however it may not give the same result as the RGC method where calibrated plates are suspended via a strap. am I missing something or is this as simple as it seems?

I've posted this on several sites to see if I can get a consensus of opinion.

[Cannon]

You could just make a no-weld actual RGC.

Your plan sounds sketchy and also like you could damage the gripper.

The thumb screw idea is more compelling if there was a way to get a full close.

[climber511]

Reminds me of "The Christmas Story" where mom is always telling Ralphie "you'll put your eye out" with his BB gun. If you don't have any real mechanical ability - you probably shouldn't try this at home as they say. Either buy one from someone or just send your grippers to someone to do them for you. I don't think anyone charges to do grippers - so all you have in it is postage.