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Topic: Making an Antenna Crank Handle - :-) (Read 239 times) previous topic - next topic
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Making an Antenna Crank Handle - :-)
When I am sitting around with little to do, I like looking for stuff to do with my hands.  Recently the handle for my Winegard antenna failed.  The plastic base split open.  I made a temporary repair using epoxy, then I planned, designed and fabricated my own handle, a much more rugged crank handle.  In talking with a friend who had also had a crank handle fail in a similar fashion, he urged me to post my design with the steps to build it.  So, with tongue very firmly in cheek, here are the steps and a pic of the finished project.

If your Winegard antenna crank handle breaks, you can make a new one.  Here’s how.

1) Get a length of 1/8” x 1.25” steel bar stock.
2) Measure in 5/8” from the end and mark the center as well as a 5/8” diameter circle (Circle 1).
3) Drill a 1/4” hole there.
4) Using a small, triangular file, shape the hole into a hexagon that measures 1/4” across the flats.
5) Measure out about 4" or 5” from the hex hole and make a mark.
6) Buy a metal drawer pull knob or some other item you can use as a crank knob, and two 5/16” stop collars.
7) Buy a bronze sleeve or bushing that will fit on the screw for the knob and a pair of washers sized for the screw.
8 ) Cut the bronze sleeve to just a bit longer than the thickness of the bar stock.
9) Using the knob base as a template, make a circle (Circle 2) with one side at the edge of the bar stock and the circle centered on the mark measured from the hex hole.  Draw a line from the edge of CIRCLE 2 to the edge of Circle 1.
10) Using a Dremel and cutoff wheel, cut along that line and around the two circles to round off their corners.
11) Using a drill bit slightly larger than the bronze sleeve or bushing, drill a hole in the center of circle 2.  File away all sharp edges so nobody gets cut.
12) Slide a washer on the screw, add the bronze sleeve or bushing, slide it into the hole for circle 2, add the second washer and run the screw into the knob. 
13) When the screw bottoms out, measure how much length you have between the base of the knob and the washer.
14) Remove the screw and cut off the measured distance from the end.  File the threads at a 45 deg angle around the shaft so they can be started into the knob.
15)  Re-assemble the screw, washer, bronze bushing, and the second washer, and get it started onto the knob a few turns.
16) Using Loctite on the threads, turn the screw all the way into the knob, leaving just enough space for the knob to spin freely.
17) Using a 1/4” Allen wrench, slide one of the stop collars on an inch or so and lock it down.  Add a tiny amount of epoxy to the face of each of the stop collars and around both sides of the hex hole, trying to keep the hex hole clear.
18) Slide the Allen wrench into the hex hole.  Aligning the set screws for both collars, add the second stop collar to the Allen wrench.  Hold it tightly against the arm you made so the arm is squeezed between the two collars, and lock it down.  Set the mixed epoxy aside.
19) When the unused epoxy is getting fairly firm but not yet hard, loosen the set screws on the two collars and gently remove the Allen wrench.  Clean off any epoxy that stuck to the wrench.
20) While the epoxy is hardening, fashion a plastic bearing surface for the spring in the old arm to ride against.  I made mine out of a salad dressing insert with the small hole, enlarging the center hole to fit over the upper stop collar, and trimming the ridge on the sides way down.
21) Fit the plastic onto the upper stop collar with the ridge facing up, slide the assembly onto the hex shaft and tighten both set screws.

Of course, you could spend less than $10 to get a Winegard replacement arm…

:-)
'08 MB
Re: Making an Antenna Crank Handle - :-)
Reply #1 –
"Of course, you could spend less than $10 to get a Winegard replacement arm..."
----
 Ah, yes, but your process is so much more creative, and the "zen factor" involved is many times over just Amazoning some common, conventional arm! I'm just a little surprised that the handle remains undecorated? Maybe tomorrow's project?  :D
2003 TK has a new home
Re: Making an Antenna Crank Handle - :-)
Reply #2 –
A great stocking stuffer, Ken. I am always amazed at the things you can do on-the-road.

PS, found the source of the water leak, attempt #2 may fix it.
Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy