A Method for Making Ball Ended Levers

[Nigel Heath]

This is a method I have recently developed for creating control levers with a ball end on them. It is useful for making gear levers and such like.

First you need some brass rod, here I am using 0.4mm diameter but I am sure it would work for smaller and larger diameters. Sleeve over some aluminium tube, here I am using 1.0mm OD, this is a snug fit already but then crimp the end to form a tightish seal (it will still slide up and down the rod). Adjust so that a small amount of the brass protrudes out of the end:

With a soldering iron blob on some solder so that some sticks to the rod:

Apply a dab of plumbers flux and hold it in a flame until the solder remelts and capillary forces pull it into a perfect sphere:

The aluminium stops the solder from flowing up the rod as it is not wetted by solder.

By varying the amount of solder the size of the ball can be controlled, these were all created by this method, the largest is 0.8mm in diameter, the smallest about 0.5mm:

The balls could of course be shaped further into more complex forms by filing and sanding

[Will Vale]

Those look good - the glue blob techniques I've tried all produce elongated balls since the glue tends to be drawn along the rod.

Presumably you remove the sleeve before it goes into the flame, and you have to make sure the flux doesn't touch the wire?

Thanks,

Will

[AndyC]

A blob of PVA usually does the trick...then paint...no need for solder

[Nigel Heath]

No the, aluminium sleeve has to stay on while in the flame. Just dab some flux on, it is not critical. I have tried glue blobs and these are way superior in terms of robustness and they are an essentially perfect sphere..

[Will Vale]

Thanks for the clarification, I couldn't make it out from the picture.

[AndyC]

Depending on the scale a thickened blob of paint will do...