Aluminium Balls for strobe arms

I've made up a strobe arm out of aluminium with two 1" balls on either end.

Since my ball are made of metal *choughs* sorry. Since the balls are aluminium, they slip in the clamps and no matter how tight i screw the clamps they still slip.

I'm thinking a solution might be to dip them in some type of hardening plastic or rubber. Can anyone suggest something that might work?

Most 1" balls slip out of the water, depending on arm length and strobe weight. Do yours still slip underwater.

You will see many manufacturers fit a rubber o-ring into a grove in the ball.

Most 1" balls slip out of the water, depending on arm length and strobe weight. Do yours still slip underwater.

You will see many manufacturers fit a rubber o-ring into a grove in the ball.

Its a good point...i actually haven't tried it in the water yet, but in comparison to my other arms, there is very little grip.

I might have to give the oring idea a try, but i'd imagine some type of rubber coating would work wonders if i can find something that will adhere to the aluminium ball, and be strong enough to maintain its bond despite constant repositioning in the clamps.

If you have access to a lathe, cut an 'O' ring groove inthe balls like UltraLite arms.

Or get a can of "Plastic Coat" used to coat tool handles. It probably will need recoating frequently.

Go the O-ring route - there is so much sheer force trying to rotate about the ball it will just rip off most any coating.

Paul C

Go the O-ring route - there is so much sheer force trying to rotate about the ball it will just rip off most any coating.

 

Paul C

OK..thanks for the suggestions guys. I haven't got a lathe, but shouldn't be too hard to organise.

Some rough sanding of the balls and clamps did wonders with mine.

I think I've read of someone cutting sections of thin small bicycle tubes, and

slipping those over the their balls. I'm not sure how well or for

how long that will work, but it is cheap to try.

I haven't put my Aquatica TLC arms into use yet, but they have no o-rings,

and people seem to like them.

Both great ideas! I'll post my results when i try a few of these out.

One thing to think of is that you do want the balls to slip a little in order to easily reposition them underwater without having to loosen every clamp to adjust the strobes. So you want them to grip just enough to hold them up under water, but not so much that it takes both hands to re position them.