Ok, so I've got some belly grommets. i drilled a 3/16's hole with a forstner bit, put the grommet on the hole and the sides of the grommet stick out from the plug.

My question is, How are you recessing your grommets? Are you becding them to the contour of the plug or countersinking? I tried to cut a piece of scrap wood to the contour of a plug, put it over the grommet that was in the plug and giving it a whack. Didnt seem like bending it was goint to be easy.

What do you guys do?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Before you drill the body diameter, drill a spot face. In other words; if the major dia. of the grommet is 3/8 or 1/2" drill it with a forstner just deep enough to allow the grommet to sit flush. Then drill the body dia......:cool:

There's a thread with illustrations on how to bend the grommet from last month. I believe the author advocates using a similar sized piece of dowel to hold the grommet and not the actual plug. This way you can whack away and not injure the plug body.

Also, I've noticed the plugs I have that do have bent belly grommets are not nickle plated. Perhaps the plating will crack under the stress and they are better counter sunk.

-spence

i do mine by holding a socket on there sideways then whackin' it with a small hammer. seems to work well.

The nickle seem to bend with a mallet better then the brass.I think the post you mentioned Spence is on Jigman's Christmas thread at the top of the how to threads.

Ya it's there:)

Yep, see the Plugmas step by step for photos.

Jigman

i use something similar to Jigmans, only difference is that i have a peice of steel pipe with a grommet sized hole in it and i place grommet in that and then use a peice wood (oak)like Jigman does, works great.

Hey AH, any chance of getting a pic of your set up:huh:Thanks.
Dave

tomorrow nite.

Pics would be very cool if you have the time.

U know grommets are made to be punched to be set.they have all kinds of punches many of the hardware stores have em in kits they are mostly for fixin tarps but i see other sizes.I like to recess the O.D. a tad.its a neet look.

real simple- steel pipe ( with a contour close to the plug you're forming grommet for) with .273 and .341 grommet holes held in press vise. place grommet in matching hole, place oak form on top and rap with mallet. works very well. remove by putting screw driver into pipe and gentley pry out. if grommet barrel distorts at all just pinch with needle noses.:)

-

nice tip AH...:kewl:

Thanks Afterhours, Thats exactly what I was playing with today :D I just need to find the right dia pipe. Hopefully someone else will find this useful as well.

Thanks so much Afterhours,apprciate it!:btu:
Now i see said the blind man:D

Originally posted by justplugit
Now i see said the blind man:D

Now I see said the blind mute as he picked up a wheel and spoke :D Something my grandpa used to say.

Jigman

Nice tip.

Nicely done afterhours, and so simple to make. The pipe is the key. A hardwood dowel with a hole would eventually distort,the pipe will last for a long time.The only possible modification I can think of is to drill the hole close to the end of the pipe(perhaps hacksaw the threaded part off on that one), this way you can stick your finger in there and pop them right out one after the other.

That's great :) :btu:

Originally posted by Tinman
...A hardwood dowel with a hole would eventually distort,the pipe will last for a long time...

Yeah, you have to redrill the hole after a while. All that bashing on the dowel will do some damage :smash: Definitely going to check out different diameter pipes for this myself.

Jigman

See...I thought this was a silly question and from it comes some great information that others found helpful. I know I did. Ive scrounged around the shop an drilled several diameters of whatever metal I could find and my grommets are fitting better now:D

Im sure we all have little things we do to make things easier but dont post them because we feel either everybody knows or does it this way. Maybe a "shop tip's" thread is in order to show/share our jigs or tips?

Great thread gentlemen. Very good info. IMHO I like the spotface to relieve the shoulder and let the grommet have a flush fit. This way you do not create an alignment issue!
Alot of great talent here. Thanks