McFly

Well Known Member
I want to glue my wooden stick grips to the the sticks. I am looking for recomendation for a glue that will keep the grip attached but will give if I ever need to remove the grip (I want it all :p ).

The current dry friction fit is very good and tight if that makes any difference. I am sure there are lots of fastener fans but that is not the direction I want to take. Many thanks.
 
I haven't tried it yet, but I was considering a few small dabs of RTV to make things just a little bit more steady. Would probably want to mask the bottom of the grip so that the stuff doesn't get into the visible part of the wood.
 
I flew with a friction fit for about 6 months before gluing my wood stick grips using 5-minute epoxy. It'll be ugly if the grip has to come off, but I see that as being somewhat unlikely.

The friction fit was fine until one cool day came around and the grip was basically swiveling while I was landing. Not good!

If you have enough friction in yours to keep it from rotating, fly it and develop a preference for where it should be, then glue that puppy. Or just glue it with a "best guess" feel up front, and you'll get used to it wherever it is.
 
Kyle Boatright said:
Why not attach it with a set screw? It would be far more removable on that day when you need to take it off.

This is what I did, drilled/tapped/countersunk for a 4-40 screw on the front of the stick. Works great.
 
Silicone Glue

For what it's worth, the stick grip mfgr recommends silicone glue. Haven't installed mine yet, but that's what I will be using.

Did anyone else have a hard time getting the grip to fit? I have removed the powder coating on the stick where the grip attaches and attempted to sand the inside of the grip shaft with a PVC pipe wrapped with sandpaper. Just curious if anyone else ran into "fit" challenges. It wasn't far enough out to indicate a mis-drilled size.

Scott
7A Finishing
 
If you have a mic switch ...

I used some bland adhesive like 3M yellow weather strip to glue mine on. If you have a mic switch they will have to come off someday. I don't remember how many I replaced in my Archer over a 22 year span but somewhere between 10 and 20 (you have to talk a lot in LA).

Bob Axsom
 
For those that have installed the wood stick grips, can you comment how much of the stick gets inserted into the grip? I'm apparently the only one who has had difficultly getting the stick to install in the grip (I've already sanded off the powder coat and the inside of the grip slightly), and I'm wondering if I am trying to install it too far. It seems to me it should go all the way to just below the switch recess. There is no good way that I can find to sand deep inside the grip.

I don't think the grip is misdrilled, as I think it would have been around 1/8" off.

Thanks,
Scott
7A Finishing
 
My wooden grips fit just fine, in fact they were a little loose. I used small pieces of electrical tape to snug them up. Remember, there are two sizes of grips. I think they are 1" and 3/4". Make sure you are not trying to put the 3/4" grip on a 1" stick.

I also used a small screw on the front of my grips. I put it near the bottom, where it wouldn't interfere with my hand and countersunk the wood for a smooth fit. I would do it that way again. No way would I glue it on.
 
Fitting stick grips

I chose to use a dremel sander for buffing out the "inside" of the wood handle instead of sanding away at the powdercoat on the stick. My dremel has the cable extension so I can get all the way to the rim near the push to talk button. Of course, I went ever so gently and took my time to get the correct tight fit. I will now use the fine advice of tapping a small set screw in the front after I armchair fly and get the grip just where I want it.
Thanks to this site, I now have a new option (using the set screw) instead of the silicone glue.
Thanks Guys!!

Patrick N. Garboden
Ozark, MO
RV9-A 942WG
RV9-A 942PT