Side handle for snow shovel

myminifactory

A secondary handle is great for ergonomics when shoveling snow, or anything else! Also useful for other long handled tools. Inspired by the Stout Backsaver Grip attachment, found in a laudatory review at The Sweet Home website. UPDATE: My printed handle snapped fairly quickly. I recommend using the Customizer to increase the wall thickness and printing in ABS. UPDATE: I have reworked the SCAD file to be more understandable and increased the default wall thickness, made the screw holes fit better, and added a mode for split printing. Instructions Customize the handle to fit your needs. You have two options: print it in one piece or print two halves and solvent bond or glue them together. If you choose to print in one piece, the default options will require significant support. To reduce necessary support, remove the handle hole, take out the handle flange, and set the clamp length to match the handle diameter. The black handle in the gallery was printed this way but with a handle flange. It was made from PLA and had too thin walls. It snapped on first try. I have reworked the model to allow for split printing, which will give you the top half to print. This version doesn't require any supports unless you want a hole in the handle. Print two of them and glue or solvent bond them together. There are alignment pin holes set in the mating surface; place snippets of filament in the holes to help align the parts during gluing. The red handle was printed from ABS with 5mm walls, and it works much better. The ugliness of the joint is because I couldn't eliminate warping completely so the gap was pretty big in places. I stuffed it with as much ABS glue as I could, and that filled the gaps pretty well. Printing in ABS can be challenging. Because you want to print at 50% infill or greater for strength, it will try to pull up and warp. There are one layer height tabs on the corners to help them stick to the bed; cut them off with a sharp knife before gluing. This can be a real test of your ABS anti-warping skills. Make sure your bed is leveled and at the right height, and use whatever measures you find necessary. Clamping requires four #10 screws, nuts, and washers (screw hole dimensions can be adjusted but you will have to look up the proper diameter). Wingnuts and wingnut screws make attaching easier.