Ball Hook Swivel, Noise Elimination Experiment

[Bag-A-Holic]

Actually, what just dawned on me, is what about the little rubber nub that goes on the end of the S hook? If that is cut, so it is open on both ends. Then remove eye, and slide on? This removal and rescrew/gluing of the eye would hopefully to be a one shot deal, as most eyes are glued in to prevent from unscrewing.(so it would not be convenient to have to keep removing the eye. It appears the thickness and durability of the nub might hold up, if not, maybe a thicker one. The experiment continues..........

[Zaza]

I only use those because that is the size I use on my camera sliders. I would experiment and adjust to each swivel. The neoprene is really tough stuff and offers a 'bounce', so instead of the eye bolt hitting the base of the swivel, hit hits the neoprene. Doesn't make it silent, but keeps the noise down quite a bit. There are all kinds of sizes available, they are cheap & McMaster-Carr ships really fast. (If I order by 4:30pm, they are at my door the next morning)

I think if you REALLY want quiet...and I'm going to try this....forget about the swivel and just use an eye bolt and a piece of cord to hold the bag. I don't think it will get quieter then that.

I'll see if I can get some picts together for you today....

[paranday]

I think if you REALLY want quiet...and I'm going to try this....forget about the swivel and just use an eye bolt and a piece of cord to hold the bag. I don't think it will get quieter then that.

They are silent and the cord needs no lube ever. I feel it is best to have the eye bolt attached to a bearing so it can rotate, but a fixed eye bolt works well enough for bagging in one direction if I recall. I look forward to hearing of your results.

[Zaza]

Nothing but the sound of the bag!

[fedora]

i work at getting rid of that play in the eyebolt and S-hook conection but not for noise but for performance of the swivel, to get rid of any floating, you can get rid of some if not most of that floating ;-)...ralph

Just for fun, I decided to try some of the idea's on this thread on my Deville 51 and my Powermill swivels. I don't really care about the noise issue, but being a newbie in bagging I wanted to try and make them more newbie friendly. As already noted, an experienced bagger who always hits the sweet spot wouldn't have to worry about it, but way too often if I'm a little off on my hit, the S-Hook will float up and hang up on the eyebolt. This happens to me on both swivels, so I bought some Gorilla Duct tape, really tough stuff, and put some thin strips around both the eyebolt and S-hook as suggested above to minimize that floating. It really did help as it has eliminated the hangups. Also I tried the ball bearings in the top of the Deville and that helped too. There is a little more space between the ball and the top of the board on the Deville than on the Powermill so there would be more of a clunking on a miss hit. The ball bearings have made it more of a "clink" than a "clunk". But I also noticed that since the ball didn't move in an upward direction as much if I hit it a little off, I could still keep it going. Without the ball bearings sometimes the ball moving that much upward and hitting the platform it would throw off my next hit.

I still get the reminder that my hit is a bit off by the "clink" and I keep trying to adjust my next hit so I don't hear it, but now I can at least keep it going rather than having it crash and I have to restart. I don't know if this is a good idea as far as learning to hit it right or not, or if it's considered "cheating". But it has made it easier to control and more enjoyable as I continue to hone my skills. One day I hope to have a "Clinkless" routine.

fedora

[MsDeville]

I use a neoprene washer...they stretch over the s-hook and eye easily...and quiet things up quite a bit.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-rubber-washers/=l64dje

I use 90133A420's

CAD

http://www.mcmaster.com/#cadinlnord/90133a420/=l64e8o

McMaster-Carr is one of my favorite places for all kinds of parts....kind of like MsDeville's love of videos on how to cut a circle!

Well…when I'm not watching my favorite "cutting a circle from a square" video, zaza, I'm looking through my favorite industrial catalog: Grainger. I just picked up the new catalog last week! When I'm not looking through it, I'm using it as a step stool!
This catalog is thick...

[Zaza]

Grainger is way over-priced...check out McMaster-Carr online (don't waste all those trees!). I can spend DAYS looking at all this stuff (and have!).

...it does make a nice step stool though.

[Zaza]

Well…when I'm not watching my favorite "cutting a circle from a square" video, ...

I know you like the circles....but this might interest you too!

[Bag-A-Holic]

Just for fun, I decided to try some of the idea's on this thread on my Deville 51 and my Powermill swivels. I don't really care about the noise issue, but being a newbie in bagging I wanted to try and make them more newbie friendly. As already noted, an experienced bagger who always hits the sweet spot wouldn't have to worry about it, but way too often if I'm a little off on my hit, the S-Hook will float up and hang up on the eyebolt. This happens to me on both swivels, so I bought some Gorilla Duct tape, really tough stuff, and put some thin strips around both the eyebolt and S-hook as suggested above to minimize that floating. It really did help as it has eliminated the hangups. Also I tried the ball bearings in the top of the Deville and that helped too. There is a little more space between the ball and the top of the board on the Deville than on the Powermill so there would be more of a clunking on a miss hit. The ball bearings have made it more of a "clink" than a "clunk". But I also noticed that since the ball didn't move in an upward direction as much if I hit it a little off, I could still keep it going. Without the ball bearings sometimes the ball moving that much upward and hitting the platform it would throw off my next hit.

I still get the reminder that my hit is a bit off by the "clink" and I keep trying to adjust my next hit so I don't hear it, but now I can at least keep it going rather than having it crash and I have to restart. I don't know if this is a good idea as far as learning to hit it right or not, or if it's considered "cheating". But it has made it easier to control and more enjoyable as I continue to hone my skills. One day I hope to have a "Clinkless" routine.

fedora

Yes adding the 1/4 inch ball bearings to the Deville will reduce it from a "Clank" to a "Clink". Now, add a thin washer on top of the bearings to reduce the space to less then 1/16 of an inch, and no more Clunk, Clank or Clink.

[Zaza]

That's like hitting with 'training wheels' ... practice, practice, practice and you won't 'Clank, Clunk or CLINK" ever again!

[paranday]

Jolly joker...

[fedora]

That's like hitting with 'training wheels'

I knew there had to be a term for it. Or how about "Speedbagging for Dumbies".

fedora

[Speedbag]

hey fedora, i wouldn't consider it as cheating. your just getting better performance outta your swivel by what you did, so i wouldn't sweat it buddy ;-) btw the smaller lighter bags float more than the bigger bags. lets say you hit a very light weight 5x8 bag then switch it out for a heavy 7x10 bag and you'll see right away the floating difference between the two or should i say feel of...ralph

Now that you mention it, I remember thinking that everlast plastic ballhook seemed to do better with my larger 10x7, but seemed to float with the 8x5's. Since I was (do) hit mostly 8x5, I "didn't like it because it floats"

I might have like it better had I been using the 10x7 a lot more back then. And the other problem was it tendency to fly apart during a good beating. That was the devil's float for me.

[Zaza]

Update, update.... although the neoprene washer cut down on the sound and also has held-up great, I removed it because I LIKE the sound of the swivel!

[Jake]

Hey Ralph,

How do you put the washer on? Does the eyebolt unscrew?

I looked through all the stuff at Ace Hardware. The washers don't look very wide. They look like they would slip down the shank, to the top of the eye, and not be tall enough (wide enough) to be in the right spot.

I have the duct tape routine working well. Lately I add tape over the existing, much more often then starting from scratch. When I do decide to strip all the duct tape off. I make one slit through all the layers, with a sharp razor knife. Then it all comes off at once. I hardly touch it. I use the blade to fold it back at the slice, and fling it away, so it's not very messy.

To anyone reading this, I've been a carpenter for many years, I'm good with a razor knife. If you're not, be careful! You might cut yourself. Or even worse, cut your speed bag.