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"You really  photographed  this?"
Gym Sock Origami
© Frank Ford 2008; Photos by FF

It's all about the title of this article.  Machining is oily work, and often enough I've wished for non-slip grips on tools, so for the last few  years I've padded the handles on some of them. I had this silly feeling that I was doing origami last time I folded an old gym sock to pad the collet closer handle on my lathe.  SO, what could I do?  I took pictures. . .

The slippery handle in question:

Here's  the sock, fresh from the clean laundry basket:

 

Step One  -  Turn it inside out:

 

Step Two  -  Roll the top around the sock and over the toe:

 

Step Three  -  Stop when the toe is about 1/3 the way up inside:

Step Four  -  Twist the sock right at the point where the toe ends inside:

Step Five -  Stuff your fingers into the toe and push it up inside the sock:

 

Step Six - Bring the top of the sock down around the toe :

 

Step Seven  - Turn the whole thing inside out, keeping the shape intact by pushing with your thumbs:

 

Step Eight - Jam the sock over the handle:

 

Step Nine - Secure the sock with rubber bands:

That's it - a nice comfortable padded handle.  I have them on various machines.

 

I find that about the time the rubber band rot out, it's time to change my socks. . .

 

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