Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2001 - 67

The "Gator Grip" Universal Socket
The "Gator Grip" uses a hexagonal arrangement of
individually spring-driven pins to conform to the
shape of most hexagonal English and metric bolt
heads or nuts from 1/4"(7mm) to 3/4" (19 mm).
It fits a standard 3/8" socket drive and comes with a
hex to 3/8" drive adaptor so it can be used with
cordless screwdrivers. The "GG" can also be used
to drive screw hooks, ell hooks and cup hooks,
square nuts and wing nuts as long as they are
smaller than the 3/4" maximum of the socket.
We found that the "GG" worked quite well
with hex heads. It gripped square heads and
other things less securely but it still worked well. Driving
screw or ell hooks of any size worked better with a pre-drilled
hole in which to start the hook by hand before applying the
"GG." Although it looks like a standard deep socket, the operating depth of the "GG" is only .375", so it will not drive nuts
much beyond the point where they are flush with the end of
the bolt. In those cases you have to use the "GG" on the bolt
head and some other wrench on the nut. It would be great if a
deep socket version of the "GG" were available.
The "GG" is made in the USA. It costs about $20.00 and is
distributed by Endeavor Tool Co.
320 Soundview Road, Guilford, CT 06437
Tel: 203-453-1947
Fax: 203-453-1259
Reviewed by Elbin Cleveland,
Theatre Design Professor, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia

Two Scrappy Scrapers
The recent need to remove ancient
paint spatters from a houseful of old
windows sent us looking for new paint
scrapers so that more people could
work at the same time. We found two
very different types which both work
well enough.
The Stanley Scraper has an injection-molded plastic handle designed for the trapezoidal,
single-edge blade commonly used in utility knives. It also has
an injection-molded blade guard to cover the blade in your
tool box and to use in replacing worn blades. The plastic blade
guard itself has a sharp edge like that on a plastic windshield
scraper used to remove ice and snow.
Although the handle was a bit too small in diameter and
the smooth plastic was a bit slippery, the tool actually worked
quite well. The wedge shape of the handle allowed for plenty of
"push" and the blade angle was good for scraping paint from
glass. The pointy ends of the blade made it easy to get into the
corners of the window panes. The configuration of the blade
holder kept the blade firmly in place without any wobble or
travel, even during vigorous use. We found we could also pull
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on the tool and use it like a cabinet scraper. It was not as effective as a real cabinet scraper with a properly burred edge, and
the handle has the wrong shape for pulling, but it worked fine.
The blade guard is a very good idea but it comes off too
easily. It needs a more positive detent to really stay in place as
it should. We never tested the tool as an ice scraper with the
blade guard on. However, it seems obvious that the blade
guard would drop off and get lost in the snow on the first or
second stroke. Instructions on the tool tell you to use the
blade guard when installing a new blade. Unfortunately the
blade guard is too small, to slippery to hold on to, and it doesn't
go far enough onto the scraper to actually fully seat the new blade.
You have to remove the blade guard and push the cutting edge
against a flat surface to really get the blade in place. (Doesn't
anyone ever actually test these things before they put them on
the market? Has computer design of new products put an end
to prototyping?) A small hole in the handle makes the tool easy
to hang in its place on your tool wall.
The other scraper, although patented, was not identified
by its manufacturer and was found loose in a bin with others at
a local paint store. It has a screwdriver-type plastic handle and
a blade holder mounted at the end of a steel shaft. This
scraper uses a standard single edge razor blade. The hollow
handle provides storage for extra blades and four blades are
provided with the tool. This tool gives you almost twice the
reach of the Stanley version. That may be useful if you are
scraping sound storey windows from an extension ladder.
At first the larger diameter grip of this tool seemed to be
an advantage. However, after using it a while, we found the
Stanley version more comfortable because its wedge shape required less gripping pressure. If the second scraper had a differently shaped handle or if it had a rubber grip, it would have
been easier to use over the long haul or when your hand has
become slippery from perspiration.
We liked the blade magazine in the handle but found the
screw cap annoyingly difficult to remove and replace. The grip
ridges were too small and sharp and actually made the cap
uncomfortable to unscrew and replace. We were also disappointed that the spring clip of the blade holder did not hold
the blade more securely. Since you depress the spring clip to
remove the blade, there is no reason to design the blade
holder so that the blade can slide sideways as it repeatedly did.
A retaining ridge on each side of the blade holder would be a
welcome improvement. Although it is easy to remove the blade
after use, we were concerned that most users would not do
that in practice. A tool like this with such a sharp blade loose
in your tool box is a serious hazard. This scraper needs some
type of blade cover for safe storage.
Finally, although both scrapers worked well enough for
our purposes, neither one was all that it could have been. A
small effort on redesign would have made both tools more effective and more safe. You can probably find one or both at
most hardware or paint stores. Both retail for $5 to $10.
Reviewed by Elbin Cleveland,
Theatre Design Professor, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia

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