CR Laurence (CRL) Robe Hook DRH1BN install tool
Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:37 pm
Documentation, in case I ever have to do this again.
In 2015, we had our master bath remodeled. It was expensive and took six times as long as the estimate, and I had to fight the contractors every day -- I have a couple dozen stories about that remodel, but it's done and I try not to think about it too much.
Except, the glass shower walls have two robe hooks installed, and they're crooked. I mean, I have to hang my towel on one of these hooks every morning, and every morning for seven years I've thought to myself, "I should straighten these robe hooks", but it requires a pin spanner and they were installed tight and somehow it seemed easier to let them slide. Well, two weeks ago I got serious about it.
First, how tight were the inside caps? Tight. My plastic-jaw pliers wouldn't loosen it.
Who makes these robe hooks anyway? A couple hours with Google images and I found it: CR Laurence makes a lot of nice architectural hardware, including glass shower stuff. Ours are DRH1BN.
Well, any scars or scrapes are going to show, so I want the right tool for this, since my plastic-jaw pliers won't work. Turns out, there's no install instructions from CRL, and I spent considerable time with their catalogs and determined that although CRL sells a lot of specialty tools for working with glass, they don't appear to supply one for this part -- that they sell.
The pin hole is really, really close to 7/64": .108". But I cannot find a slim pin spanner with a ~30mm radius and a pin that small. I looked at a lot of pin spanners. Oh, a couple are listed at Grainger as having 7/64" pins, but when you burrow down the actual mfgr's specs, it's 3mm, which is .010" too large. And the adjustable ones are too wide to fit the pin to the cap without fouling the glass, and the pin's still too large.
I settled on a Gedore 40 Z 30-32 fixed pin spanner via Zoro (for the price), $26 with tax & shipping. It's got a 4mm pin, still too large, but I had a plan. When I got it, I ground off the pin, then set it up in the mill (drill press, really) and punched a 7/64" hole through the head where the pin was. Then, from a 7/64" transfer punch, I cut off about a 7/16" long piece, and pushed it into that hole. Voila! This wrench fit the robe hook perfectly.
I can't believe I had to make this tool to fix my two crooked robe hooks, but at least throwing time and money at it got it fixed. Oh, and the contractor installed stainless-against-stainless threaded fasteners without anti-sieze compound. Don't ever do that, most grades of common SS gall badly on threaded fasteners when torqued up. Always apply anti-sieze.
In 2015, we had our master bath remodeled. It was expensive and took six times as long as the estimate, and I had to fight the contractors every day -- I have a couple dozen stories about that remodel, but it's done and I try not to think about it too much.
Except, the glass shower walls have two robe hooks installed, and they're crooked. I mean, I have to hang my towel on one of these hooks every morning, and every morning for seven years I've thought to myself, "I should straighten these robe hooks", but it requires a pin spanner and they were installed tight and somehow it seemed easier to let them slide. Well, two weeks ago I got serious about it.
First, how tight were the inside caps? Tight. My plastic-jaw pliers wouldn't loosen it.
Who makes these robe hooks anyway? A couple hours with Google images and I found it: CR Laurence makes a lot of nice architectural hardware, including glass shower stuff. Ours are DRH1BN.
- CR Laurence Robe Hook DRH1BN
- DRH1BN_31468.png (75.66 KiB) Viewed 5490 times
Well, any scars or scrapes are going to show, so I want the right tool for this, since my plastic-jaw pliers won't work. Turns out, there's no install instructions from CRL, and I spent considerable time with their catalogs and determined that although CRL sells a lot of specialty tools for working with glass, they don't appear to supply one for this part -- that they sell.
The pin hole is really, really close to 7/64": .108". But I cannot find a slim pin spanner with a ~30mm radius and a pin that small. I looked at a lot of pin spanners. Oh, a couple are listed at Grainger as having 7/64" pins, but when you burrow down the actual mfgr's specs, it's 3mm, which is .010" too large. And the adjustable ones are too wide to fit the pin to the cap without fouling the glass, and the pin's still too large.
I settled on a Gedore 40 Z 30-32 fixed pin spanner via Zoro (for the price), $26 with tax & shipping. It's got a 4mm pin, still too large, but I had a plan. When I got it, I ground off the pin, then set it up in the mill (drill press, really) and punched a 7/64" hole through the head where the pin was. Then, from a 7/64" transfer punch, I cut off about a 7/16" long piece, and pushed it into that hole. Voila! This wrench fit the robe hook perfectly.
- CR Laurence Robe Hook DRH1BN
- Robe_Hook_CRL_DRH1BN_01b.jpg (522.94 KiB) Viewed 5490 times
- CR Laurence Robe Hook DRH1BN
- Robe_Hook_CRL_DRH1BN_02b.jpg (521.55 KiB) Viewed 5490 times
- Gedore 40 Z 30-32 with 7/64" rod installed
- Robe_Hook_CRL_DRH1BN_03b.jpg (359.12 KiB) Viewed 5490 times
- Gedore 40 Z 30-32 with 7/64" rod installed
- Robe_Hook_CRL_DRH1BN_04b.jpg (401.84 KiB) Viewed 5490 times
I can't believe I had to make this tool to fix my two crooked robe hooks, but at least throwing time and money at it got it fixed. Oh, and the contractor installed stainless-against-stainless threaded fasteners without anti-sieze compound. Don't ever do that, most grades of common SS gall badly on threaded fasteners when torqued up. Always apply anti-sieze.