Chinese Windlass

[bobmax]

I have a Chinese electric windlass, surprise, surprise after a year of use it seems to work well. On the top it has a hole to operate it manually, this hole is the same as on top of a sheet winch with the multi sides but it is about 20% smaller. I am trying to find a handle that will fit. I have never seen a winch handle with the smaller socket size, has anyone else.

[Jim Cate]

Well, they almost got it right!

And no, winch handle drives have been standardized for around 30 years now. Prior to that there were several different sizes and shapes, but the chances of finding one that fit y our windlass are pretty slim.

There's always something...

Jim

[bobmax]

Thanks Jim
I have GIB winches which have the multi sided socket the one for the windlass looks exactly the same only smaller

[captain465]

Try to contact the manufacturer, or try to find a distributor.......If it's only a year old, it should be traceable.

[Nicholson58]

Any possibility an Allen or Star might fit?

I made an adapter from key-stock (4-sided) for our Milwaukee 1/2" right angle 28 VDC drill. We use it on all winches. It might be nice to have this type of over-ride if you needed it.

[bornyesterday]

Just for fun see if a 1/2" square socket drive fits.
Seems like it might be a possibility based on the fact that normal winch handles are, effectively, 2 superimposed 5/8" square drives.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by bornyesterday

Just for fun see if a 1/2" square socket drive fits.
Seems like it might be a possibility based on the fact that normal winch handles are, effectively, 2 superimposed 5/8" square drives.

Yes...true...If the socket has multiples of 4, meaning 8,12,16, a square will work. It would be nice if a 1/2" drive worked. But...if it doesn't, you could probably have a machine shop weld the right size square to a socket.
I doubt contacting a Chinese manufacturer will get you anywhere. If you did not get a socket of some type when you bought it new, I doubt they'll have a solution.
This is exactly why I try and steer away from Chinese products. My latest grip are that a lot of automobile batteries are now from China and not going the distance.

[rognvald]

Chinese junk is not just a boat.

[john540]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Chinese junk is not just a boat.

Jajaja, funny

[Andrew Troup]

Lewmar handles prior to 1972 were sized to fit a smaller socket -

I forget the exact size, but if you want to measure the across-flats dimension for yours, I could dig back into my records and see if it matches. You might pick one up on eBay or similar.

[rockDAWG]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Chinese junk is not just a boat.

This one seems work ok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJn6ncKcR4k

[Zach]

That video, was pretty cool... I haven't ever seen anything arranged like that, and it makes perfect sense. Err... Having seen it, not the perfect sense part about the reasons for why I haven't!

[Andrew Troup]

I'm guessing, Zach, that you haven't seen a differential screw arrangement, then?

Imagine a turnbuckle or rigging screw, where instead of the threads being the same pitch but opposite hand, they're slightly different pitch, same hand. So instead of the wire tightening at twice the rate of a single screw pitch, it tightens according to the difference between the screw pitches.

Same idea as the clip. There are LOTS of useful variants and applications.

Ingenious mechanisms are a timeless source of intriguing ideas and solutions, I reckon, (and a stock-in-trade for a person like me) ...

[Andrew Troup]

I didn't pick it up before, but someone's post above implied
that the international standard size was 5/8"(15.9mm)

To the best of my recollection, that's actually the old Lewmar (pre '72) dimension.

The present-day international standard
(although I've never seen it documented) is 11/16" AF (17.5mm)

in both cases:
8-point, based on two squares at 45 degree offset

Supplementary question for OP: are there eight points to your star?

(If there are twelve, you will need a hex rather than a square, as a cheap alternative.)

[Andrew Troup]

Never tried posting an animated graphic before (Differential screw)

Wish me luck!

(try clicking on the image and see if it animates)