“The first prototype of my scriber had a D-handle (like a sawzall). It was heavy and uncomfortable. I wanted a scriber that was the most comfortable (and accurate) to hold ever. All current scribers have no easy, or good, way to be held! I know this, because I have watched my students struggle with how to hold a scriber for years. There is no one ‘right way’ to hold the other scribers — there are just plenty of not-very-good-ways to hold them!
So I walked through our tool shed picking up tools to see what sort of handle I could use. By far, the most comfortable handle was on a little cordless impact driver. So Prorotype #2 had a grip that was CNC-milled right into the one-piece body. Too heavy, and would have been too cold for winter use — holding onto metal is no fun.
I figured the grip had to be made somewhere else and attached to my scriber. I ordered every pistol and rifle grip I found online, and tried them all out. But only one grip stood out from all the others: comfortable, good weight balance, non-slip, just the right size and angle, and would be warmer in the winter. It was the most expensive one, but it was the best, and was made in the USA –so I went with it. My scriber is not about compromise or cutting corners — it’s about being the best, period. So, I went with the ErgoGrip.
You can see my scriber was not designed from the ground up to look like a pistol. (And actually, the grip is an AR-15 rifle grip, not a pistol grip.) It just that it went through several designs and prototypes on its way to being the most comfortable, and accurate and steady-to-hold scriber ever designed.
The auxiliary side-handle also went through several designs. In the end, it is not 90° in either direction. In early prototypes the side-handle was 90° and it was not comfortable–it made you tuck your elbow in tight to your body. Those early prototypes never made it to market — they were thousands of dollars of design and testing that is needed to refine and improve design. Now my [Chambers scriber] with its grip and side handle, is the most comfortable and rock-steady I have ever seen or used!”
Thanks,Robert W. Chambers
