Top Technician Tools III
By Steve Hill, CO

During the recent AOPA National Assembly in Las Vegas, I had the privilege of seeing a few tools that warrant inclusion into the Top Technician Tools segment of this column. Most of them are commercially available, but one you’ll have to make yourself.

The FADT Press
The FADT (Free-Arm Deep-Throat) Press is another tool put out by the innovative guys at Tamarack Habilitation Technologies. This great new tool is a must for anyone who rivets or drills holes in plastic.

 If you need to perforate 1/2-inch holes in a body jacket, this is your tool. Not only does the deep “throat” of the arms allow for easy access to all corners of large orthoses, but the two-stage, foot-operated actuator allows for accurate placement of the holes. And because the holes are punched rather than drilled, they don’t leave behind annoying sharp edges that need to be removed later. The low-profile design of this machine’s heads allows for placement of holes or rivets into tight spaces, like pediatric AFOs and deep prosthetic sockets.

As a rivet-setting tool, it’s especially adept. A quick-change tool head allows for rapid deployment of several different rivet-setting heads. It provides a smooth, even pressure to properly set speedy rivets and imparts a burr-free surface to copper rivets. And to think that I’ve been smacking speedy rivets with a hammer for all these years!

The FADT Press is available in either a hydraulic version for easy and fast application or in a manual version that’s less expensive. Either version will make an invaluable addition to your lab and speed up the fabrication process.

Bending irons
Certainly the single most identifiable tool in all of O&P, the bending iron is iconic to our industry. I doubt that you’d be able to go into any reputable O&P lab without coming across a pair, probably in use. Several companies have manufactured these handy little tools over the years; Pope and USMC come to mind, but the ones that I like the best are made by Scott Orthotic Labs in Colorado. They are as strong and durable as you’d want your bending iron to be, and as a bonus, they’re inexpensive!

The Scott bending irons are made of forged stainless steel for strength and then plated with chromium. Like most other bending irons, they have two clevises, or U-shaped yokes at the end. One has a 7/16-inch gap for grabbing midsections, the other with a 1/4-inch gap for sidebars. They’re sold in pairs, and you may have to hone the face of the clevis to the desired gap and shape before using them.

Fabtech modification stand
Sometimes less is more. Any number of manufacturers, like Leonard Industries and Becker, make modification stands. But Fabtech Systems has developed a unique modification stand that I really like, following the principles of lean manufacturing. It’s made entirely of steel for durability. It features two buckets, one for water and the other to hold whatever tools you modify with. The top of the stand provides a place to hold work orders, and a ring along the side can hold towels or another smaller bucket. The vise is set at a standard 42-inch working height, but it can be custom-ordered for special needs and applications. They’ll put a cad-plated finish on it, or you can have it powder coated in a variety of colors.

If your work area is constantly collecting junk, this type of vise might be the solution. There are no flat areas to collect dirt, old coffee cups or chunks of plaster. You get what you need and nothing else. But if you want to add features, Fabtech can custom-build a product to your specifications.

The “Key” vise anvil
“Necessity is the mother of invention,” to paraphrase Plato. That statement has never been truer than with the “Key,” a type of vise-held anvil so named for its key-like shape. It has been created in many forms by technicians throughout O&P history.

Although the Fillauer bar works well enough, this one made in Missouri really stuck with me. It has all the features I look for in a working O&P anvil; it’s versatile and built to last! Frank Durtschy, CO, of Hanger O&P in Ellsinore, Mo. helped design this one and sent it to me for inclusion in this column. After evaluating it for a couple of weeks, I can say that it certainly deserves a place among my personal favorite Top Tools!

There are six attachments that came with Durtschy’s “Key”: three anvil heads—a short and a tall one for setting rivets, as well as one to use for punching holes in leather—and three for making adjustments to thermoplastic devices. All of them are easy to use and swap out quickly, which in turn speeds up fabricating. The “Key” will work with almost any type of bench vise, but it works best with a large vise with a square shaft built around the adjusting screw, which helps to keep the device stable.

In an upcoming article, I will explain how to make your own “Key” vise anvil. In the meantime, contact Tom Adams at t_adams1021@yahoo.com for more information on this version of the tool.

Steve Hill, CO, is secretary of OPTA and CEO of Delphi Ortho, located in Asheville, N.C. and on the Web at www.delphiortho.com.