Simple homemade spinner

Following a suggestion made by MH81, a spinner handle was requisite on the discharge chute control crank of the Haban 48” snow blower retrofitted to the Ford LGT195. Wet cold gloves may want to stick to the metal handle. I liked the idea of using PVC. Hummm... I looked into my bag of tricks and came up with this.
After cleaning and greasing, the chute turns very smooth. On this project, the homemade crank was 3/8” rebar. However, this modification lends itself to an existing factory smooth control rod. Now if money, a lathe, or one of them fancy mills was available then no issue. My main tools are a torch, welder, and grinder. What is a poor ol' garden tractor mechanic to do?
First step, cut the crank shorter, this may or may not apply to every situation. Grind until 3/8" washer fits; this step was only necessary because of the rebar texture. Weld the threads of a 5/16" bolt on.

 

 

~ $3 worth of parts is all that is necessary for the spinner. Two electrical end caps (pricey @ $1.30 each); One, 1/2" butt connector ($.30). The rest of the parts were on hand; one (5/16") bolt with head cut off and welded to crank, two stub pieces of 1/2" electrical conduit approximately ¾-1 inch. Adjust the length to acquire a tight fit with the end caps, be sure to remove any ragged edges from the cut. Two (5/16") nyloc nuts, two (3/8") washers and one (5/16") washer, Weld one of the 3/8" and the 5/16" washers together. The outside diameter of the 3/8" washer should fit the inside of the end cap, while the 5/16" inside diameter fits the bolt. Here are the parts in order of assembly.

 

 

Order of assembly is critical. First end cap needs a 3/8" hole drilled through the end. Place one of the 3/8" washers inside with stub conduit to hold in place. Place this part on the end of crank rod. Thread a nyloc nut on backwards. This can be difficult to do. Easiest way is to thread the nut on normal; this cuts the threads into the nylon making it easier to thread backwards. Remove and install backwards. Next, place the butt connector with other stub on. 5/16" nuts are able to fit inside of the 1/2" electrical conduit. Install welded double washer and other nyloc nut. This holds the spinner in position and it will not come off.

 

 

All that is left is the other end cap; finished. One very inexpensive custom "hillbilly" crank spinner. Overall length is ~3 1/2".

 

 

No glue is used on any of the parts encase of later removal. If necessary, RTV or silicon would hold parts together and still allow disassembly. Reassembly with a coat of grease is all that is required for a smooth operating spinner handle.
Hope this helps someone the next time his or her handle needs to spin.
Thanks for looking,
Brian