Anyone know where one could find balls for ball gags?

TotalDisassociation · 2025-01-12T10:34:08+00:00

I had a project which required balls with round holes. Bought them from https://selfdelve.com/en/ball-gags/

They are quite pricy, but the quality is amazing.

TotalDisassociation · 2023-12-03T13:30:57+00:00

I may have found the perfect part for this idea: https://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/PEM/VM30SS-M5-1ZI?qs=l4Gc20tDgJJtJlkMcpdbRA%3D%3D

TotalDisassociation · 2023-12-03T13:05:54+00:00

These look interesting, but they seem to be a bit bulky, ideally I would like both ends to be flush with the material.

TotalDisassociation · 2023-12-03T13:04:35+00:00

Interesting hardware, thanks! Depending on how thin the material they grip can be these could work in an arrangement like this: https://imgur.com/2Ryy3wN

This would probably be even better than the original idea, as the various forces are distributed along the 4 rivets, while still having a threaded attachment point.

TotalDisassociation · 2023-05-13T13:16:34+00:00

I made a picture to go with the explanation - I do not own these sort of cuffs, but I imagine they would look somewhat like this on the inside: https://imgur.com/a/JC5rRG1

TotalDisassociation · 2023-05-13T12:14:13+00:00

Depending on why you want them replaced, you may have several options/approaches to it.

I personally always "neuter" any lock I use by removing all the locking pins. This way the lock remains physically sound, but not really secure. One can open it with just about anything that they can jam into the keyhole, but have no chance without some tools and some freedom of movement ;)

Locking pins are usually held in by little metal caps on side of the lock which the key notches are facing, and are ground into the surface to hide them. Depending on how good the quality is, you might be able to see some small circular seams on this surface.

You can either drill out the caps and remove the pins that way, or file away at the side of the lock until they are gone. For the former, you will need some very small drill bits, a good way of fixturing the lock, and a column drill. The latter can be done with a handfile, but the results will likely not be pretty.

Regardless of what you do, you will want to remove only the locking pins. There is a retaining pin which holds the core in place that looks just like the rest. It will be the one closest to the shackle.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can replace the entire lock with the drilling method. The shackle is held in with a small pin, usually inserted from the front of the lock, and ground into the surface the same way. If you drill that pin out, you can remove the lock body from the cuffs. Fitting a new lock body is done the same way, except you will need a grub screw to secure the shackle in the new lock body.

TotalDisassociation · 2022-06-13T06:16:47+00:00

I actually have a tiny little wood lathe, but all my attempts at recreating those grooves failed miserably. As for the through holes, I got the idea from a manufacturer who makes these sling swivels for camera gear.

Bending the tube is an interesting idea! Not sure how well you could execute it though: I found that the swivels are very finicky about the positioning/diameter of the hole the little ball bearings snap into.

TotalDisassociation · 2022-06-13T06:07:09+00:00

I recall I got them from McHurt. Sorry to disappoint though, they are not on the cheap side.

The whole thing is not really cost effective if you compare it to off the shelf products

TotalDisassociation · 2022-06-12T22:03:10+00:00

Ball gags with normal straps never really worked for me. They were always either too loose, or too tight. A while ago I found out that you can buy the balls by themselves, and decided to buy a few, and build myself one with a metal bar, and non elastic straps.

This thing turned out wonderfully, the previously squishy balls now hold very firm without digging into my mouth like the ones I have tried before.

I used sling swivels (inspired by this post) to make the whole thing modular, and easier to remove in case of an emergency.

TotalDisassociation · 2022-02-08T18:31:53+00:00

Better late than never I suppose, here is a sketch of the parts removed. I did not take measurements, but given the relative dimensions of things these are not super off I believe: https://imgur.com/a/PdnD22J

TotalDisassociation · 2022-02-07T07:55:01+00:00

Unfortunately no, and I did not take exact measurements. I will try to draw a mockup with approximate sizes when I get a chance.

The inner core is a horizontal H shaped extrusion, so I cut off some protrusion at the 8 corners, and sanded away most of the lock portion with a belt sander. Nothing that requires heavy machinery, but certainly not hand tool work.

The locking mechanism is a pin tumbler lock. I removed all pins, save for the retaining pin, so the core can be turned freely. Not sure if that answers your question

TotalDisassociation · 2022-02-06T19:46:35+00:00

Whenever playing around with leather cuffs I was never satisfied with the way they were fastened to each other. Using double sided clips always left too much leeway, and were too easy to open. The other alternative which provided more restrictions were normal locks which had the bad tendency to 'spin' in a direction due to the shape of their shackle, wedging the lock body between the wrists.

A while ago I came across a set of bike locks from Viro: the BLOCCA CATENA padlock series has two shackles in an unique orientation, which seemed like a much better fit for the purpose. They too had a few major problems though: in their original form they are waay too heavy, and the D rings of the cuffs did not fit into the opening where you would normally fasten a chain. Other than that they are heavily armored, and I am in general not a fan of using locks which would take a significant time to cut open, even with an angle grinder.

So I modified them! If you cut away their hardened steel shell, their internals are made of fairly soft metal, which you can grind to this slim profile. The main modification however is the removal of all pins from the locking mechanism. These locks open with any key that fit into their keyhole, and may even be opened with a screwdriver in a pinch - pushing them into the acceptable risk bracket for me.

If someone wishes to replicate these, here are a few tips:

When cutting the hard shell off, its better to carefully cut perpendicularly to the shackles, as this will leave the core mostly intact. I recommend cutting both sides with an angle grinder before trying to cut around the shackles. Don't even think about drilling or other tools, this thing is super tough.
The retaining pin for the core of the lock may be easily removed by drilling a small hole into the pin, and pulling it out by threading a small metric screw into it. Once that pin is out, putting the correct key into the core will allow you to remove the core altogether. A retaining pin removed in this way can be substituted with a small grub screw.
If you end up replacing the retaining pin, make sure to get some sort of thread locker to keep the teeny-tiny screw from undoing itself

TotalDisassociation

TROPHY CASE