Making my own vice (for grins & giggles)

[hankll]

Wow, nice work.......following

Thanks!
Right at the moment, it does look clunky, and not very polished. I'll work on the finish after I've worked out all the mechanical parts working properly.


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[hankll]

Spent more time fine tuning the clamping parts on the vise jaws. I installed a spring between the two jaw halves. This was installed at the half way point between the thumb screws. Now the jaws open smoothly as you adjust the jaw for the hook. Then the back thumb screw can be tightened to securely hold the hook.

Next will be the brake controlling the turning of the main shaft from just spinning freely on the bearings. And the turning handle on the end of the shaft. And I have a piece of 1" granite I'll be attempting to drill and cut for a base.

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[hankll]

I finally got it mostly done. I've done a fair amount to make it a good vice but I need to fine tune some of the rotary drag part. And with that being said the vise works well.
The base is a piece of stair tread I had left over from my staircase project. I need to put some rubber feet under it help it from sliding around .
The rotary stand is 9 1/2" to the top. From the rotary hand crank on the left to the tip of the vise jaws is 9 1/2" wide.

Construction of the rotary head was made with plumbing pipe, lawnmower bearings, and nuts, washers, bolts from my hardware store. Specialized pieces I bought were aluminum aircraft 6065 stock for the vise jaws adaptor. Thumb screws for opening or tightening the vise jaws from hardware store. Because of my timeline, I went over $25 to buy the special items needed to build this.
The tools I had on hand, were 4 1/2" grinders. I have three, one is a cup brush, another was a metal cutting (1/16" thick) disk. The last was my normal grinding disk. I also used my belt sander, as well as a drill press.
Hand tools were the simple vice grips, adjustable wrench, Allen screw wrenches. The drill bit assortment on hand and a tap & die set. And last and very important was the bench vice.
All of the time I spent creating this was about 20 or so hours. I didn't stay solid on it. I went about 5 different times working on it for several or more hours each time.
I want a better drag screw, so that will be changed. The hand rotary "knob" is actually a lawnmower blade adaptor that I was able to put to use. I actually might change that to a similar knob, but one with a hand knob coming off at a 90° angle for precise rotary control.

My initial idea was to see if I could build one. This one was built without a lathe or mill. My background is repairing lawnmowers, and coming up with ways to create a fix for something that isn't working or a missing OEM part.
Did I succeed? It is a working vise and it does hold hooks firmly. I have only had 1/0 hook in it, and the smallest hook I had was a #10 hook for a 1/32 jig.
Based on my initial tests, the shaft I used, and bent by hand seems a little off true on the axis. I'm a little disappointed. But it does rotate, and hold when I put the drag on. It can be fixed with another shaft....
Just being totally honest about the rotary smoothness. But I'm not trying to sell vises. This was for grins and giggles.Attachment 366134

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[FurFlyin]

Cool stuff. Thanks for posting the process.

[SuperDave336]

Heck yeah. I’m very impressed. It amazes me how talented some people are. Very nice job.

[skiptomylu]

Glad to see you took my advice and posted this and feel sure we are all interested to see how you do with it.

Good job!

Skip

[hankll]

This parting shot of my vise ...

I spent the afternoon disassembling and doing some improvements. I added a nylon bushing that fit the rotary shaft where the drag adjustment screw was located. I had originally had the drag screw dragging directly on the shaft. By placing the nylon bushing that solved the uneven drag, as well as the light spray grease I put on the shaft and bushing. It is now a perfectly functioning vise.

Two parting photos of a jig I tied on it using, you guessed it, turkey feather barbules and my fuzzy thread. That's the last time I hope to have to use those materials.
But I had to test the vise for an actual jig tying test. The jaws do hold the hook securely. And the shaft rotates easily and stops where I let go of it.

I'm a happy camper!

My real materials have been ordered.

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[SuperDave336]

Very cool project and nice results. What a great accomplishment!

[hankll]

As with any project, sometimes there are bumps on the way to the finish.

Very cool project and nice results. What a great accomplishment!

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[skeetbum]

Very good work and follow through on your idea. I’ve been around some smart and creative people over the years that have taken on some cool projects and a lot of them got finished, but some didn’t. Having the time is good for staying focused and not getting sidetracked. Good Job, now let’s see some jigs!