Mind blown! You like vises? Odd tools? Never seen this one before. (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

Came across this on YT by accident. Never seen one of those vises before, and don't expect to ever see one in real life, sadly.
Nice fab and resto work he did, too. Can't imagine how they did all that originally by manual machining in the early 20s, and check out those fits. I bet that cost a pretty sum back then in real terms.

Calls it a Fractal vise, pretty clever:

 

[McDuff123]

That was fun. I geeked out on the vice, and his skill-set in refurbishing it.
Thx for sharing

 

[PAToyota]

I just watched that the other evening. I'm surprised that it didn't become popular.

I have access to a CNC lathe and mill... Hmmm...

 

[e9999]

and here tonight I was cranking on some 1 1/2" SS pipe fittings (oh yea, air cannons!) , and trying to hold the pipe in my (sadly) regular flat jaws vise, and wishing I had those fractal jaws...

 

[PAToyota]

This guy is looking to make new versions of the vise: Morphing Fractal Engraving Vise Jaws - https://www.airgraver.com/fractal-vise.htm

He says he is applying for a patent after making improvements that "will provide help for use of it with engraving vises and other vises."

What I'm seeing pretty much looks like the original other than that the jaws of the cylinders are flat instead of having a "mouth" to them.

 

[e9999]

^ It does seem like having flat mini jaws would be worse for holding curved objects.

 

[ntsqd]

Before CNC mills became common there was such a thing as a pantograph mill. The lead screws were a far coarser thread and they were set up so that the operator could follow a pattern. If you've ever looked at how the side-plate on, say, a 5 screw S&W revolver fits the frame and wondered how they managed to mill those two curves so exactly the same, that is how. Would not surprise me if some of the parts for this vise were made on such a mill.

 

[grey goat]

You can get an engraver's vise that's currently being made with the same style jaws. No price yet, so that's frightening.

 

[e9999]

Here, you can now make your own :

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

 

[johns94cruiser]

This was awesome, currently watching him rebuild a steam engine…why? No idea!

 

[PIP]

There are modern versions of these vises. The problem they have is they put a bunch of dents in whatever you're holding when you tighten it enough to hold.

Regular vise jaws have a lot of surface area. Those fractal jaws have a dozen or so very conce trated points holding your part.