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milkman

DIY rotary vise

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I set out to cobble together a rotary vise from this simple fixed vise I had. I need a rotary, and it's too early for me to know what I need, so this was to be a cheap way to get experience with one.

 

The details on the sketch aren't important, but you can see the general idea - open up the bends, get the hook shank in line, and make hole sizes suitable.

 

I couldn't find any info on height, probably because everybody has their own preference, but I needed a starting point. I was able to find an ad showing a DVD case and was able to scale from there. I put the pivot at 9 inches.

 

The odd spacer is because I found out late that I had extra thread length out there in the way of convenient spinning, and I didn't want to be clamping the painted part in a vise and heating up with a grinder.

 

The clamp looks low in the photo due to some camera fisheye effect. I rotated while checking with a ruler, the tip of the clamp is 1/4 inch below the pivot centerline and rotates to 1/4 inch above, about right for my usual range of #6 to #10.

 

A couple of bucks at the hardware store and a few hours fun. If I had thought it would turn out half this nice I would have selected better wood scraps and had my son do the welding.

 

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1. Very inventive so congrats on that.

 

Suggested improvements:

 

1. You need a bobbin cradle to actually use the rotary function for tying materials on the hook. Otherwise, the thread on a hanging bobbin will wind around the hook as you rotate it.

 

2. It may be the angle of the last photo. It makes it look like the center point of rotation will not be the along the hook shank unless you put a very large hook in the vise. A rotary vise show rotate with the center of rotation at the hook shank so there is no wobbling of the hook as it spins.

 

See the center of rotation and the need for a bobbin cradle in the video below. Notice the more vertical angle of the hook jaw.

 

 

 

3. The angle of the jaw is too horizontal for small hooks. I would suggest a steeper angle so the tiny hooks can be held at the tip of a more angled jaw. This will allow you to more easiy tie ,ateriasl at the back of the hook.

 

See the angle of jaws on these vises:

 

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s505755657663854293_p82_i1_w1066.jpeg

venaird_fly_tying_vise.jpg

parts.jpg

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Welcome to the site, milkman.

Great job on the vise, sir! Have you used it, yet? Do you have a way to lock it, or does it spin with some drag so it won't rotate when your tightening down on the thread, etc?

 

Again, that looks great.

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Thanks for commenting, gentlemen, I will gain from others with more experience.

 

Silvercreek - 1. I wondered what that funny arm was sticking out there until I saw it used on a show on educational tv, and the function was obvious, and the reason easy to deduce, and now I know I need to hang the bobbin. I notice they all seem to come from the stand, probably because that's the place they have, but I'm thinking I could put a hook on some kind of post since I have a large base. 2. yes, in my discussion I blame it on camera angle. Hook shank 1/4 inch above tip of clamp will rotate exactly at CL of pivot. I can bend this if needed for more drop, but 1/4" seemed okay on fixed vise. 3. As mentioned, #10 is usually a small hook to me, so I stayed with the original angle of the fixed vise. Thanks for pointing that out anyway, I've got another cheaper vise I think I'll butcher since this was so much fun, and I might as well prepare for smaller hooks while I'm at it. Doesn't look like that feature would affect bigger hooks in any way.

 

Mikechell - The spring/nut system is there for applying adjustable friction which I can preset to any level. I'm under the impression that there's little torque due to the small radius where I'm winding, so I initially plan on just this friction (the voice of no experience). If I pull thread hard enough to require more friction than I want to fight for rotating the vice, I'll drop a little arm to hang in the way of the handle instead. Not used yet, I just got it together this afternoon.

 

It's a test bed where I hopefully will learn most of the things to avoid when I invest in a real one.

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I like your can do DIY spirit.

To Lash Larue, every problem looked like it need to be solved with a whip. With a half century or so of mechanical design behind me, everything looks like it needs to be gadgeted in one way or another, although without machine shop backup it mostly happens in my barn now.

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I suggest you tie on this one for a while and see if there are other ways you can improve the design in the second version. Can't wait to see the next version.

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