Brass cylinder blocks

Brass holding blocks

So in response to another member who is using a positioning vice I thought I would show the solution I had to using solid chunk of thermoloc to hold a knife (which was terrible). This is great as it adjusts to any angle and you can flip them over and use the flat side and glue plates or anything else to it if you don't want to use the grey goo.

Engraver Mitch Moschetti invented and produced these blocks and made them in wood. Unfortunatly he stopped producing them. Having real issues with work holding and hoping to tailor the blocks to my needs I had these machined by a local foundry and "borrowed" Mitch's dimensions he used when he was selling them via his website.

I had 2 made one is 2" diameter and 4" long the other 3" dia and 4" long. Works so well am thinking of having more made for smaller items of jewellery for setting etc. Best thing is it adds mass to your piece and you can rip them up tight in the vice and not crush them. Only negative so far has been when adjusting your position if you have any chips that have stuck to the side and you tighten again in the vice you can force them into the block itself and they can become a nasty to cut yourself on or catch on clothing etc.

Anyway enjoy :biggrin:

James,
Yeah that will do the trick for sure.
Thanks for posting this!

holy cr@p! well, that oughta be sturdy enough. using some lead or leather vise jaw pads will eliminate the chip problem and increase grip.

i toyed with the idea of milling some out of aluminum (Chris DeC & i discussed it), but besides the expense, one concern was the massive heat sink issue making it difficult to soften the plastic. i had visions of needing to put the whole thing in a 200° oven for a half hour just to swap out parts.

btw- you didn't just 'borrow' my dimensions, you 'borrowed' my entire design/invention right down to the last detail. i'll be checking the mail for my royalty payments.

Mitch.
I had no idea it was your idea! I assumed it was something used and made by engravers and you had put them to market for the masses. The idea of using brass came from some of Chris' videos/lessons. The brass certainly does make it a heat sink. As you said I simply warmed the whole thing. Just took forever to cool! I certainly don't intend to produce these but in all seriousness I would be happy to pay something as a thankyou as I simply didn't realise I may of been stepping on toes!

mitch said:

btw- you didn't just 'borrow' my dimensions, you 'borrowed' my entire design/invention right down to the last detail. i'll be checking the mail for my royalty payments.

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A couple of them to try out might not be a bad idea. It was your invention after all.

i made a few of mitchs' wood blocks. as a tool they worked well. tho i preferred to use hot melt and just toss em when done. they work well out of plain ole junky construction-grade wood.