For those who want to buy cheap chinese Ball vice

[Rstripnieks]

I have recently bought a cheap Chinese GRS standard block replica not becouse I wanted to save money but as all of you know very well engraving tools are not cheap ,as a student that was the only thing I could afford even with saving.
But I was more than disappointed in quality of this heavy piece of junk and here I have listed all the problems I noticed :
1.Vice bought in Ali Express 290 USD with free shipping ,(but please keep in mind that you have to pay for customs ) ((+146 USD)) so Now its only slightly cheaper than GRS ball
2.IT was covered in rust.
3. You can throw accesories out right away becouse they dont fit ,holes to big ,unevenly drilled,misaligned placement,and pins just dont go inside holes,accessories are so badly made that they will damage your workpiece.

4.Jaws have big wobble, when you close them they will bend backwards becouse of their loose fit.
5.set screw for setting the ball spin will stop functioning very fast becouse of the bad threads ,it will jam and you wont get it out,I managed to take it out so my ball spins loosely.
5.ball spin is not in the center =by that I mean jaws are closing away from center of the ball and upper part of the ball is also not rotating in center.
6.You cant open it, theoretically there is a place in top where I can open and dismount the ball for maintance and clean it out from dust(you just cant open it without breaking it)
7.ball does not sit in rubber ring perfectly so that part is wobbling too.

Theese are the reasons why you buy a quality item and dont save money,I had a chance to repair most of it becouse I have access to machine shop.
But as soon as I can afford I Will get a quality product.
But it could be a good anchor for a boat

 

[SamW]

Excellent report and thanks for shedding light on this subject!!

 

[dlilazteca]

Thanks for sharing, so know that you think about it, in the long run it will be an expensive grs vise when the sum of both are totaled.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[JJ Roberts]

Hello buy American all ready wake up,we've been warning about these crappie engraving tools from China for how long. J.J.

 

[Brian Marshall]

It could be viewed as an opportunity to play in a machine shop for some hours... but the end result will still be an inadequate boat anchor.

The plus side would be some of that more expensive "experience education" for future reference...

No one on here has escaped that have they?

If you've never in your life made a bad purchase - speak up!


Brian

 

[Rstripnieks]

Well I have red a lot that everything from China made for engraving is a junk.But nobody ,as far as I could find,wrote what exactly was bad . All I could find were words(Bad,Junk,anchor)
Now I decided to list detailed info about this vice(if you can call it vice) so people getting into engraving know exactly what they gonna get. I normaly dont buy junk. But engraving supplies in Europe arent that easy to find so I Usualy end up buying directly from US with high shipping costs and taxes (but that is another subject to discuss for later)

 

[Brian Marshall]

You've done some anonymous beginners a HUGE favor by posting this experience of yours - IF they pay attention...


Brian


The Chinese are here to stay. And getting better every year. There are things from China that beat what we used to make and things that puzzle me. How is it possible that they can make power saw blades of all kinds - but cannot make a decent file?

You'd think that if they can master the alloying, hardening and tempering of those blades it would be a simple matter to transfer those skills to making files? Never seen one yet that comes close to the Nicholsons or Swiss. Anyone had a different experience?

 

[mdengraver]

Perhaps you get what you pay for when Chinese labor is exploited and so cheap!

 

[monk]

I have recently bought a cheap Chinese GRS standard block replica not becouse I wanted to save money but as all of you know very well engraving tools are not cheap ,as a student that was the only thing I could afford even with saving.
But I was more than disappointed in quality of this heavy piece of junk and here I have listed all the problems I noticed :
1.Vice bought in Ali Express 290 USD with free shipping ,(but please keep in mind that you have to pay for customs ) ((+146 USD)) so Now its only slightly cheaper than GRS ball
2.IT was covered in rust.
3. You can throw accesories out right away becouse they dont fit ,holes to big ,unevenly drilled,misaligned placement,and pins just dont go inside holes,accessories are so badly made that they will damage your workpiece.

4.Jaws have big wobble, when you close them they will bend backwards becouse of their loose fit.
5.set screw for setting the ball spin will stop functioning very fast becouse of the bad threads ,it will jam and you wont get it out,I managed to take it out so my ball spins loosely.
5.ball spin is not in the center =by that I mean jaws are closing away from center of the ball and upper part of the ball is also not rotating in center.
6.You cant open it, theoretically there is a place in top where I can open and dismount the ball for maintance and clean it out from dust(you just cant open it without breaking it)
7.ball does not sit in rubber ring perfectly so that part is wobbling too.

Theese are the reasons why you buy a quality item and dont save money,I had a chance to repair most of it becouse I have access to machine shop.
But as soon as I can afford I Will get a quality product.
But it could be a good anchor for a boat

sorry about your luck. expensive learning. i joke about it, but early on i dang near had to steal grocery money to buy my first toy. i began makin my practice plates into useful items, buckles, pendants, just anything to make a buck, as well as save a percentage or two. this has been struggle for many, but one day, you'll not be sorry you went thru it.

 

[Rstripnieks]

Oh And I forgot to mention one more important thing:
DO NOT TRY TO WARM UP THOSE CHEAP PLASTIC BARS WITH NAME "THERMOLOCK" it is not the original one and is not even designed for heating up,it will produce black smoke at low tempartures of heat and that is a very nasty and Hazardous smoke

 

[Sam]

Oh And I forgot to mention one more important thing:
DO NOT TRY TO WARM UP THOSE CHEAP PLASTIC BARS WITH NAME "THERMOLOCK" it is not the original one and is not even designed for heating up,it will produce black smoke at low tempartures of heat and that is a very nasty and Hazardous smoke

Where did you see this?

 

[Rstripnieks]

They where added to the accessories set which came with engraving ball (they where uneven lenght cut down with (my best guess)hacksaw

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

I have recently bought a cheap Chinese GRS standard block replica

You can consider this as "tuition" for your learning experience. I doubt you will do this ever again. It was a hard lesson, sorry to hear it. Always buy high quality tools because it pays to have them. Otherwise, you have to buy them twice and that just adds to the cost.

 

[Rstripnieks]

DakotaDocMartin, You are absolutely right, I dont normaly buy cheap things especially tools but this time I made a mistake . Ihope people will find this thread and learn from my mistake and know what Exactly they are going to get ordering this stuff from Asia.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

DakotaDocMartin, You are absolutely right, I dont normaly buy cheap things especially tools but this time I made a mistake . Ihope people will find this thread and learn from my mistake and know what Exactly they are going to get ordering this stuff from Asia.

I think everyone does something like this once. Hopefully, you will have saved someone else from buying that Chinese crap.

 

[Steve L S]

The Chinese can make and do make some of the best stuff in the world so we need to know the actual name of the manufacturer so we can put that maker on our blacklist, otherwise we are just bashing Chinese made stuff and my son's Chinese girlfriend will not like it

 

[Rstripnieks]

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32553...1-1477558237758-08926-UneMJZVf&aff_platform=y

This isnt the maker of the ball its just seller,you can find exact same model all over internet .maker is unknown but sellers are many ,prices vary but they cahrge 150 for shipping etc. So in the end they all end up around 300USD
I think you will never find original maker becouse if you do he would be in deep trouble using name of GRS and termoloc also they change the sticker and plate where accessories are mounted but belive me (They all are Identical from construction and accessories)

I hope I did not offended anyone,im just trying to say all the truth by reviewing theese things

 

[SamW]

You did well sir!

 

[Sam]

The Chinese can make and do make some of the best stuff in the world so we need to know the actual name of the manufacturer so we can put that maker on our blacklist, otherwise we are just bashing Chinese made stuff and my son's Chinese girlfriend will not like it

This is a joke, right?

 

[Sam]

Forum members have repeatedly warned others about the shoddy engraving tools coming out of China and the risks you take buying them. It's one thing if your Harbor Freight tool is bad since you can return it to Harbor Freight. Buying tools on eBay directly from China is extremely risky business.