KCSteve
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hey Steve, Do you know when that will be available? I don't see it on the GRS site yet.
Sorry for hijacking the thread!
So as not to hijack the other thread any more, I'm starting a new one.
As mentioned in the other thread, GRS has a new version of their inside ring holder that's quite an improvemnt over the original one.
I picked it up at my Lettering class the week of September 20-24.
It's part number 004-735 and it's about $50. Contact your GRS sales rep and I'm sure they'll get you hooked up.
I don't have time right now for a full review and pictures but I'll try and run through the basics:
The new fixture is smaller, sort of an L shape with a knob sticking out of the back of the long part of the L. The lower (short) arm of the L has a hole through it that's just there for tooling purposes (I was told) and a pair of screws sticking out with the bottom of the heads level with the top of the short arm of the L. You can take them out if you want, but they're intended to act as a stop when you insert the bottom into your vise. I was told that it will work with the Benchmate vise but don't (and didn't) have one to confirm that. The screws not only let you index how it sets into the vise, they give you an axis to rotate it in the vise. The rotation is across the ring and while you may wonder why you'd need to do that with a ball vise the trick is that you can rotate it a full 90 degrees. That makes this one also a vertical holder for working on the side of the ring.
The post the ring sits on is now a hex bolt. The fixture and the cones are indexed to the hex bolt. The 'permanent' cone is aluminum and press fitted in so you are not going to take it out to use dropped into your vise the way Sam shows using the cone from the original fixture. But you don't need to because of that handy knob that lets you loosen / adjust as you wish.
The collets have been redesigned. Now they look like they're made to expand - they're kind of a set of T shapes around the circle. The split comes between the tops of two of the T's. The little T's really lock well into the ring. Take this shape and bend it round for an idea: T T T T T T (actually about a half space between the T's).
The center holes of the collets have three dents to line up with teeth - lay a triangle over a circle and then round off the points of the triangle.
The 'floating' cones - the one that you put on the bolt to drive the collet open against the inside of the ring come in two flavors. There's a 'smooth' cone that lets the ring rotate, based on how tight you have the knob turned. Note that on a brand new holder it may be a bit stiff / sticky at first - the one I used in the class had been used enough to be smooth.
The interesting cone is the other one. It's a locking cone. It has the three teeth that lock into the center of the collets and remember - the middle of the cone is a hex to match the bolt. When you use this cone the collet will not turn. Assuming you've tightend the bolt enough then the ring won't turn on the collet (and those T tops grab nicely so you don't need to crank it excessively). This one is for things like signet rings and stone setting - probably other uses you can think of.
You also get a large nut & wrench you can use in place of the knob. This seems to me to be for when you're using it as a vertical holder since otherwise you have to make sure the knob is lined up right to fit into the vise. There are wings on the knob that make it wider than the fixture but as long as they're in the right plane it's slightly narrower.
You get two sets of collets in the set. I thought it was for backup but a jeweler in my class said there are some really wide rings out there where you'd want to double up. Not sure if the bolt is long enough for that. The knob (and nut, of course) do grab right at the front so they only need a tiny bit of the bolt to hold.
I'll try to add some pictures to this thread later (or anyone else with one can feel free to do so).
One of the reasons I got this (for me third) ring holder was the size of the whole kit. The shirts I wear, it'll fit in the shirt pocket. It's also made to work with the micro-ball vise. And heck, $50, class discount, a little money left in my pocket on Friday... how could I pass it up?
