Question: SE brand engraving block Ball Vices?

[Jacko]

Hello all, I'm new here. I'm transitioning in jobs and now need to buy my own ball vice. I learned on a GRS one, but can't afford that right now. Is the SE brand decent, or are they a waste of money? I was looking at these two:
http://www.amazon.com/SE-Engraving-...404052886&sr=1-7&keywords=engraving+ball+vise
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCNVGRA...UTF8&colid=NWH2B5OTNIJB&coliid=I2NSEINOBB17A1
P.S. I'm a jeweler and mostly work on light weight stuff (no guns).

 

[silverchip]

I have a used GRS for Sale. it is a standard size. I will post it in Buy & Sell later today.

 

[Brian Marshall]

They are both Chinese... and though some Chinese tools are fairly well made - these are not.

Go and look at the magnified view of the first one. (Just run your pointer over it)

You will see defects all over it. The plating, the machining, everything is roughly done.

That alone would lead me to suspect that the screw threads and whatever is used as a bearing is just as sloppy.


If money is truely a problem - make your own interim tools. Find an old lawn mower tire for a base, a small mixing bowl at a second hand store, some bolts, some tire weights and a small sack of concrete. If you do it right that shouldn't cost you over $10.

Then you need to decide if you want to spring for a small machinists vise. If so, you need to have it on hand when you assemble the rest of the parts. I think Harbor Freight has one for around $30.

Fill the mixing bowl about 2/3 with the tire weights. You need room for the bolt heads.

If you have a vise, put the bolts in place - leaving about an inch of shank and the head hanging down. Thread the nuts about halfway.

Fill the bowl of tire weights with a slightly runny cement mix so that it will fill the spaces between the weights all the way to the bottom. If necessary, tap on the sides to get it down in there.

When that is done and you've topped off the cement level, set the greased vise with bolts hanging down on top of the cement and wiggle the bolts down into the cement. Tap the sides of the bowl to make sure the cement flows around the bolt heads.

If you don't have a vise, just set 4 bolts upright into the cement. You can use them to attach a wood block to. You can mount practice plates and other items to the wood block with hot glue. In fact you can make several blocks with the same hole pattern and change them out fairly quickly.

This is the most economical way to get started. I doesn't have all the features of a "real" engravers vise, but it will get you by long enough to find out if you really want engrave. It may even help you sell a few projects to add to your kitty so you can eventually afford a "real" one...


Brian

 

[dogcatcher]

By the time you have made a concrete version you will have spent almost $40. A bowling ball vise will cost about $35, plenty of plans on the Internet, bowling balls are available at thrift resale stores for about $5.

For $45 to $50 more you can buy the cheap Chinese version, it will not be a GRS, but will work better than either of the homemade vises.

 

[Brian Marshall]

IF you happen to have a bandsaw and other tools - or a friend who'll let you use theirs... yeah, maybe...

Otherwise, you gotta pay to have it cut. Pay to have it drilled and tapped.


I've done it for less than $10 (without a vise), but then I know how to squeeze a dollar...


And I can think. For example - Saran wrap, Crisco or even bacon grease will work to keep the vise from sticking in the concrete.

Got a coffee can full of tire weights for free, just by asking at a tire shop.

The mixing bowl for $2 at a second hand store.

The cement from a neighbor setting fence posts.

The lawn mower tire offa one I had to take to the dump. (Free mowers on Craigslist)

4 bolts at a garage sale for a quarter. (with lockwashers and nuts)


And it's not a "concrete version" - you use the stainless mixing bowl for its surface, concrete alone is not slippery enough to tip and turn.

A bit of hot glue, pitch or tar can be used if the bowl separates from the filler.


I wrote what I wrote as an example for someone with next to no money and almost no tools who wants to try hand engraving without investing much more than a little time... and with a little ingenuity you can add a fairly functional turntable...


B.

 

[KCSteve]

If you're worried about the concrete coming loose from the bowl run a couple of screws through it from the outside up near the top where they shouldn't get in the way when you're working. The concrete will hook onto them.

 

[dlilazteca]

just save your money and buy once, steve lindsay has a well made quality
Low profile vice in the 300 range, it will need a turntable the shimpo (hope i spelled that right) very economical and gets the job done.

Check it out for yourself

 

[mrthe]

Wait for a used one, better.
The GRS micro ball is a really nice vise, if you are a jeweller you will love it.
I haven't it but i have try it and is a very nice small vise for jewellery.
With luck you will find one used for just 50/60. $ more and you will have a quality one.