Another Useful Tool
We’re continuing to push the local knowledge boundaries, so I thought I’d throw this into the mix, a portable bench vise for the travelling modelling kit.
The component parts, deliberately printed in contrasting colours. Two body parts, the main body and the moving jaw. The desk clamp screw and foot, and the main screw, held in place by a printed circlip.
The assembled bench vise. The main screw was printed in two parts, the handle separate. This enabled the screw to be printed horizontally,so the striae don’t create a potential sheer point, as all the forces are tension. The handle is just a press fit on to the spigot, which is a triangulated hexagon for orientation. The desk screw was printed vertically, as there’s no tension on this part, only compression. The foot is a two-part print-in-place, with a floating (but not removable) inner threaded ring, enabling the screw to turn and the foot to stay still relative to the desk.
The assembled bench vise installed on my desk at work, the table of which is 25mm (1″) thick, to give some sense of scale.
No, it’s not a serious vice, certainly no substitute for a proper metal one, if you’re doing those sorts of jobs. However, if you’re after putting something in the suitcase or rucksack for holding parts while glue sets or files are filing …