Worst Swinden's ever

[Parm]

On a bandsaw?

You remind me though, I did buy one of those hilariously dangerous chain saw bladed angle grinder disks. It happens to be the perfect diameter. I'll be sure to keep my fingers away from that!

No it was on a table circular saw. It cut (scraped) a longitudinal curved shape into the wood, bit difficult to describe

If you do ever play with that device, make sure you’ve got the video going first

 

[dobbslc]

Going by what @Screwdriver has said it'll probably have fork tubes or something similar in it

 

[Screwdriver]

I totally get the soft aluminium flat jaws but plastic pipe jaws just limit dramatically what that tool is meant to do.
The pipe in the vice is going to be ground, cut, welded, pulled, etc. That Delrin isn’t going to last long if the owner actually intends on using it for purpose imo.

Going by what @Screwdriver has said it'll probably have fork tubes or something similar in it

Yep, you beat me to it. They are to be used on fork legs primarily for which the rotating body of the Swinden's is amazingly handy. I am a bit worried how well they will grip a smooth stanchion but the primary concern is that they are non marking. The grip can easily be added as required.

I guess what I am suggesting is that to prevent hard jaws from marring components you always have to use something to protect the surface. With a permanent soft jaw, sometimes you might need to insert something to make it hold fast.

With bike stuff I often go straight to the wood vice rather than fiddle about with a soft clip on insert. Plastic jaws will be especially useful for odd shaped items like master cylinders and also for anything super critical like internal engine components (crankshafts, camshafts, powervalves, pistons). Being able to reorient items while they are being held firm is of course the big trick to these vices but it does make soft inserts even more fiddly than usual.

Finally because of the design in this version, the jaws can be easily and quickly swapped out. The vice has through holes and with a captive stud, they can be unbolted without having to mess about with frozen countersunk heads. I could just as easily make aluminium "pipe" jaws or wooden ones! I am saving my precious copper bar for a rainy day but copper would be awesome!

But yes, it's a test and something I have been meaning to try for some time. Soon find out...

 

[Richard.]

Fair enough.
Yes makes sense for things like fork tubes. I thought you said your mate was going to buy it

 

[Screwdriver]

Fair enough.
Yes makes sense for things like fork tubes. I thought you said your mate was going to buy it

Yep, he does bikes too...

 

[Richard.]

Yep, he does bikes too...

Ideal

 

[Screwdriver]

So I went with plan B. Flycutting on the lathe. Plan A was a wooden caddy with a boring bar but the issue with boring is trying to get the two sides to match and adjusting for taper.

Plan B:

Ok so it's not ideal. But if anyone even mentions Heath Robinson they're off my Xmas card list for ever!

I couldn't work out a decent way to mount anything on the cross slide, certainly not anything low profile enough and I wasn't going to start tapping holes in it willy nilly. So I made a wooden caddy, bolted that to the saddle and tarted up a dinky little vice I bought for some other purpose.

With that in place I could do a quick skim cut to see where it was going.

Veering off a little bit but there wasn't quite enough adjustment for angle in the wooden caddy, I'd put it too close to the cross slide. Hey ho, it was very close.

The flycutter was a great find from dead mans shed and this was the first time I used it too. Lovely little thing it is. Grinding the HSS tool for it was a real eye opener, completely the opposite geometry to a typical right hand tool, err, or left depending how you look at it.

Anyway, if a picture paints a thousand words, here's a million:

Very happy with the result though it's not bolted in yet or shaped to suit the interesting Swinden's version of square and parallel.

And despite them being loose in the jaw, it does the job nicely.

I may still use the lathe as a shaper since it's still set up with the vice, just to cut a few serrations into the plastic. I'll be making another set for myself too, that Delrin is a bit pricey but it's fantastic to work with and very durable (I hope).

 

[123hotchef]

nice job

 

[pedrobedro]

It would hold them firmly if you cut a V in both faces.

 

[Screwdriver]

It would hold them firmly if you cut a V in both faces.

I still need to put a deep chamfer in the fixing holes for a recessed screw. A V might leave the head of the screw proud of the soft jaws. Plus it's a stress riser just exactly where you don't want it!

The main reason is I don't have the right equipment to machine a V so easily.

 

[Parm]

That's come out rather nice, amazing what a bit of thinking can allow you to achieve.

 

[zx9]

That tooling looked so wrong but what do I know? I have never attempted anything like that and the end product looks good.

 

[Parm]

Found it, this is what I was on about

 

[Screwdriver]

Oh yeah. Great idea, I think I've seen Izzy Swan on YT do a lot of interesting stuff like that.

meanwhile time to start using up my pile of rebar.

First I need to get my grinder set up with a wire wheel.

Bonk out some washers on the flypress.

Screw the grinder down to half a ton of old machine base (I might nail the post leg vice to the other side of it).

Now it's clean I can turn it down.

Err...

16mm 45 degree countersink with an 8mm locating dowel, heat treated rebar.

And I'll be damned, it worked! The odd concave shape and preexisting holes meant I really needed a guide for the countersink and it's worth doing since I want to make another set of Delrin, wood, aluminium spare jaws for myself.

They need trimming to size and a bit of fettling, plus some longer bolts but we're almost there.

Painting next.

 

[Beeezer]

Found it, this is what I was on about

View attachment 182700

I’ve done that before, take the blade up a little at a time, quiet satisfying.
It was some coving in a boat to hide cables.

 

[Screwdriver]

I could make a video of the paint drying but it's just a question of waiting now.

Blackened the shiny screws, just to take the edge off and give the bare steel some protection.

Thumb twiddling now. I do have another Swinden's ready to restore but it looks like a five minute job compared to this one!

 

[Screwdriver]

Oh well, here it is done...

Looks quite snazzy in Hammerite black but a few gold pinstripes wouldn't hurt.

Be interesting to see how useful those flat smooth jaws are.

...And of course the Delrin round jaws as yet untested!

I cut up a 14mm spanner and blackened it to loose the shine.

Resisted the temptation to polish the brass back cap!

Sadly I won't get to use it. It is sold and ready to ship off to the lucky new owner.

 

[Richard.]

Be interesting to see how useful those flat smooth jaws are.

Smooth aluminium jaws are just excellent. Something all vices would benefit from. I hate steel knurled vice jaws for 95% of stuff.

 

[123hotchef]

That looks wicked mate i just picked one up my self. I have wanted one for years

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Smooth aluminium jaws are just excellent. Something all vices would benefit from. I hate steel knurled vice jaws for 95% of stuff.

Didn't realise one of my No6 vices had Ali jaws until I cleaned it up.
My go to vice for that reason. Be making some up for my other vices too.
No shortage of gripping power.
Excellent work @Screwdriver . Bet you weren't standing directly over the work for those cuts.