USA Mini Self Centering Vise - Development Progress

[vomelkojr]

Hello everyone,

I am working on developing a smaller form factor vise (somewhat based on the Xian Dian mini vise). I wanted to share my progress so far and make sure that I am on the right track with the improvements that I am making. Hoping to get into production soon. Any input and advise would be greatly appreciated.

Improvements made:
- Vise Jaw redesign for built in dovetail (only necessary to use dovetail if parts need it, jaws have teeth that have very good gripping strength)
- Shorter height and lighter weight design (especially good for applications such as use on smaller rotary as well as high density work holding)
- Top Down mounting option

Vise Technical Info:
- 54mm wide x 75mm length x 36.5mm height
- weight of around 0.75kg (1.65lbs)

Please let me know what you think.

Since everyone will be asking, aiming for $249-$299 for single vise and $1199-$1499 for 4X rotary version (quantity discounts will be available)

Thank you!

 

[Milland]

How will you center the screw and minimize slop and wear? IMO, that's the weakest part of this style of vise design.

 

[mhajicek]

How will you center the screw and minimize slop and wear? IMO, that's the weakest part of this style of vise design.

On the Xin Dian's that he's copying, the screw is centered by a close fitting shoulder, and the jaws are centered by a close fit on the thread profile ways. They got those fits pretty darned close, certainly close enough for first ops. I suppose he could improve quality over the Xin Dian's with wear resistant coatings, above and beyond the black oxide on the XD's.

 

[plastikdreams]

Hello everyone,

I am working on developing a smaller form factor vise (somewhat based on the Xian Dian mini vise). I wanted to share my progress so far and make sure that I am on the right track with the improvements that I am making. Hoping to get into production soon. Any input and advise would be greatly appreciated.

Improvements made:
- Vise Jaw redesign for built in dovetail (only necessary to use dovetail if parts need it, jaws have teeth that have very good gripping strength)
- Shorter height and lighter weight design (especially good for applications such as use on smaller rotary as well as high density work holding)
- Top Down mounting option

Vise Technical Info:
- 54mm wide x 75mm length x 36.5mm height
- weight of around 0.75kg (1.65lbs)

Please let me know what you think.

Since everyone will be asking, aiming for $249-$299 for single vise and $1199-$1499 for 4X rotary version (quantity discounts will be available)

Thank you!

View attachment 391750
View attachment 391751

Or pay like 65 bucks for the original Chinese piece that seems to be done very nicely...glws

 

[Garwood]

Lol! The Chinese come up with something decent and an American tries to copy it to sell for six times the price.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

Lol! The Chinese come up with something decent

Recently there's a bunch of stuff that's pretty nice. Maybe not Moore Special Tools nice but way better than "commercial grade". You just don't see it in the US.

Special tooling, cutters, spindles, 4th-5th axis setups, vmc's that make haas look bad for 1/2 the price .... Whatever you do, don't go to the beijing tool show. It'll make you nervous, real nervous.

 

[Garwood]

Recently there's a bunch of stuff that's pretty nice. Maybe not Moore Special Tools nice but way better than "commercial grade". You just don't see it in the US.

Special tooling, cutters, spindles, 4th-5th axis setups, vmc's that make haas look bad for 1/2 the price .... Whatever you do, don't go to the beijing tool show. It'll make you nervous, real nervous.

I don't doubt it for a second. I'm not nervous unless China cuts us off. Then we're pretty fucked.

What bothers me about the OP's vise is that it's nothing special, he just copied something that anyone here could make and wants us to buy it because it's made in USA.

Not because it's better, just because it's made here.

 

[gkoenig]

Not because it's better, just because it's made here.

No. Being made here makes it 100% better.

Though, hard to say who we'll be at war with first - the Chinese or ourselves.

 

[EndlessWaltz]

I will put my comrades to work and pay some more if there is improvements. They kept stealing our work, might as well steal theirs!

 

[Garwood]

No. Being made here makes it 100% better.

Though, hard to say who we'll be at war with first - the Chinese or ourselves.

Copying a Chinese product without improving anything to sell it for 600% more on the sole merit that it is made in USA doesn't get me very excited.

Maybe the OP can improve it with killer customer service or do it in type 3 ano or make it from lightweight 4140 forgings.

 

[Milland]

Change the 60* thread form to Acme and it'll be an improvement - lower friction, higher strength.

I'd also change the screw retention geometry from a straight sided slot to a shallow angle taper, with a "press bar" over the top of the slot that can give a tiny bit (~.005"?) of compression to push the screw down - enough to remove slop in the fit, but not so much as to bind the screws within the moving jaws.

Or let the press bar be the "gib" while keeping the screw and slot nominal height/width so there's no displacement of the screw. Would take a bit of futzing to make the design functional.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

I don't doubt it for a second. I'm not nervous unless China cuts us off. Then we're pretty fucked.

Why would they ?

Okay, read the US newspapers and you might see some reasons but honest, this is all coming from the US. All this stuff in the Washpost and so on ? It's dogshit. Total fucking worthless dogshit. And outright lies in many cases - remember when they were peddling the "millions dying now that Xi dropped his draconian authoritarian decrees on covid !!" thing ? There's seven or eight hospitals within walking distance of my house. Since i was being told corpses were littering the streets, I walked around and took photos. Nobody at the hospitals. NONE. It was emptier than usual 'cuz no one wanted to go and get sick. All that crap was straight-up lies. Of course that didn't help, people seem to believe what they want to believe, no matter what the photographic evidence is, but I did my best.

(I have the photos still if anyone wants confirmation. I'm not making this up)

The people here and the governments here are busy doing their thing. They don't look at the US and go "oh wow a potential enemy !" Guys chase girls, girls want stuff, everybody cheats on their taxes, food is top of the list for interests, kids go to school, grandparents nag, they don't even contemplate all the crap I read here. I don't know what's wrong with you guys but this hobby of geopolitical gamesmanship ? It's weird, and pointless, and wrong. It's so nice to talk to people and not be beat up with some weirdass conspiracy theory, instead we can talk about the new ice cream store up on wanhangdu lu or did you see what miss bing was wearing to work yesterday ? yowza !

It's not going to change anything but lemme tell ya, youse guys are wacko.

 

[Garwood]

Why would they ?

I follow ya. My opinion is most everything is financially driven except maybe the earthquake that leveled Turkey. News is entertainment, not educational.

I hope that as time progresses Americans will become more aware that we should not try running the universe by ourselves as there are other folks that matter too. Simultaneously it would be nice if the Chinese government did a little less censoring and freedom restricting of it's people.

From the perspective of owning a business that makes products in America I find it beyond futile to compete with Chinese manufacturing in the realms they dominate- Like the OP's vise. The problem is that for all 10 of the folks that say they will spend 600% more for a "made in Murica" product, there are 10,000 Americans that will buy the $65 Chinese product Amazon Prime. We're addicted to basic stuff being cheap and we cannot make basic stuff at a low cost here anymore.

 

[DDoug]

Copying a Chinese product without improving anything to sell it for 600% more on the sole merit that it is made in USA doesn't get me very excited.

Maybe the OP can improve it with killer customer service or do it in type 3 ano or make it from lightweight 4140 forgings.

Where have you been ?
"Military grade billet aluminum"

 

[plastikdreams]

Where have you been ?
"Military grade billet aluminum"

Uh aerospace grade billet aluminium is stronger and more corrosion resistant than military grade.

Get with the times old man

 

[DDoug]

Uh aerospace grade billet aluminium is stronger and more corrosion resistant than military grade.

Get with the times old man

Not on the U-toob universe it aint....

 

[plastikdreams]

Not on the U-toob universe it aint....

Bah the utoob is unreliable

 

[DDoug]

Bah the utoob is unreliable

True....very true. but it makes money.

 

[plastikdreams]

True....very true. but it makes money.

And lulz..lotsa lulz

 

[mhajicek]

Change the 60* thread form to Acme and it'll be an improvement - lower friction, higher strength.

Are you talking about the screw, or the ways? For the ways, the 60° thread form is how the width is fitted at the same time as the height, by dialing a single offset; it's what makes this design work, and what makes it so much cheaper than a box way vise.

For the screw; what makes you think an Acme thread is stronger? For the same pitch it has a narrower root. A few decades ago my dad was working on an air-dropped torpedo design, and he specified a 60° thread form for the screw that would unthread the parachute when the prop started up. His manager overrode him and made it Acme. It stripped, repeatedly. They went back to 60° and it worked perfectly.