# Round Rod holding



## Charley Davidson (Jul 22, 2012)

I was gonna make a set of soft jaws for holding round rod in my Kurt. After some thought I decided it was too much work to make a set of jaws that wouldn't get used that often & would be extra work swapping them out so I came up with this solution tonight when I needed to alter some bolts for T slots in my gantry.

I milled out a section that would fit into the opening in the base of my vice so it would be fixed and work could be easily repeatable. Then I milled in several Vs both horizontal & vertical to hold several different sizes of round stock. I used it to make 8 of these bolts. It was 3 operations.


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## November X-ray (Jul 22, 2012)

Good Idea!


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## bcall2043 (Jul 22, 2012)

Charley Davidson said:


> I milled out a section that would fit into the opening in the base of my vice so it would be fixed and work could be easily repeatable. Then I milled in several Vs both horizontal & vertical to hold several different sizes of round stock...........



Nice tool Charley. I like the fingers that locate the tool from side to side.

Benny


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## Charley Davidson (Jul 22, 2012)

bcall2043 said:


> Nice tool Charley. I like the fingers that locate the tool from side to side.
> 
> Benny



Thanks, I did that so I could do several piece runs with accuracy. I'm gonna put a pretty large V on the other side both horizontal and vertical for pipe/tubing & larger solid rod. I think I may do some soft jaw sets the same way, I think as long as they get tapped in with a mallet when tightening they should be fairly accurate.


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## Charley Davidson (Jul 23, 2012)

I guess this wasn't that interesting or impressive:nuts::whistle::headscratch:


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## Tony Wells (Jul 23, 2012)

I wouldn't say that, Charley. I'm betting that several members are making plans to do something just like it, or based on your idea.


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## November X-ray (Jul 23, 2012)

Charley Davidson said:


> I guess this wasn't that interesting or impressive:nuts::whistle::headscratch:



Charley  - Don't get discouraged, this weekend must have been one of those (the stars are out of alignment) weekends!


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## xalky (Jul 23, 2012)

Charley Davidson said:


> I guess this wasn't that interesting or impressive:nuts::whistle::headscratch:


 You know what Charley, I hit the new posts button all the time when I'm here and for some reason, this thread never showed up. Besides, I was out all day yesterday. I've been wanting to do something like this, and I didn't want to remove the jaws on my vice everytime I wanted to hold something round. This is perfect. I need a chunk of aluminum!)


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## Charley Davidson (Jul 23, 2012)

xalky said:


> You know what Charley, I hit the new posts button all the time when I'm here and for some reason, this thread never showed up. Besides, I was out all day yesterday. I've been wanting to do something like this, and I didn't want to remove the jaws on my vice everytime I wanted to hold something round. This is perfect. I need a chunk of aluminum!)



Thanks , I'm gonna make several more fixtures/jigs this way, speeds up the setup & if you have a job in the mill & need to do a quick last minute job switchover time is quick. I had several jigs/fixtures like this when in the cabinet making biz that really made life easier.


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## Hawkeye (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm hoping to do something like that soon. I can't use your indexing fingers because the Yamatokoki 7 1/2" vise doesn't have any opening in the middle. The 4" vise can be done that way. I'm going to need a couple of large aluminum blocks.


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## Charley Davidson (Jul 23, 2012)

Hawkeye said:


> I'm hoping to do something like that soon. I can't use your indexing fingers because the Yamatokoki 7 1/2" vise doesn't have any opening in the middle. The 4" vise can be done that way. I'm going to need a couple of large aluminum blocks.



Make the fingers fit the outside edges of the vise. A better method might be to put a dowel in the fixture and vise jaw, that way it stays same position side to side & stays seated in the vise.


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## Old Iron (Jul 24, 2012)

I like it and I think I've got a block the right size. I just made some soft jaws for one vise I have but this would work in 2 that I don't have any for.

Bit the vertical is tided up waiting on a 5/8 ball nose end mill from Enco. I was thinking I had one but the closest is a 3/4. (Ya I know don't think):nono:

I didn't get a thread dail with my 13" LeBlond and the lead screw is the same as a 13" South Bend. I have a extra fot that and thats what I'm going to use. Any way thats in the mill.

Paul


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## PurpLev (Jul 24, 2012)

nice... and there I was just filing my bolts to fit in the T-slots :nuts:. this is so much nicer! 

I was  thinking of making something similar for holding rounds vertically as well as pen-blanks. was thinkng about making complete soft jaws, but maybe a block like this would simplify things (and I like simplifying) thanks for the reminder!


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