# What goes on in my shop #2



## vapremac (Mar 7, 2014)

Was asked to build a small size engravers ball vise the other day ,so this is
what I came up with.

William


----------



## drs23 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's beautiful work!

I've been photographing a project I'm working on but after that it won't see the screen now.:whiteflag:


----------



## bladehunter (Mar 8, 2014)

*AWESOME!*​


----------



## darkzero (Mar 8, 2014)

Very nice! That is the same pin vise that I use that I was talking about. I machined the square lug off mine though as I don't need to have it mounted, I just use it to sit flat on my table for soldering small circuits.


----------



## RandyM (Mar 8, 2014)

:thumbzup3:


----------



## Guv (Mar 8, 2014)

Brilliant workmanships!!!:man:.


----------



## twraska (Mar 8, 2014)

SWEEEEET!!!!!!!


----------



## videotrack (Mar 8, 2014)

vapremac said:


> Was asked to build a small size engravers ball vise the other day ,so this is
> what I came up with.
> 
> William
> ...



William

Sensational.  Very impressive. What an artisan.

How long do you reckon it took, hours-wise, to complete?
Congratulations on your fine workmanship
Trevor


----------



## dave2176 (Mar 8, 2014)

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!


----------



## Bill Gruby (Mar 8, 2014)

Beautiful work. You are truly a Craftsman.\


Billy G"


----------



## smallfly (Mar 8, 2014)

excellent workmanship!!


----------



## Jim1942 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's what's nice about this forum.  It's a treat to see what a lot of you guys are capable of.

Beautiful workmanship.  Keep the pictures coming.

Jim


----------



## 12bolts (Mar 8, 2014)

Thats some very fine work! I love the detail. Just 1 question, does it just sit in its base, or is there a magnet inside as well?

Cheers Phil


----------



## vapremac (Mar 8, 2014)

videotrack said:


> William
> 
> Sensational.  Very impressive. What an artisan.
> 
> ...




  Trevor ,

 This was one of those work it in with other jobs going on at the same time type of thing.
I'm usually running a few machines at once, so when I had a few spare minutes I'd tinker
with this one. All in all it was done in a day.

William


----------



## vapremac (Mar 8, 2014)

videotrack said:


> William
> 
> Sensational.  Very impressive. What an artisan.
> 
> ...





12bolts said:


> Thats some very fine work! I love the detail. Just 1 question, does it just sit in its base, or is there a magnet inside as well?
> 
> Cheers Phil




  Phil ,

All of the ball vises I have built or seen just sit in their base ,some of the users don't even utilize
the base fixture they just set them on a small pillow and "roll" them on that. Never seen one with
a magnet , not saying it can't be done though ,anything is possible.

William


----------



## vapremac (Mar 9, 2014)

I forgot that I had taken this pic , thought I'd post it so everyone could take look. Also
been trying to work on my photography skills.
  Any comments on the pictures would be greatly appreciated ( i.e ,lighting ,focus ,shadows )
I'm a machinist not a photographer ,LOL !

 William


----------



## markknx (Mar 9, 2014)

WOW very beatifull work. This hole pin vise thing has opened a new line of thinking for me.


----------



## vapremac (Mar 9, 2014)

markknx said:


> WOW very beatifull work. This hole pin vise thing has opened a new line of thinking for me.



  Thanks Mark !   Pin vises definitely have a wide array of uses in variety of applications.

William


----------



## mick-h (Mar 10, 2014)

vapremac said:


> I forgot that I had taken this pic , thought I'd post it so everyone could take look. Also
> been trying to work on my photography skills.
> Any comments on the pictures would be greatly appreciated ( i.e ,lighting ,focus ,shadows )
> I'm a machinist not a photographer ,LOL !



Hi William, that's a lovely piece of work m8.
I have been into photography for approx 30 years now (machining 6 months) and I can tell you there is nothing wrong with your photos.
Lighting, exposure, focus & composition all seem spot on m8,  :thumbsup2: though having said that, in the second photo you have cut off the head! common mistake  :biggrin:
ATB
Mick


----------



## n3480h (Mar 10, 2014)

William, I am humbled.  That is a gorgeous piece of work.

Tom


----------



## vapremac (Mar 10, 2014)

mick-h said:


> Hi William, that's a lovely piece of work m8.
> I have been into photography for approx 30 years now (machining 6 months) and I can tell you there is nothing wrong with your photos.
> Lighting, exposure, focus & composition all seem spot on m8,  :thumbsup2: though having said that, in the second photo you have cut off the head! common mistake  :biggrin:
> ATB
> Mick




     Mick ,

  Thanks for the feedback on the pics ,means a lot coming from one who has the amount of
experience as you. Glad to know I'm doing it right.
  I'll work on the head chopping issue in future pics, lol !

  William


----------



## mtnlvr (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks for sharing, great craftsmanship.


----------



## vapremac (Mar 22, 2014)

Just an update......

 The gentleman I made this for absolutely loves it and says it works perfect for his intended
application.

  Also would like to thank everyone for their kind words and interest as well as all of the
views.

  Thanks,
 William


----------



## autonoz (Mar 22, 2014)

Great job! What is it made out of?


----------



## vapremac (Mar 22, 2014)

Autonoz,

   This particular one,the base and body, is made from 4140 ann. cold drawn . The pin vise is made from
aluminum.

William


----------



## FOMOGO (Apr 4, 2014)

Very nice job. For us beginners could you explain, or better yet show pics of how the doming (for lack of a better word) tool attaches  to the cross feed, and is it supported at the top somehow? Thanks, Mike


----------



## vapremac (Apr 4, 2014)

Mike ,

  I'll be more than happy to take some pics so you can see how its attached.

William


----------



## markknx (Apr 5, 2014)

Mike just so you will have a better term, radius or ball turning tool seems to be the the normal name for these handy gadgets. (not saying this is the proper name) There are many different designs for this type of tool and most are fairly easy to make. As a matter of fact the part in my profile pic. is the body of the one I made. Mark





FOMOGO said:


> Very nice job. For us beginners could you explain, or better yet show pics of how the doming (for lack of a better word) tool attaches  to the cross feed, and is it supported at the top somehow? Thanks, Mike


----------



## FOMOGO (Apr 5, 2014)

Thanks, I will look forward to seeing the hole thing. I can see it's made up of a section of pipe and some bar stock in the pic. My welding skills are good, but my machining has a ways to go. Cheers, Mike


----------



## vapremac (Apr 5, 2014)

Mike ,

   Here's a few pics of the entire thing. Years ago I was asked to produce radius end hot
work (H13) punches for use in fly presses , at the time I did not have the capabilities to
form ball ends quickly.
   This entire thing is made from drops , as you can probably tell cause she ain't pretty ,
but I was in no position to purchase one at the time.
  I made it so it could be on and off in seconds for production as well as rigid enough
to take a serious cut and no vibration issues affecting the surface finish.
 As you can see it will do both concave and convex . Right now it will turn up to a
4.500" ball , I'm going to be modifying it soon as I have had quite a few requests for
a larger ball diameter in the engravers vises I make.

William


----------



## FOMOGO (Apr 6, 2014)

You know what they say, "pretty is as pretty does" and that looks like it's doing exactly what you need it to. That one will definitely be going on list of things to build. If you had to do it again is there anything you would do differently? Thanks again for sharing. Mike


----------



## itsme_Bernie (Apr 6, 2014)

There is no doubt you are an artist and a craftsman..

So is the majority of the weight down in that ball?  Or is the ability to stand tilted due to a tight tolerance and friction in the seat of the ring in the ball end of the stand?

Truly beautiful work!  Inspiring to get back to my own shop!


Bernie


----------



## vapremac (Apr 6, 2014)

FOMOGO said:


> You know what they say, "pretty is as pretty does" and that looks like it's doing exactly what you need it to. That one will definitely be going on list of things to build. If you had to do it again is there anything you would do differently? Thanks again for sharing. Mike



  Mike ,

 You're right it does what it was designed to do and it has done it many ,many times.
If there was one thing I might change if I had to do it over again would be to add a 
couple of grease fittings on the top and bottom pivot points , but a shot of oil has
has worked well over the years.

William


----------



## vapremac (Apr 6, 2014)

itsme_Bernie said:


> There is no doubt you are an artist and a craftsman..
> 
> So is the majority of the weight down in that ball?  Or is the ability to stand tilted due to a tight tolerance and friction in the seat of the ring in the ball end of the stand?
> 
> ...




 Bernie ,

  This particular design the diameter and weight of the ball are only a part of the equation
a lot of its ability to stand tilted is in the perfectly matched I.D. of the base.

  Most engravers will either apply some type of sticky resin to the ball or place a cloth between the
base and ball to create even more friction.

William


----------



## Shadowdog500 (Apr 12, 2014)

That came out gorgeous!!!  

Chris


----------



## 283v8 (Apr 13, 2014)

Simply beautiful. 
It makes me want to improve my machinist skills. Ill never get to that level but its a great goal.


----------



## vapremac (Apr 13, 2014)

283v8 said:


> Simply beautiful.
> It makes me want to improve my machinist skills. Ill never get to that level but its a great goal.




    When I started out years ago working under some of the finest gentlemen I've ever known
I was constantly in awe and amazement at the amount of knowledge and talent that these
men possessed.
    Their work pushed me to become what I am today , without them and me soaking it all
up like a sponge who knows where things may have led me.
    But , I will say these men were tough as nails and you only got shown how to do something
once.
  I remember they asked me one time if I wanted to be a professional or a craftsman. My reply
was a professional , WRONG ANSWER!!  Their exact words to me were.....a professional knows
how......a craftsman knows why.

William


----------

