What's that thang!? - Answered

[C-Bag]

it looks like all it's missing is the base ring. And the prices are all over the map from $70 for cheap looking ones to as much as $500+ for comparable vises. So how would you price it?

 

[plumberbummer]

If relatively complete, I'd be looking at selling it on eBay and using the funds to buy some tooling you need. No point in turning a wrench into a hammer.

The practical solution...
It's missing a base and the key(flathead fits the slot).
I would probably get a larger return selling it and putting it towards a proper tool post for my lathe,
BUT,
It does look pretty sweet setting on the bench

 

[C-Bag]

It does look pretty sweet setting on the bench

My silly self would be trying to make a spherical base that would lock good enough to hold in a mill, surface grinder, or my shaper. Imagine the crazy compound angles you could machine?

 

[francist]

I made a jumbo-sized one of these one time to hold a piece of stone for shaping with my angle grinder. I used a ten-pin bowling ball as the sphere and gripped it with a tripod made of 2x4’s. I shaped the tops of the 2x4’s kind of like the claws on a ring setting and I remember getting the shape right enough to grip properly was devilish. The whole thing stood like a tripod, and I used turnbuckles to maintain the tension on the “claws”. Worked great though, and being able to position the head at any angle was really handy. Wish I had a picture but doubt I do. Right at the transition time between film and digital, so whatever I may have had would be on a long dead hard drive somewhere…

-frank