Float Lock Vise

I have a regular small size benchtop drill press and I have tried a number of vises but I was not really happy. I saw Mr Pete demonstrating a float lock vise on youtube he bought at an auction, it seemed quite big for my little drill press so I decided to make my own to match the table size.
The jaws are from 3/4" square mild steel x 3" long. I used 8mm rod and cut a 8 x 1.25mm thread for the screw. For the shaft I used a 8mm hardened shaft from a printer. The other parts are all from mild steel.

Attachment 30602 Attachment 30604

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Here is a video of it

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-wE...ew?usp=sharing

That's very nice; might it be possible to get higher-res versions of those pictures? (or at least the second one)

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Thanks Dbj58! We've added your Float Lock Vise to our Vises category,
as well as to your builder page: Dbj58's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-float-lock-vise"> <img src="/uploads/225530/homemade-float-lock-vise.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-float-lock-vise">Float Lock Vise</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Dbj58">Dbj58</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/vise'>vise</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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I like it! Can you clarify what I think I'm seeing?
- red arrow = vise block tapped to match threaded rod?
- orange arrow = dowel pin through the slider rod to retain it?
- green arrow = ? looks like a pin but off to the side? I would think the vise block has a ID slightly over the thread rod OD? Can you elaborate on this or show the parts disassembled? Or a sketch?


Attachment 30605

bruce.desertrat,

Thank you, here is a link to my google drive where all the photos are. If you want dimensions I can do you a rough drawing for you.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...pl?usp=sharing

petertha,

you are correct the moving jaw is tapped to take the screw (red arrow), the yellow arrow is a retaining pin for the rod there is one on the other end as well to secure the bottom, the green arrow is also a retaining pin for the screw and you are correct about placement. It is a 2mm pin and it is drilled at 4mm from center on an 8mm hole, I cut a groove in the screw that it slides into. I have a picture on my google drive showing the pin, offset and screw thread groove. Here is the link

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...pl?usp=sharing

Very nice.

Thanks a lot. The more I think about this the more I see how useful it is; I have a dinky 8" HF benchtop drill press; I've picked up a couple conventional small drill pres vises, but being able to adjust it so freely and lock the work in place like this looks to be very useful.

Can't thank you enough for posting about this. This is great. I had no idea these things exist and it looks pretty straightforward to build. I hunted up Mr. Pete's video on his old vise on youtube. Thanks again.
I have been using a bolt stuck into the drill press table to keep the drill press vise from rotating. It helps. But this float lock would be better.

For others wanting to find it, here's Mr. Pete's video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzi9C2xYsd4

Thanks for that link Bruce, Tubal Cain has long been one of my favorites from my teens as a major contributor to the Model Engineer magazine but did not know he was Mr Pete, I recognized his distinctive voice immediately.

Very cool. I have a large one here for my drill press but never thought of making a smaller one. Could be very useful.

Congratulations Dbj58 - your Float Lock Vise is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

Good job on a big week around here, with many high-quality tool builds. This is a useful vise design that I suspect we'll see more of around here.

Some more nice builds from this week:

Small Rotary Table by threesixesinarow
Sand Muller by Mark Presling
Knifemaker's Vise by JKeetonKnives
Parts Tumbler by Catfish
Parkerizing Heater by Mark Presling
Bar Stock Bender by Kwandotechnic
Drill Press Table Counterweight by Catfish
Door Knocker by Philip Davies
Revolving Two-Tire Lift by steven Sauer
Portable Miter Saw Table by Keith William Knull
QCTP Tool Holders by Catfish
Wall Hook Racks by Philip Davies
Lathe Dog by celsoari
Roll Pin Punches by Catfish
Bearing Puller by Eloy Workshop
Nail Knot Tool by Catfish


Dbj58 - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post. And, you'll now notice the wrench-on-pedestal award in the awards showcase in your postbit, visible beneath your username:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...OfTheWeek4.pnghttps://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...eWeekIcon4.png

You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and award choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

Nice work! :thumbsup:

Thank you very much for the award

Mr Pete is Tubalcain written in one word whereas Tubal Cain is an author of many different machining and model engeneering books. These are 2 different people.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dbj58

Thank you very much for the award

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It is well-deserved.Yours is an inspirational tool, versus an aspirational one....

Threesixesinarow had a great tool this week with his rotary table build, but it's way beyond my skill level. Someday I aspire to be skilled enough to make things like that.

Yours is inspirational; it has me looking over the bits and pieces in my shop to make one for myself.

:hattip:

I use the commercial version. Fine on a full size machine to drill, also good for vertical bandsaw, but needs real estate. Your float-lock [Dbj58] captured every facet in a well proportioned vise. I shouldn't think mild steel an issue, could always drill and tap for hard jaw plates.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dbj58

Mr Pete is Tubalcain written in one word whereas Tubal Cain is an author of many different machining and model engeneering books. These are 2 different people.

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Thanks for the correction, always best to get it right.

To add to the confusion, there is the hyphenated original "Tubal-cain": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubal-cain

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Toolmaker51

I use the commercial version. Fine on a full size machine to drill, also good for vertical bandsaw, but needs real estate. Your float-lock [Dbj58] captured every facet in a well proportioned vise. I shouldn't think mild steel an issue, could always drill and tap for hard jaw plates.

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Thank you, I agree 4140 would have been better and I wish I had the tooling to cut Acme thread as the screw needs to be that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by olderdan

Thanks for that link Bruce, Tubal Cain has long been one of my favorites from my teens as a major contributor to the Model Engineer magazine but did not know he was Mr Pete, I recognized his distinctive voice immediately.

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He is NOT Tubal Cain. He has cheekily used (and taken advantage of) the name that was ORIGINALLY used by a British model engineer, Tom Walshaw. Tom contributed many article for Model Engineer Magazine (and possibly Model Engineers Workshop) using the pseudonym Tubal Cain. Mt Pete's use of the name may have deceived others into thinking he is the "real" Tubal Cain.

Tom Walshaw (aka Tubal Cain) was a leader in his field and he wrote numbers books on metalwork.

In his intros his "Hello Tubal Cain here..." is not true.

See this reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Walshaw

While familiar with the few good youtube 'video machinists/ engineers', I'm not a subscriber.
When this detail appeared, went looking for "Tubal Cain". It appears Walshaw's use is first alright; an identity-moniker chosen and modified from Tubalcain, the biblical metal worker. Not different than had Thor or Vulcan been used, just a bit less imposing.
With Mr. Walshaw's passing in 1998, it's not likely he fielded any content for youtube.

Thanks once again to Wikipedia. Another reminder to a stand-off with a sociology professor, that it couldn't be cited reference material for compositions like term papers. However, the text he authored [thereby collecting revenue] was.
Any care to guess who won?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Sanders

He is NOT Tubal Cain. He has cheekily used (and taken advantage of) the name that was ORIGINALLY used by a British model engineer, Tom Walshaw. Tom contributed many article for Model Engineer Magazine (and possibly Model Engineers Workshop) using the pseudonym Tubal Cain. Mt Pete's use of the name may have deceived others into thinking he is the "real" Tubal Cain.

Tom Walshaw (aka Tubal Cain) was a leader in his field and he wrote numbers books on metalwork.

In his intros his "Hello Tubal Cain here..." is not true.

See this reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Walshaw

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Thank you for the clarification. I bought numerous books of his on the workshop practice series for my son and they definately are in a British context. I also made the same error in assuming Mr Pete and Tubal Cain were the same individual.

Why is the threaded rod and the other rod so long? They allow the vice to travel to well outside of the drill table. What am I missing?

I think it's to accommodate larger workpieces; the longer screw and rod will let the clamp hold something that hangs off the table (within reason) yet still clamp it securely to the table.