wooden antique engravers vise

[jluke]

hope everyone having a great holiday weekend ,got chance to buy a wooden engraver vise top is lined with brass with two long screw type bolts at either end ,can anyone give some insight on these devices looks like it might slide some ,dosent seem to mount to anything secure like a regular vise .thanks guys

[dogcatcher]

I made one on my wood lathe, but I used the vise mechanism off of a handheld jeweler's vise for the vise mechanism.   I turned a wood ball out of maple about 3" in diameter.  Then tapped the top to fit the screw on the bottom of the hand held vise.  I believe it was 1/4-20 threads. 



Overall it worked "okay", but was too light so I drilled from the bottom and hollowed out some space and added lead shot.  Not the best substitute for a real ball vise but it worked good enough that I kept it for my shop in New Mexico.  Nice for real small "stuff". 

[AeroE]

Although this is an old thread, I have a suggestion for making a ball vise; use a jeweler's cast iron pitch bowl filled with lead, and topped off with a plate to mount adjustable vise of choice.

These bowl are sold in two or three weights and diameters, and the cost is low enough to buy two or three for different set ups and still be light years ahead of buying a nice GRS, one of which would be using pitch to hold odd shapes.

Since the bowls are cast, the outside is a little rough.  That is not necessarily a bad thing for controlling the vise movement.  A smooth surface is easy enough to make with paint polished and waxed without sweating the rough surface, or by using body filler under the paint to get a dead smooth surface.



Another useful parts holder -



http://www.gesswein.com/c-185-engraving-supplies.aspx

This is just one seller.  I also have a half spherical steel bowl.  These can be bought from online vendors, but they are a little more costly.