DIY Self Centering Vise - Build Your Own

[Uzaree]

I've seen a post here that someone started a few years ago but never posted the files. So I was needing something similar so I designed it this weekend.

Made from .25 plate. Adjust now ever you need. Should be able to grab 2.5" down to .625" tube.

Vise Body x2.DXF

Pull Rev1 x2.DXF

Jaw x3.DXF

[Rex]

Thanks for sharing

[Xtreme metal]

That's awesome. Thanks for the share

[acourtjester]

thanks filed away for use when needed, possible interest for those wanting a pipe cutting axis as a steady rest.

[Uzaree]

I left it to the end user to decide how they wanted to lock it in place. Lots of freedom in this design. The only thing important is the slots, as long as that stays the same you can modify the outside pretty easy.

[Motoxrdr]

I need one of these right now, You are the man!

[_jay_]

Excellent !!!

[chilco]

has anyone cut this out, I want to see

[Affinity84]

Cool, thank you!

[mmentel5]

thank you cant wait to try it.

[AJNess822]

This will work great for some exhaust projects i have coming up, thank you for the share!

[cstroke]

Interesting, I always love new and exciting ways to pinch my fingers.

[Rich_H]

What do you use for bolts? Do they need spacers in the slots?

[jjweldfab5238]

I left it to the end user to decide how they wanted to lock it in place. Lots of freedom in this design. The only thing important is the slots, as long as that stays the same you can modify the outside pretty easy.

i decided to try and cut one of these out this week, im wondering if all the slots are supposed to line up at final assembly? i have everything together but im not getting any movement once bolted up.
thanks in advance!

[cuttinparts]

I meant to build one but haven't yet, curious to see how yours works out. I expect that the slots in the 2 outside plates should be the slots that line up and as long as the bolts weren't tightened too much to sandwich it all together and with a little lube on the plates it should move fairly easily.

[jjweldfab5238]

I meant to build one but haven't yet, curious to see how yours works out. I expect that the slots in the 2 outside plates should be the slots that line up and as long as the bolts weren't tightened too much to sandwich it all together and with a little lube on the plates it should move fairly easily.

after i got everything cleaned up it worked perfectly. i went ahead and added 3 crude redesigned jaws with teeth instead of being smooth and it seemed to hold pieces a little better. after that i actually added a 2nd set of jaws to widen the area in witch the piece was held and had execeptionally more stability. i used a plasma cutter for this and one thing to note if one does try this with plasma it toke me quite a bit of hand filing to get the slots how they were intended to be due to how narrow the slot is.

[cuttinparts]

after i got everything cleaned up it worked perfectly. i went ahead and added 3 crude redesigned jaws with teeth instead of being smooth and it seemed to hold pieces a little better. after that i actually added a 2nd set of jaws to widen the area in witch the piece was held and had execeptionally more stability. i used a plasma cutter for this and one thing to note if one does try this with plasma it toke me quite a bit of hand filing to get the slots how they were intended to be due to how narrow the slot is.

Thanks for the update and the great advice on the improvements. Hope to get around to building one soon

[Squatchemup]

That's cool

[HARJO]

Very, very similar to how the Baileigh TN-250 holesaw tube notcher vise is designed. Bravo!

[oneoffgarage@gmail.com]

Pretty nice idea. Thank you

[Uzaree]

Sorry I've been away, for some reason I never get emails unless I get a PM. Maybe there are some settings I have wrong. Most of the time when I get an email it's for my Plasma Cam software post.

[Uzaree]

>

> I meant to build one but haven't yet, curious to see how yours works out. I
> expect that the slots in the 2 outside plates should be the slots that line
> up and as long as the bolts weren't tightened too much to sandwich it all
> together and with a little lube on the plates it should move fairly easily.
>

>
> after i got everything cleaned up it worked perfectly. i went ahead and
> added 3 crude redesigned jaws with teeth instead of being smooth and it
> seemed to hold pieces a little better. after that i actually added a 2nd
> set of jaws to widen the area in witch the piece was held and had
> execeptionally more stability. i used a plasma cutter for this and one
> thing to note if one does try this with plasma it toke me quite a bit of
> hand filing to get the slots how they were intended to be due to how narrow
> the slot is.

I'm sorry, I'm just seeing this. I'm glad you got this up and running. I may those jaws so the tube could spin. As you have found out, you can mod the jaws anyway you want and as long as you have the slots correct it should work.

[Uzaree]

What do you use for bolts? Do they need spacers in the slots?

If I remember correctly, I used shoulder bolts.

[Oddball]

Hi guys, I've just joined and paid my dues etc.
I'm an old man and dont do CAD etc, but would like a copy of the drawing listed at the beginning of this Thread.
Can anybody forward me a copy that I can use manually lets say and then maybe I can take it from there.
Any basic help would be much appreciated.

Best wishes,
Russ.

[adbuch]

I'm not sure how you will run a cnc plasma table without learning "Cad". If you are planning to make these manually with other tools, then you could print the three pdf files I attached and scale them to the correct size using the reference dimensions shown on my screenshot. These will print on standard 8.5 x 11 printer paper. Once printed, you could cut them out so they look like the actual parts, then lay them on top of your metal and manually trace the outlines of the the outer perimeters, holes, and slots onto the metal and proceed to cut them manually. The curved slots are approximately 3/8" wide. Good Luck!!

reference dims.jpg

Vise Body x2 Model.pdf

Pull Rev1 x2 Model.pdf

Jaw x3 Model.pdf