wquiles
Flashaholic
Thanks to various forum members I have been improving my setup for bench tools to aid while working on various small projects. The thread on "Flexible Hands" has lots of great ideas by Don, John, and others, so I decided to incorporate these various pieces along with a pin vice into a sturdy and flexible bench tool, based on John's own setup. Let me start by thanking them as they came up with the original idea/setup :thumbsup:
To hold larger items I have a Panavise that I bought that has the "soft jaws", but unfortunately it is unsuitable for small items:
I was fortunate that for a base/foundation I had a Panavise tool available that I picked up for free when the lab at my old company closed - you can see it here with the attachment to hold large PWB's. On the left you can see the 4x Flex-A-Mag magnifying piece that I will also be attaching to the base (more on this later). Right in front you see the small pin vise that I have bolted to the bench (thanks much to forum member "darkzero" for learning about this small vice), which has been a little bit less than satisfactory due to being very sloppy:
I first started with the pin vise:
So I started by dissasembling the pin vise:
and measuring the dia of the alignment rods:
and finding a drill that would work for this dia:
Not only am I going to setup new fitted, Delrin sleeves for the alignment rods, but I am also going to create a new fitted "nut" made from Delrin to also eliminate most/all of the slop in the screw mechanism:
Once I drill a larger hole, I started making a Delrin plug to match that hole I just made:
The original screw is 1/4"-20tpi:
Delrin is a slight press fit:
Then I drill and tap it:
Here is the finished part:
Since gluing Delrin is not easy at all, I chose a mechanical way to keep the plug from moving, so I drill/tap on the bottom side using some small screws:
I then proceeded to make the larger holes so that I can fit the new Delrin sleeves which will remove all play. Since it is a curve surface I proceeded to use a stiff solid carbide drill to enlarge the original hole and make it "flat" enough for the actual drill to start enlarging the hole. I don't have a DRO installed yet, but I aligned everything by hand/eye as best as I could, plus using a drill that matches the original hole as a centering device:
The new holes came up perfect - much better than I hoped:
Again I cut Delrin to the right dia:
and drill to match the alignment rods:
Again I used screws to mechanically keep the Delrin in place:
Here is the finished, fitted, "restored" pin vise. On the second pic the Delrin sleeve on the right side of the photo looks bigger in dia than the rod - that is just the bevel I cut on each end. The fit is perfect with zero play:
One of the goals was to make this pin vise available as an accessory to the Panavise, so it would be easy to reposition as needed, so I will have to drill/tap in order to make it work with the Panavise, but also with a small, movable arm as well. Once I drill and tap the end of the arm, I was able to make it work in a fixture that it fairly firm and adjustable (having it bolted to the bench is not that convenient):
Now, to make the pin vise work in the Panavise, I modified the end piece and drill/tap the end:
Once done, I now have the pin vise in an even sturdier platform, which is also completely adjustable:
To complete the setup, I bought the 4x Flex-A-Mag, and 3x of the premium "3-rd hands" from Otto Frei:
The tips on these are worlds apart from the traditional aligator tips:
Now, I got lucky, as the Panavise had already 3 holes with the same exact size/threads as the ones being used by the Otto Frei 3rd-hands:
So I cut to length some screws:
I then drilled a hole to attach the Flex-A-Mag:
and then bolt the Flex-A-Mag - note it is not quite touching the bottom as I wanted, while giving a firm hold (the left and right black ones are the rubber feet):
Here is the complete "fixture" without the pin vise:
and through the magnifying lens:
Here are the two tools that can hold the restored pin vise:
and this is the Panavise setup with the pin vise:
Now I will finally have a great setup for small parts/projects
To hold larger items I have a Panavise that I bought that has the "soft jaws", but unfortunately it is unsuitable for small items:
I was fortunate that for a base/foundation I had a Panavise tool available that I picked up for free when the lab at my old company closed - you can see it here with the attachment to hold large PWB's. On the left you can see the 4x Flex-A-Mag magnifying piece that I will also be attaching to the base (more on this later). Right in front you see the small pin vise that I have bolted to the bench (thanks much to forum member "darkzero" for learning about this small vice), which has been a little bit less than satisfactory due to being very sloppy:
I first started with the pin vise:
So I started by dissasembling the pin vise:
and measuring the dia of the alignment rods:
and finding a drill that would work for this dia:
Not only am I going to setup new fitted, Delrin sleeves for the alignment rods, but I am also going to create a new fitted "nut" made from Delrin to also eliminate most/all of the slop in the screw mechanism:
Once I drill a larger hole, I started making a Delrin plug to match that hole I just made:
The original screw is 1/4"-20tpi:
Delrin is a slight press fit:
Then I drill and tap it:
Here is the finished part:
Since gluing Delrin is not easy at all, I chose a mechanical way to keep the plug from moving, so I drill/tap on the bottom side using some small screws:
I then proceeded to make the larger holes so that I can fit the new Delrin sleeves which will remove all play. Since it is a curve surface I proceeded to use a stiff solid carbide drill to enlarge the original hole and make it "flat" enough for the actual drill to start enlarging the hole. I don't have a DRO installed yet, but I aligned everything by hand/eye as best as I could, plus using a drill that matches the original hole as a centering device:
The new holes came up perfect - much better than I hoped:
Again I cut Delrin to the right dia:
and drill to match the alignment rods:
Again I used screws to mechanically keep the Delrin in place:
Here is the finished, fitted, "restored" pin vise. On the second pic the Delrin sleeve on the right side of the photo looks bigger in dia than the rod - that is just the bevel I cut on each end. The fit is perfect with zero play:
One of the goals was to make this pin vise available as an accessory to the Panavise, so it would be easy to reposition as needed, so I will have to drill/tap in order to make it work with the Panavise, but also with a small, movable arm as well. Once I drill and tap the end of the arm, I was able to make it work in a fixture that it fairly firm and adjustable (having it bolted to the bench is not that convenient):
Now, to make the pin vise work in the Panavise, I modified the end piece and drill/tap the end:
Once done, I now have the pin vise in an even sturdier platform, which is also completely adjustable:
To complete the setup, I bought the 4x Flex-A-Mag, and 3x of the premium "3-rd hands" from Otto Frei:
The tips on these are worlds apart from the traditional aligator tips:
Now, I got lucky, as the Panavise had already 3 holes with the same exact size/threads as the ones being used by the Otto Frei 3rd-hands:
So I cut to length some screws:
I then drilled a hole to attach the Flex-A-Mag:
and then bolt the Flex-A-Mag - note it is not quite touching the bottom as I wanted, while giving a firm hold (the left and right black ones are the rubber feet):
Here is the complete "fixture" without the pin vise:
and through the magnifying lens:
Here are the two tools that can hold the restored pin vise:
and this is the Panavise setup with the pin vise:
Now I will finally have a great setup for small parts/projects
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I pay far much to attention to all the details with everything. My brothers say this is part of my OCD. 
Whenever someone posts a picture I tend to look at the surroundings before the subject. :laughing:
