New vise jaw product

[Susquatch]

Interesting John - have you got a few pictures of that technique?

I'll have to see what i can find for you. If I can't find anything, maybe I can mock something up. I prolly have a few jaws laying around though. Let me see if I can find those. Give me a while. I have grandsons here for the Easter weekend and they all need a constant stream of fishing lines untangled, tackle repairs, etc etc.

 

[Janger]

No fishing here John. The sky is dropping this white stuff all over.

 

[Susquatch]

@Janger - 50 degrees F here. I have a farm pond full of large mouth bass. Grandkids love it.

 

[Darren]

No fishing here John. The sky is dropping this white stuff all over.

Same here in Thunder Bay. I'm so done with winter!

 

[thestelster]

Way out of my price range too. Not buying one and not making one either.

For the few situations where I needed that kind of jaw flexibility, I simply made a pair of epoxy jaws. Just put the part between regular jaws make a close fitting box around the parts, line the box and the part with saran wrap, and pour the epoxy into the mold. Let it cure and then pull it apart.. The result is a pair of soft jaws that fit the vise and the part. There will be a few voids, but it will fit plenty good enough to withstand almost any working load I needed.

If an even tighter fit is needed, skip the saran wrap at the part and coat it with a release agent or shoe polish instead.

Gentlemen...even better than epoxy is fusible alloys (Cerrosafe). Take your part you want machined, place it in a metal box. Put Cerrosafe in a pot with water, put on a hot plate. Heat it up until the metal melts, pour everything into the box that holds your part, water and all. Wait til it hardens. Now do what you need to do. The water prevents the alloy from getting to hot, because Cerrosafe melts below boiling temp of water. When finished, put the whole thing in boiling water on the hot plate until your part comes loose. Reuse the Cerrosafe.

 

[PeterT]

I don't have a picture handy but tooling plates can go a long ways towards fixturing if the parts aren't too tall or the machining operations aren't too aggressive. Pic of mine being made for eventual use on my rotary table & lathe, but you get the idea - a grid of threaded holes. I also have rectangular one for holding in my mill vise. In conjunction with stops & something like Mitee Bite clamps, you can arrange for repeatable holding on various reference surfaces for odd surfaces.

Mitee-Bite Products LLC. | Innovator of compact, low-profile edge clamps

www.miteebite.com

 

[Susquatch]

Gentlemen...even better than epoxy is fusible alloys (Cerrosafe). Take your part you want machined, place it in a metal box. Put Cerrosafe in a pot with water, put on a hot plate. Heat it up until the metal melts, pour everything into the box that holds your part, water and all. Wait til it hardens. Now do what you need to do. The water prevents the alloy from getting to hot, because Cerrosafe melts below boiling temp of water. When finished, put the whole thing in boiling water on the hot plate until your part comes loose. Reuse the Cerrosafe.

I use cerrosafe all the time. I have several bricks of it. But I have NEVER used it for that!

That's one of many things I love about this forum. Incredible ideas out of nowhere!

What @thestelster didnt say about Cerrosafe is its use as a casting metric. You can use to to get very accurate inside dimensions of bores. When you cast it, it shrinks a bit after it hardens so it can be removed and then a while later it returns to its original size so you can measure it and get a very precise measurement. That's what I use it for.

But I love the idea of using it as a soft jaw! For most things you wouldn't even need a release agent. Just leave it there for the usage and then melt it away when done!

 

[Dabbler]

This means that for some limited uses, babbett can be used in a pinch - what a great world! thanks for mentioning cerrosafe - I've used it to cast chambers to help diagnose shooting problems, but never as a soft jaw - that is brilliant!

 

[PeterT]

I keep meaning to try some Cerrosafe. So far I have dodged my tubing bending challenges where its also recommended to prevent kinks & collapsing, but I'm sure it will rear its head again. Where are you guys buying yours from? If I have a hot plate set at say 95C some suitable melting temp, what kind of pot container is recommended if I want to melt in there vs water?

 

[Dabbler]

Brownells has some, which is where I got mine - but I gave mine away to a friend years ago.

To melt I just used a soup can, nothing fancy.

 

[Janger]

Gentlemen...even better than epoxy is fusible alloys (Cerrosafe). Take your part you want machined, place it in a metal box. Put Cerrosafe in a pot with water, put on a hot plate. Heat it up until the metal melts, pour everything into the box that holds your part, water and all. Wait til it hardens. Now do what you need to do. The water prevents the alloy from getting to hot, because Cerrosafe melts below boiling temp of water. When finished, put the whole thing in boiling water on the hot plate until your part comes loose. Reuse the Cerrosafe.

@thestelster got any pictures? @Alexander @Dan Dubeau You guys ever use that technique in production?

 

[140mower]

Same here in Thunder Bay. I'm so done with winter!

Never really figured why you folks back east paint your yards white in the winter.....

 

[Brent H]

I feel your pain @Darren

 

[Susquatch]

View attachment 23086

I feel your pain @Darren

Wow.......

 

[Susquatch]

Since we are talking boats now, I figured I'd share what it's like down by Lake Erie today.

Two future coast gaurd hero's performing real-world search and rescue of a priceless bass lure that got trapped on an off-shore sand bar surrounded by fierce undertows and tiger frogs so big that they eat seagulls as snacks.

 

[PeterT]

Brownells CerroSafe. They make some interesting points about this product vs. some of the other common names I hear about Cerrobend, Woodsmetal & other somewhat similar alloys

BROWNELLS CERROSAFE® CHAMBER CASTING ALLOY | Brownells

There are various products on the market which can be used to make a cast of a gun chamber. To be certain that the product we are offering you is the best and most practical, we contacted the basic manufacturer. They recommended Cerrosafe because ...

www.brownells.com

Canadian distributer

CERROSAFE INGOT - Rusty Wood Trading Co.

CERROSAFE INGOT For chamber casting and various other projects 1/2 pound ingot $ 35.00 each 1 pound ingot $65.00 each This alloy has a low melting point, melting between 158º and 190º F, considerably lower than the boiling point of water. It is useful for making reference castings whose...

www.rustywood.ca

Less cost per weight, but USA, not sure about shipping etc

Cerrosafe

Bar Weight and Size = approximately 1 lb. / 4½" L x 1½" W x ½" H Non-Eutectic Alloy Melting Temperature 160-190º F or 71.7-87.8º C Density .341 lbs./In3 9.4 g/cc Shrinks initially, grows to .0000” in 1 hour and continues to grow to .0025”. Chamber Casting Alloy. Brownell Cerrosafe

boltonmetalproducts.com

 

[Brent H]

@PeterT - that is a crazy alloy. Wonder how many times it took to get that cooling time frame down pat.

 

[Susquatch]

@PeterT - that is a crazy alloy. Wonder how many times it took to get that cooling time frame down pat.

They provide a chart that lists time VS shrink. I can attest to the fact that their published claim is bang on.

They make a point about the need to adhere to the heating process. I found that it attracts impurities after many uses so I'd recommend it only be used a few times for metrics but it could be used an almost unlimited number of times for soft jaws and similar tasks.

 

[PeterT]

When you cast it, it shrinks a bit after it hardens so it can be removed and then a while later it returns to its original size so you can measure it and get a very precise measurement. That's what I use it for.

See if I understand. After its cast & just cooled to solid, it has shrunk slightly so can slide out of the part? Then while resting slowly grows, at 30 min it equates to original dimensions?
What does the 0.0025" refer to? Do they mean inch per inch?

Hmmm.. that could be useful for other things.

Brownells> Unlike Woodsmetal which swells upon cooling and cannot be removed from a gun chamber, Cerrosafe shrinks during the first 30 minutes of cooling and then at the end of an hour, is EXACTLY chamber size. At the end of 200 hours it will have expanded approximately .0025". This factor is well known by all toolmakers and they will take it into consideration when making dies or reamers or gauges from your cast

 

[thestelster]

@thestelster got any pictures? @Alexander @Dan Dubeau You guys ever use that technique in production?

I'll mock something up tomorrow morning.