ok to start I found a thread here about the vise and did a little searching on the sears web sight my cost was less than $40 ordered at the local sears waited for a few weeks and here it is. why did I choose it? cost, being able to tilt it and cost...did I mention cost? I eventually plan on engraving the knives that I make and it seems this particular vise will work for that as you can see by the blade I clamped in it in the pic...@ tex the weight of the whole bench? without the 36lb ball and the 15lb vise? probably about 75lbs? heck I dont know!!I can still move the whole bench on the rollers it had from its former life as an eliptical running machine! (as long as the ball comes off) next on to do list machine an airgraver!! maybe,,....I am actually very pleased with the build quality of this little vise compared to the HF vise I was going to settle for this thing is a tank both the jaw handle and the swivel locking handle are SOLID and made of steel not pot metal once again I feel this was the best answer for me..the cost of a decent ball vise was just too high for my penny pinching A$$...and if I find I dont stick to engraving on it I have a fine quality 3"cradle angle vise for my drillpress!
Assume nothing 1st rule. ..see the optivisor in the photo? ?? Don't see how it defeated the purpose by bolting it down, the static jaw is placed in a manner on the wheel where mostly anything clamps centered. I am not using a scope as of now. I'm sure that I will find out what you are talking about when I get to use a scope if I get one in the future and I will solve this problem as it shows up thanks.Defeats the purpose of you bolt it to your potters wheel... Assuming you're working with a scope
If you use a microscope, bolting the vise in place means you'll have to chase the work around with the microscope. If you're using an Optivisor, then it won't matter.
The purpose of a turntable base is to center it under the scope and then move the vise as needed and not the microscope.
Yup! I can definitely see mine evolving as it has already from the first day the table top went on to now that it has a 4" vinyl lip around the edge to keep chips on the top and not on the studio floor (which is now dry again!) Im thinking of making some Delrin jaw plates for the vise but dont know that I will cause the leather pads I made yesterday seem to work good...Thanks again to all for the kind words and comments!thanks, sanch. i made a scope cart, ball vise support long days ago. it actually went thru 4 major changes before i was happy with it. i made mine from discarded bed frames. all welded. very steady, as i'm sure yours is. my cart fotos are somewhere in a dusty drawer in the archive.
Delrin is hard and slippery... leather, rubber, wood and lead are generally a better choice for removable jaw liners.
Brian
I think that vise handle is going to get in your way big time.