HA!

☝️ no more comments please… we have a winner 😆

Hard to think in all that heat. Thanks!

This is a single facet fractal vise.

I assure you, your not alone there.

Thanks! I know of the Wilton one. I planned to mention it in this video, but never got around to it.

Adam Savage did a great video on a fractal vise

@@liquidrockaquatics3900 Comment here because that was my first thought too. A great solution but not a revolutionary (to everyone) one.

I'm glad. If you're up for it, email me a picture when you're done. I'd love to see! (david@worstworkshop.com)

Thanks! Will do!

Thanks! I never really want to remove it. It just works.

Thanks! Hope you're doing well!

Thank you so much!

Thanks! And yeah, that was a really fun night all around.

Ha! Thanks for making it to the party, late or not!

Yeah? It's kinda janky, but it sure works!

​@@worstworkshoplove it! Stroke of pure genius!

It's a beam compass. A piece of string works too. You tie the string to the pencil then put a loop on the other end around a pivot point.

Great idea… I need to do a ~40 circle-arc with a 60 cm radius… all on a router-jig and with my MFT table I can do this eeeeasily now 🥳

@@lgolsen I'm glad!

Me too!!

Glad you liked it!

Thank you! It was a low-cost solution, but I love the way it turned out.

Thanks, Mark. Have a great weekend!

You might build an outfeed/workbench and then you can include the vise and kill 3 birds with one stone. This forces you to keep your workbench clean if you’re inclined not to. Which is a good habit to get into.

Thank you!

Great! Send a picture when you're done. I'd love to see!

It's a good solution, and really clean looking. I do something similar with holdfasts, but sometimes you just want a vise to grab your work and get moving

I appreciate that. It's a lot easier than a twin screw vise, but those have their place too.

Thanks! It's funny you say that. I was thinking about you in some of the calmer, "zen" moments, reminding myself not everything has to be over the top. You're a good influence on me.

You could try to make one out of OSB. It would be the first!

You can make a vise. I made my first woodworking vise. Well, I found an old rotted out head of a vise and remade all of the wooden pieces. I got the screw and nut out of that. If you're good at scrounging you can find suitable nut and thread for a vise. If you're really desperate you could use blocks and opposing wedges. A screw thread is just a wedge in the round. It's an inclined plane that wraps around a cylinder. There are various schemes for hand carving wooden threads even. I've thought about making wooden threads. I haven't done it yet though. But it is possible.

@@1pcfred that sounds like a great idea, but my needs for a vise would be rare, so time vs cost, I would just buy one. 😅

@@fiveduckstudio I use vises quite a bit so I have quite a few. There's different kinds of vises. Some are more suitable for certain tasks than others are. Which is why I don't get by with just one. Although I suppose if I had to I'd manage somehow.

Would something like this help with a vise that had a problem with racking? Instead of placing a scrap of wood on one side of the jaws?

Glad you like it. Thanks.

51, and thanks!

@@worstworkshop Dude you're 51?? You look so much younger! Wow. I mean the beard looks 73 - I see what that guy's talking about - but ignoring the beard, about 40 seems right.

​@Ahjile I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks!

Thanks!!

Its never occurred to me that pre heating the mating surfaces might help adhesion. I'll remember that hack. Thanks.

Great ideas!

Thanks!! A lot of thought went into that. Turns out a bucket of cheap paint can make a big difference.

@worstworkshop ditto on the new set. That was a wise move!

@@lauramarshall6376 thanks!

Thanks!

I appreciate it!

Very true. Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks!

OK, you're smart. That's exactly what I was planning to do if I decided on making a small run. And thank you for saying TRUNNION! That's the word I was looking for and couldn't remember.

@@worstworkshop I couldn't remember trunnion either, I had to look it up on ChatGPT.

Thanks! It's not a true fractal vise, but I bet one could be made, with enough skill and patience. I honestly think two points of contact on each side is enough though.

@@worstworkshop For sure, I think this is perfect for woodworking.

Appreciate it! Love your drawer slides video too.

@@worstworkshop Thanks much. It was a fun one.

Thanks! For a small taper you should even shove something squishy in there, but once I thought of this I couldn't let it go until I built it.

Thank you! It's amazing what a bucket of paint can do.

It's amazing what a bucket of paint can do.

Glad you like it. You're killing it on those serving tray videos! Keep up the good work.

Whoa. Cool. xD Great point.

That's a great point. I'd never thought of it that way!

Thanks!

It's a good question. Almost all the force on the joint is compression, so it doesn't take much to hold it once the MDF settles into the curve.

@@worstworkshop Was thinking more of the constant clamping and unclamping load. That's not a scenario I would think CA glue is good for over time. But it's not like I ever tested it. But think about it. If you get some on your skin. You wait for it to dry (get brittle) then supply a load to it and it just crumbles and flakes off. Wood glue would still stay together. Not sure about Hot glue as I don't use it much.

Hot glue is surprisingly strong, and flexible to boot when used correctly.

@@worstworkshop There's different hot glues. There's even other thermosetting plastics. Which is what hot glue is. HDPE looks just like hot glue when it is melted. It's about as sticky too. But there's different kinds of HDPE. There's translucent and colored. Colored HDPE has binders in it. So it has different properties. Even white HDPE is colored. But plastic milk jugs that's translucent. Melting HDPE is a whole thing.

I like the way you think!

Thanks!

I really appreciate that

It is. Mine is about fifteen years old, and has not been taken care of, but it's stood up. You can buy it here: amzn.to/4dhtVwM

You could be right. Thanks for the tip.

Wheelwright's vises are severely underappreciated, as is the value of a vise that racks naturally. Rex Krueger has done some excellent videos on these vises, and has plans for one, I believe. I saw two advantages to this one. One is that you don't always want racking, and this allows for either configuration. Secondly, these cast iron woodworking vises are readily available. I could certainly build something like a wheelwright's vise if I wanted to, but between this and my twin screw vise, I feel like I'm covered...unless I have to start making wagon wheels, of course. Thanks for that insightful comment!

Thanks!

Glad you like it!

Thanks, Barry!

Thank you! And you're right. You lose a couple of inches. That's the main reason I made mine removable.

Good excuse to buy a new vise 😉

That's smart!

@@worstworkshop it takes a village to build a vice, lol

Yes, that works too. I just had this idea and wanted to see if it would work!

@@worstworkshop yes sir I think about it every time I need to clamp an odd shaped piece lol! I definitely will make one . Thanks for the content. Great video

You're not wrong. Essentially, that would allow for one point of contact on that side, but the other piece means you probably have at least two. It would work though.

I didn't think of that, but good point. Glad you liked it?

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thanks a lot!

Clearly, you get it. That's exactly the idea. I feel so validated

@@worstworkshop A fractal vise is one of those obscure tools thats just so crazy rare and expensive I've never even seen one in person. Yet considering how practical the idea is its weird that they haven't been mass produced at an affordable price point by now. Your idea is the closest I'd probably ever come to one.

@@sgath92 you can get fractal vises but they're not cheap. Even out of China you're looking at about 4-5 grand. At that price expect to do finishing work on it.

@@1pcfred Like I was saying, obscure and expensive. If the chinesium ones are $4k I don't want to know what a quality USA made one would be.

@@sgath92 I don't know if any are made in the USA. I'm not seeing them. Maybe they were at some time in the past? But that's the case for many things today.

Poverty precedes innovation? Glad you like it!

There are plenty of ways to do it. Whether or not you'd want something like this all depends on what sort of things you build.

Wilton has one that comes from the factory like that. It can't be removed, and it's expensive, but it was part of the inspiration for this

Oh wow! This video was tanking that day too, but I kept toying with the thumbnail and title, and the next day it took off.

Thanks! If you're looking for a bargain, that Doyle one from Harbor Freight I have is top notch.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you

Thanks!

Thanks! I actually turned 51 while filming this video.

Exactly. I've used it go glue boards together "temporarily" only to find out the glue is stronger than the lignin that holds the wood fibers together (at least on cheap construction lumber). But this wasn't a good place for it. I could have left that whole bit out, but what fun is that?

Glad you got a laugh out of it!

It's amazing what a bucket of cheap paint can do!

​@worstworkshop I neglected to mention it in my own comment, but yeah, definitely looking good!!

You're talking about pivoting vise jaws, right? Yes, absolutely. Wilton sells a vise now with an integrated one. The innovation here is building a simple version at home.

@@worstworkshop Yes, it would be harder to make a pivot one. But with a 3D printer it is possible. I made a lot of them as replacement for schools work benches since that kind wasn't possible to order. Good work!

Sorry for this negative comment regarding AURA Service but I felt people should know.

That's ok, Ben! Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!!

You're right. It totally works that way.

That's very kind. Thanks!

One word or two, I appreciate it!

I didn't! Home Depot sold me three beadboard panels on clearance for $8 each. They were falling apart, so I had to glue them back together. Then I bought a bucket of barn paint for twenty bucks and used some scraps to build that small cabinet behind me. It just looks fancy. It's not.

@@worstworkshop That's awesome! I just rewatched your workbench video because I had forgotten about it when I made my first comment (forgetfulness is another sign of aging). BTW, I noticed you have a flag in a shadow box above your "fancy" backdrop. Was that for a relative?

​@@mikehodges6598 Yes. I'm glad you noticed. My great uncle Bobby died in WWII, and that's his burial flag. I was torn as to whether or not to include it in the "set," but I think my family will be proud to see it there.

That's a great idea.

That's a good thought!

Oh snap! I changed that title late last night and missed the spelling error. Thank you!

@@worstworkshop vice is correct in UK English. Anymore I've taken to saying that I speak American these days. Our respective languages have diverged quite a bit over the course of time. A lot of Americans get the vice/vise thing wrong though. I see it a lot. "Vice Grips" Yeah you read.

That's cool. Which vise do you have?

​@@worstworkshopThe old patternmaker's vises like the famous Emmerts have a jaw that swivels with a knob. It does have a limited range of angling. Your method would increase the "weird" holding capability regardless!

@@worstworkshop it's a Wilton

Comes w a front plate that you can insert and pivot

Yes, I've seen those Wilton vises. I didn't know you could remove the pivoting plate though. That vise was part of the inspiration for this. Thanks for sharing your experience.

It could be developed further, to make it more like a traditional fractal vise. I thought about it, but it seems two points of contact on each side are enough.

Oh, I know. I've watched restoration videos on them, along with Adam Savage's videos on his. This is really just a pivoting vise jaw. You can buy one from Wilton with it built in, but mine can be removed, and is a LOT cheaper.

Wedges work. You don't even need that. Lee Valley will sell you vise rack stops, or you can make your own. Rex Krueger is a big proponent of them.

@@worstworkshop Perhaps, but that wedge of wood I can make from scrap sitting around my garage is free... with the exception of my labor.

You first! Make it and maybe Adam Savage will feature you on his channel

Sure!

Thanks! I'll try to remember that.

I agree. It turns it into a three-day project if you soak the MDF, but the jig should last for years.