Tool Box Tuesday

I thought I would start a new weekly blog entry.  I figure it will help me make more regular posts to the Blog.  Some of the blog's I read have a Wordless Wednesday and recently a Freight Car Friday was started.  So here's my contribution.  Tool Box Tuesday.  I will try to post something each week, about something in my tool box (Ok tool boxes to be correct).  I will confess I am a tool hound.  I have yet to find a type of tool I don't need.  I'm always on the look out for new and better tools for both my hobbies and professional career.  So to start off, I thought I would show a few vises that I have in my collection.

At the top of the photo below is a small hand vise.  It's is actually a vise/handle for Swiss pattern files.(Or needle files).  It is show with a file mounted.  The clamp screw has a hole in it as does the handle to allow the file shaft to fit down inside.  I got it at Lee Valley Tools. I rarely use it for holding files but when you have a lot of material to remove the handle does help with the ergonomics.  I usually use it to hold small parts while filing them.

In the middle of the photo is a small 1 inch wide vice I made.  Its great for holding small parts to be cut with a razor saw, or clamping parts for gluing. I also use it as a mini press to push parts together.  Such as pressing locomotive wheels into axle gears.  I sometimes put it into the machine vise on my Mini Mill to hold small parts that could easily be crushed by the larger machining vise.

At the bottom is a Starret hand Vise along with a table clamp to turn it into a mini tool makers vise. (The wood handle unscrews) This was my Grandfathers vise.  Years ago the table clamp was misplaced.  I called Starret and they replied with the part number to order a replacement.  Even though the clamp and vise were made about 70 years apart, they still fit perfectly together.  Starret is my favourite tool maker.  Everything they make is high quality, and parts are available for just about any tool they have ever made.  Here is a picture of the Starret vise in Table mount mode.  They are not inexpensive but will last several generations or more.