Another ,what's this item ?

This was in a disused workshop i was in this morning . A locking gimbal thing , the base is about 4 1/2 inch diameter .. with cut outs to bolt it down. Cast iron or blued steel ,and hefty ! Swinging the handle locks it ...I've seen one before but can't thing where or what it's for !!

Looks like the mounting for a Carvers Vice or universal swivel vice.

John

Have a similar item in the wood shop.

Plate screws onto top thread , pop on a block of wood and carve away.

Not saying that is its original purpose, but tis what I use it for.

BB

It's a locking ball head...

Presumably for a vice rather than a camera!

Neil

Ah could be , I had a mate who's father was a wood carver !

Its missing its mounting plate.

(Look at my avatar.)

Edit: You are looking at a Wilton baby bullet vise & its stand..

Edited By Mike E. on 03/03/2018 15:05:14

Edited By Mike E. on 03/03/2018 15:06:07

Hmm , I'll see if the rest of it is there ! Thanks

Mine looks like a lathe faceplate.

BB

Mold makers and engravers use them also.

**LINK**

http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/categories/80/hydraclamp-spencer-franklin/

... See the Miniclamp models.

Easy, and worthwhile, to disassemble and give it a good clean.

MichaelG.

Blimey Michael , they're not cheap are they ? Well , it's not mine .. I just saw it in a lady friends garage ,who's partner died some years ago . I felt guilty picking it up and taking a picture of it when she went indoors to make a cuppa..!

.

Thankfully, I got mine secondhand

By the way: The reason I mentioned 'disassembly and clean' is that [at least on the early ones] the internal parts are not plated or painted.

The locking mechanism is simple but very effective.

MichaelG.

I use one to support a flat table rest on my double ended bench grinder.

The aluminium table is slotted to take an adjustable angle fence

Bill

I used one of these with a vice mounted on the top. It was used for surface grinding and CNC milling awkward shaped pieces.

David

Hi all, in the 60s I worked for a firm that made the entire range of Spencer Franklin workholding equipment of which the pictured item was a part, a powerful locking mechanism indeed! Base was a steel or alloy casting or gunmetal (crikey) for the ones made as aerial clamps for the Royal Navy. Could easily be made in any shed dwellers workshop, would obviously need access to a ball turning device but lash up using boring head or any of the other methods previously described in these forii (is that a word). Naturally made a couple for myself at the time but at some later date when times became hard I sold them for an obscene price, thank the Lord for people who can't knock a nail into a snowdrift.

Bob

.

Thank you for that delightful image, Bob

MichaelG.

If is really is possible for the ordinary Model Engineer / Home Shop Guy to make a decently effective hydraclamp ball mount without elaborate equipment I'd think such would be a nice MEW project. Especially if teamed with a Baby Wilton replica as per the avatar used by Mike E.

Far as I can see the performance of ball swivel mount and swivel vice assemblies on the market at normal folk wallet friendly prices cover the range from "useable side of rubbish" to "it'll do I s'pose". Certainly the three I picked up over the years fall in that range.

I think more than a few folks would be interested in crafting a really nice replacement. Hafta be reasonably quick project tho', not the all too common decade long Quorn endeavour. If weldments and judicious exploitation of built up construction along with more angular styling is acceptable a Baby Wilton replica could be done quite simply. Looks as if same would apply to the hydraclamp.

Clive

PS Tom Lipton has already done a design for a Baby Bullet replica :- http://oxtool.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/.  Link to drawings at the bottom of the page.  Hard part is getting all the sweet curves.  Angular with broken corners would be more my style.

Edited By Clive Foster on 04/03/2018 11:09:40

Edited By Clive Foster on 04/03/2018 11:20:21

Probably not exactly the same as the hydraclamp but Tom Lipton has a You-Tube video showing disassembly of the functionally similar Wilton Power Arm ball mount :- **LINK** . Starts at about 2 minutes in, finishes about 8 minutes in.

Maybe a useful guide for re-working one of the cheap alloy versions into something really effective.

Clive.