Desk or bench Vice

thingiverse

The source for this vice (I'm in Australia, and we call them vice and not vise) was a good starting point. There were several things about it, tat just didn't make any sense to me, so I re-modelled it into something that made better sense. - I had to widen the mounting gap, as the bench I wanted to clamp it to was too wide for the current gap. - I removed the angle from the mounting section, as it was a bad design and crated a weak point in the vice. There would have been unnecessary stress due to its length. I made it square, so it fits to the bench better and removes the stress point. - For some reason (that I cannot fathom) the thread for the mounting clamp was supplied separately, creating something extra to print, and then you had to glue it in to place. I embedded the nut into the base stl file, so that it prints with the base of the vice. One less piece to print, and no gluing necessary. - I altered the design of the main screw, to be more like a traditional vice, plus this allows the screw to be printed with way less support structure. I flattened the sides so the threads touch the bed. This needs to be printed horizontally, because if you print it vertically, it has no strength as the layers don't run the full length of the screw. - I shortened the clamping screw to suit the thickness of the bench that I am mounting the vice to. It keeps the screw short an snug and doesn't hang down below the vice. I supplied a longer screw too, in case you need to mount the vice to a thinner bench top. - I modified the clamp screw so it too can be printed horizontally with very little supports. Also giving it more strength (as the layers will run the length of the screw). - I removed some spacing on the upper part of the clamp section, as I used some 3 mm neoprene rubber so the vice doesn't mark the underside of the bench, and the rubber will help it mount tighter without slipping. - I used the same neoprene rubber on the jaws of the vice. - I also use a it on the end/tip of the clamping screw. I strongly suggest that you print the parts as they appear in the slicer. This will provide the best layer strength. I initially printed the jaw as it was supplied, but the bits that wrap around the sliding rail are very weak due the the small amount of layer structure. If you do the vice up a little tight, these will break off (they did for me). Depending on the layer height you use, you will need to sand the surfaces that rub together. It will make the vice function a lot better. I don't intend this vice to do any hard work, it's only for light work and holding my models for drilling or gluing or light sanding. But it's amazing how often it comes in handy. I printed the base and jaw at .2 with 45% fill I printed the screws at .15 with 50% fill. The 3 mm neoprene rubber, I bought from Clark Rubber.