Talk to Michael. He might make you one for one of your Hand Tool Rescue wrenches. (I noticed that one of the other designs he looked at used an HTR wrench as the item to hold.)
I don't know what you're paying youtube for promoting your channel, but it's probably worth it. I was also recommended your fractal vice video out of the blue a few weeks ago, and have since subscribed and been enjoying your back catalog. You're doing amazing work.
First time I had come across your channel and I was an instant fan. Great technical skill and humour. Needless to say your fractal vise video was very inspiriational.
Whoever says that Michael is "copying" videos of others needs to actually watch his videos. He references even the things he didn't try and links videos and files. Not to mention all the contributes he's made to open source projects. Stellar work Michael, thanks for getting me into 3d printing and design.
Whoever says that Michael is "copying", is basically saying that "I see people making X, so I want to make is myself" is bad. Also, I don't think this is "copying" because he do everything himself, from the designing to the printing, included tweaking. If you say that that is still "copying", well, we do that every *beeping* second.
@@sarahkatherine8458 I may be late to this convo, but if we were not able to copy basic mechanisms, we would not be able to make new mechanisms. Most of them use some sort of previously designed base mechanisms. This is why I like books like 50x Mechanical Movements (Henry T Brown)
It's a really sad thing that the fractal vise was lost to time, it's such a good device, and seeing its restoration to having a place of prominence and popularity is kinda heart warming.
@puncledorf : The problem with a fractal vice is that it is not really a substitute for a normal parallel-jaw vice, so you need to have space for it as well. For instance, if you want to hold a small object, it gets very 'fiddly'. Admittedly the fractal vice I used was a monster. 😜
Its a very cool device for sure but its not really any more useful then a normal vice most of the time. From what iv seen of people using these is they actually dont hold certain objects as good as you think. The way it distributes the weight tends to leave room for what ever you put in the vice to start sliding out if you are doing some really intense work on what is in the vice.
@@billfred9411 Huh, I'd think that the vise would hook under bits and make it really hard to slide in any direction besides maybe a pulling/leveraging it up from the vise. Can't image it would slip down or up the vise.
@@pubcle Notice how everything is laying flat in this video? When i say up and down i mean vertically from were you would be looking at the vice. It will grip around the shape and hold it very well in that regard. what i mean is it slips vertically. The example i saw this with was Adam savage using it to drill a hole in a glass bottle which i will add is no easy feat and he used this vice. The problem was the bottle would slip vertically as he drilled it because the vice doesint have much vertical grip. I should also add if its a very solid object you could just crank it super tight and whatever's in probably wont budge at all . you could likley modify the vice to entirely solve that problem i mentioned as well.
@@PiefacePete46 they make a large and small “jewelers version”. Adam Savage from that old discovery channel show I forget what it’s called recently bought one on alibaba and made a video of it. They come in 2 different sizes. The large one is around 2,500$ usd
This would make a great starting point for making a metal vise: PLA could be used to make patterns for casting metal parts. The design as you've made it would allow for interchangeable plastic soft jaws at the D level on an otherwise metal vise, too. Big, big thumbs up for making the design open source!
@@atomicskull6405 at the point where you're 3dprinting metal, you're better off using it for weak parts that aren't going to be compromised by being highly porous. a vise is probably not what you want to be extremely weak steel.
If you think about it, the bones in our upper arm, lower arm, hand and the three finger segments are also kind of like a fractal, each segment becoming smaller than the previous but with a similar form. This really seems to be a thing in nature.
Thats not what a fractal means though, a fractal is simply a shape that no matter how far you zoom in it will not lose its roughness. Similar to a coastline. Fractals can be self-similar but typically aren't
@@PublicVoidStart909 dude, a fractal is a repeating shape/pattern that us matter how far you zoom in will keep it’s show up until the ATOMS NOT FOREVER.
@@PublicVoidStart909 He/She said that it was similar to a fractal, not exactly like it. Meaning it follows the general concept of a fractal but does not exactly resemble it.
Ah! your constraint mechanism is genius, something I really was stuck on. same with the dovetails, although I will say I have found printing them with supports to be less detrimental than I was expecting, the supports printed only ended up being a .6mm line. Very nice design though, your design flow is so much neater than mine.
I saw a TikTok of one of these while I was high and i thought it was one of the cleverest applications of fractal engineering ever. Sober now still think it’s the coolest fractal design.
Just wanted to express my appreciation at you sharing the source CAD files - it's nice to have STL's to print things, but the moment someone wants to tweak things, STL is awful. By having your CAD, they can directly make adjustments as they please :) I'm sure you know this and that's why you shared it, but it's just refreshing to see someone making that choice.
I don’t have a 3D printer but this video is just incredible. So detailed and such a good walk through on building and assembly. And the fully open source aspect is just amazing to see after all the work you put in to making this.
I worked seriously enough on the fractals for a while and can say this is the most amazing hand-made product related to fractals I ever saw. Thank you for sharing!
Glad I'm not the only one that came to the same sad conclusion that these fractal vises just are not available anywhere, anymore. So cool you did this vid @teaching tech I'm going to make one with my children now! Super Cool!
If you don't have a 3d printer, just upload the the files to shapeways and have them print them for you, for a fee of course. You can even get metal prints, but that won't be cheap
As soon as I saw Hand Tool Rescue's video, I though, "Someone's gotta do this!" I'm glad this has actually happened - now all I need is a 3D printer of my own!
When I saw this on Hand Tool Rescue, I had never heard of this tool, let alone seen one. Now I've seen two and have an opportunity to make one myself. Good Times! Thank you!
This is like, the simplest most obvious thing that I never would have thought of on my own. It's really just genius! Whoever came up with this is my hero
I'm not sure of the repeatability of location of the part in such a vise. Simple enough to find out: can you clamp something in two different orientations? Also will the piece stay firmly against an end stop?This matters a great deal in CNC machining.
@@HuFlungDung2 I agree to a certain extent, i'm sure that as it is, it wont have the repeatability, a bench vise also does not have the accuracy epeatability of a machine vise, but I don' t see why that could not be solved, on the other hand, having to make fixtures all the time kinda sucks as well...a whole lot of effort goes into making fixtures, and often the accuracy is not that great either... I agree if we are dealing with precise cnc' s 0.001mm accuracy, its a bit difficult, way to many moving parts, but 0.01 region should be attainable, especially if you use something like a kinetic lock system and\or have the ability to lock the radiants in place...not saying its a one fit solution at all, but I do think it could save a lot on fixturing...a very usable tool in the arsenal of a machinist...
Probably because of all the moving parts, many which look sort of proprietary, it must have been expensive to manufacture and even more expensive to repair. Just a guess.
Your split design also allows you to use different facing materials. Could sub in steel, brass, wood. Perfect for working on delicate pieces. This vise would be great for gunsmiths in particular, I think.
I pulled the trigger on my first 3d printer yesterday, and naturally am binge watching 3d printing videos. The amount of creativity and practicality this medium carries is insane.
I don't have a 3-D Printer, nor do I have a workshop - or any other woodworking tools save my Dremel and the ones that come in a typical household toolkit. I loved watching this because...I'm an artist! And that fractal vise of yours, my friend, is art.
metal version on aliexpress in 3, 2 .... (actually I hope that happens) how are these not widely known about and why not still in production. I can think of countless projects this would have been great on.
I would have assumed, that it is hard to grip stuff very tight without leaving marks. Similar results can probably achieved by just gripping it violently with classic tools or with softer materials like rubber (in that case it is less constrained, but probably less damaged, too?) The biggest reason is probably that the manufacturer needs to think about customers and most classic customers probably grip flat stuff or already use their own version, so they didn't see the market. Maybe they overlooked it.
I think these vices were mostly made in the 1900's for holding items while being manually engraved. Engraving is not such a big business these days, with other processes being used for the same effect commercially, so I imagine it would be a very niche market, because even today they would be very expensive.
I noticed that late on and didn't want to disassembled and flip things around. I should probably do that. Wasn't sure if anyone would notice so well spotted!
I didn't think that the fractal vise video would get so stuck in someone else's head too. I've been to a few antique stores and garage sales, and I always keep looking at the tools/ vices hoping that I may be lucky enough to be graced by such a cool antique.
Dude! I watched the Hand Tool Rescue video, and 45 seconds in I was thinking, "my gods! WHY aren't these being made anymore!? The patent MUST be expired by now! I wonder if I could 3D print one!?" ...and here you are! And you OPEN-SOURCED IT! Brother, I could KISS you! You ABSOLUTELY just earned the like/sub/bell/share/comment! THANK you!
This is absolutely outstanding. It offers the perfect grip on the object it's holding. Shows how powerful fractals are, and shows how they can be applied in real life to make cool and unique fuctions. It may not do as well as rhe normal vices. I feel like a semi sphere shaped version of this design would make it even more affective when it comes to more 3 dimensional objects
@@koopdi I'll try to explain the best I can on how I imagine it going down. instead of the vice being like the way it is in the video (2 dimensional) the parts would resemble more 3 dimensional all connected with a joint system that has circular freedom like ball and socket joints all working down into a fractal as shown in this video but instead of being flat it should be almost like a ball that is in 2 halves all descending down into smaller and smaller self-similar parts of it's self-giving a 3-dimensional grip on an object making desired objects less likely to slip ad there is more of a grip area. hope that makes sense. I'm no genius I wouldn't even know where to start with creating such a thing it's just an idea. it would require more parts but it could work
Makes sense. I might have a go at modelling something like that later. I didn't think of the ball/socket. Good idea. I was thinking of the same dovetail track system but with each segment rotated 90deg from it's parent.@@sizzleshnizzle9484
As someone who uses a vice several times a day I would suggest a couple of practical variations. 1. One less level of fractals, 4 ‘jaws’ on each side should be plenty for any real life situations I can think of and that is still 4 times as many contact surfaces as used successfully for most situations. I think you probably want about twice the depth of jaws. I would like to see something about 4 times the depth on a woodwork vice to hold something like an axe handle or a carving vertically with much less point loads. If you are thinking of using something like this it is probably because you want to grip something gently but firmly. The plastic components are gentle enough and the previous suggestion should help make it strong enough. Making it as a jaws that fit onto a normal metal working or woodworking vice could actually take this from a cool and inventive idea to something that is actually very useful in a number of situations. Thanks for the post, and bringing windscreen wiper design to a vice.
Amazing, I was completely enthralled when I saw the vice restoration video, so pleased to see a 3D printed verson. Personally I think the little peg insert in each, uh, "moon shape", to stop the rotation, is more aesthetically pleasing to me than the cut-in-half circle, but man, watching this thing in action is so satisfying
Outstanding. I saw that restoration video a year or two ago and thought the concept of the fractal vise to be wonderful. Your remake is truly cool. Thanks for sharing it with us, Michael.
Really appreciate this design process. My father showed me the restoration maybe 4 months ago. Your back engineering is really well done, and innovative. The tolerances, and actual design process is really envious... rather than the 'free fall' design I am working with. I'm trying to break bad habits, and this CAD, and explanation, is inspirational. 🙏
Brilliant and very clearly explained. I realised that I was so rapt that my mouth was hanging open! I needed one of these years ago but there were no 3D printers....
Great design! You put an amazing amount of thought into it! I have one suggestion for improvement: Make a grove along the center of the long edge of the gripping parts - maybe at a 90°-120° angle. That would make it much easier to hold on flat things like the wrench in you video.
When you started the video with "we've all been there, finding an interesting video etc. etc.," I thought you were being cheeky, describing my experience finding your interesting video. Then you went on to describe the video which inspired this one. Just thought you might find it nice to know that your video was to me what that original inspiration was to you.
I watched the restoration video a couple of weeks ago and decided I had to have one. But it never occurred to me to print one. This is amazing. Thanks.
Pretty rad. I’ve recently started experimenting with 3D printing molds and then using carbon fiber casting for the final product (for projects that need more strength). This project seems like an excellent candidate for a carbon fiber upgrade. Cheers and excellent CAD work as well.
That was a great video! I thought about trying to make one of these, but I'm not that great at 3d-modeling yet. So, I'm glad you designed this for us!!!
Holy feces on a roof tile. That is absolutely incredible. I have a lot of uses for this from drilling, soldering, glueing and a bunch others. I've always have had an issue clamping a raw rock in a slab saw. I have to use various sizes of wood to steady it. It's a mess. I need one. I just got a 3d printer recently. This will be one of my first projects after it's dialed in. Fantastic.
@@jijisniet Indeed, I thought: "that's just a generic brazing/welding job", so I wasn't particularly interested. He should've also made a thumbnail with the banana clamped in the vise.
Same. Saw the thumbnail quite a few times on the side bar and always thought it was some piece of metal with a really weirdly shaped (damage) hole in it...
I like these remixes. Each one shows the strengths of each creator, and inspires the next one. This one brings some good innovations to the jaws, while completely omitting a vise bed... On that note, would this work with spheres instead of circles?
I think, half-spheres will not be securely fixed. However, it's probably good idea to use magnets. Also, it's possibly to combine vertical and horizontal half-cylinders.
@@ІванКлимчук-х2ф magnets are a great idea. I was thinking you would need separate dovetails on separate layers of each half sphere, for the X and Y directions. Your idea would need a lot fewer parts 😜
I've had a psychedelic trip a year ago where I have seen a lot of fractals as an answer to my own engineering problems... Seems like I have seen the future 😂
We have some of the same TH-cam algorithms, b/c I watched the Hand Tool Rescue vid a while back and loved it, too. Even more awesome that you chased this far. Well done.
While watching the Hand Tool Rescue video, I figured it'd only be a matter of time before someone designed a 3d printable version. Also I wouldn't be surprised to see some cheap made-in-China metal versions appearing on AliExpress or BangGood in the near future
FWIW, I passed the HTR video and info on to the R&D department of Veritas Tools and they would *very* interested, so a high-quality version might be coming in the next couple of years.
4:01 Can't the dovetail overhang issue be solved with this kind of lightning bolt shape? (drive.google.com/file/d/1esv0DgH36oPnjaErialLkGQYEvzQ2HqR/view?usp=sharing) Both halves can be printed the same way, but one half (red) can be assembled upside down.
This is so cool. I was in awe of the Hand Tool Rescue video of the Fractal Vice and now I have two delta printers printing out parts. Thank you for providing the STL files on Thingverse.
You have my respect, dear sir. I don't own a 3D printer, nor do I plan on making this vice, but since I am an architect and I do practice a lot of product and furniture design, I know how work-intensive this was and I can only imagine how many iterations of this vice you've tested before you achieved this. Making this video and the open-source STL files is pure gold. I do hope you add 2 more zeros at the end of the views counter. You truly deserve this!
Ok, hear me out- print this out with low infill and single layer wall thickness, then do a "lost-pla" casting with aluminum, and voila, metal fractal vise!
@@jorgemiguel2641 yeah. Are common people willing to buy that metal fractal vise? How often would they use it? It's not just quality and creativity, it is about real world usage, practicality, and price-to-performance.
I knew about the other options out there but so classy to list them at the start of the video and go so far as to say that we might prefer those to your design. That said, yours is a really smart, clean design which I really like.
![Rare Antique Fractal Vise [Restoration]](/img/n.gif)
I need one of these!
haaha
Talk to Michael. He might make you one for one of your Hand Tool Rescue wrenches. (I noticed that one of the other designs he looked at used an HTR wrench as the item to hold.)
Looks like everybody made fractal vises after your video.
I don't know what you're paying youtube for promoting your channel, but it's probably worth it. I was also recommended your fractal vice video out of the blue a few weeks ago, and have since subscribed and been enjoying your back catalog. You're doing amazing work.
First time I had come across your channel and I was an instant fan. Great technical skill and humour. Needless to say your fractal vise video was very inspiriational.
Whoever says that Michael is "copying" videos of others needs to actually watch his videos. He references even the things he didn't try and links videos and files. Not to mention all the contributes he's made to open source projects.
Stellar work Michael, thanks for getting me into 3d printing and design.
Don't listen to those kinds of people. Those are just kids itching to start drama. Michael referenced everything and gave credit properly.
showing what you copied is still copying
@@zirjaeger4037 yet there's a difference between plagiarism and referencing the original material, as seen in any research paper on anything
Whoever says that Michael is "copying", is basically saying that "I see people making X, so I want to make is myself" is bad.
Also, I don't think this is "copying" because he do everything himself, from the designing to the printing, included tweaking. If you say that that is still "copying", well, we do that every *beeping* second.
@@sarahkatherine8458 I may be late to this convo, but if we were not able to copy basic mechanisms, we would not be able to make new mechanisms. Most of them use some sort of previously designed base mechanisms. This is why I like books like 50x Mechanical Movements (Henry T Brown)
Wow, had no clue - awesome video!
Hi! I think your music and marble machine is really cool!
My favorite channel commenting on my other favorite channel!
bat shit incredible
@@Deses same
of course, martin had to be here
Thanks for staying open source, its great to see designers take pride in their personal projects enough to share :)
It's a really sad thing that the fractal vise was lost to time, it's such a good device, and seeing its restoration to having a place of prominence and popularity is kinda heart warming.
@puncledorf : The problem with a fractal vice is that it is not really a substitute for a normal parallel-jaw vice, so you need to have space for it as well. For instance, if you want to hold a small object, it gets very 'fiddly'. Admittedly the fractal vice I used was a monster. 😜
Its a very cool device for sure but its not really any more useful then a normal vice most of the time. From what iv seen of people using these is they actually dont hold certain objects as good as you think. The way it distributes the weight tends to leave room for what ever you put in the vice to start sliding out if you are doing some really intense work on what is in the vice.
@@billfred9411 Huh, I'd think that the vise would hook under bits and make it really hard to slide in any direction besides maybe a pulling/leveraging it up from the vise. Can't image it would slip down or up the vise.
@@pubcle Notice how everything is laying flat in this video? When i say up and down i mean vertically from were you would be looking at the vice. It will grip around the shape and hold it very well in that regard. what i mean is it slips vertically. The example i saw this with was Adam savage using it to drill a hole in a glass bottle which i will add is no easy feat and he used this vice. The problem was the bottle would slip vertically as he drilled it because the vice doesint have much vertical grip. I should also add if its a very solid object you could just crank it super tight and whatever's in probably wont budge at all . you could likley modify the vice to entirely solve that problem i mentioned as well.
@@PiefacePete46 they make a large and small “jewelers version”. Adam Savage from that old discovery channel show I forget what it’s called recently bought one on alibaba and made a video of it. They come in 2 different sizes. The large one is around 2,500$ usd
Okay now this is a must build project
Yess..saw the original video and..yess
@@forbiddenera same here, seems like all the DIYers and makers got recommended the same vid and now want the same object
@@RazzleberryHaze yea, the algorithm knows all.
I’d like to make one out of pvc and silicone mixture.
The result on a resin printer should be even better! Go Jeyys go! ;-)
now the fractal vise is gonna be the next big trend
It already is
This is the 4th or 5th video on it i have seen
But it's very handy. I could have used this 20 years ago.
I don't understand what the regular metal version isn't made nowadays ..
@@gustavrsh
Maybe in China, usa/europe would be too expensive to fabricate I guess.
@@FireN2k9 even if it was expensive, I bet a lot of people would pay for it.
This would make a great starting point for making a metal vise: PLA could be used to make patterns for casting metal parts. The design as you've made it would allow for interchangeable plastic soft jaws at the D level on an otherwise metal vise, too. Big, big thumbs up for making the design open source!
Shapeways can 3D print steel.
@@atomicskull6405 at the point where you're 3dprinting metal, you're better off using it for weak parts that aren't going to be compromised by being highly porous. a vise is probably not what you want to be extremely weak steel.
Castable resin anyone?
CNC machine and lathe
@@taowroland8697 .... That is going so full circle that it's ironic....
If you think about it, the bones in our upper arm, lower arm, hand and the three finger segments are also kind of like a fractal, each segment becoming smaller than the previous but with a similar form. This really seems to be a thing in nature.
HOLY that makes a lot of sense damn
Thats not what a fractal means though, a fractal is simply a shape that no matter how far you zoom in it will not lose its roughness. Similar to a coastline. Fractals can be self-similar but typically aren't
@@PublicVoidStart909 dude, a fractal is a repeating shape/pattern that us matter how far you zoom in will keep it’s show up until the ATOMS NOT FOREVER.
@@NotHere3 "us matter"?
@@PublicVoidStart909 He/She said that it was similar to a fractal, not exactly like it. Meaning it follows the general concept of a fractal but does not exactly resemble it.
I really hope a manufacturer is prepared to do this in metal on a large scale! It's such an awesome design!
Ah! your constraint mechanism is genius, something I really was stuck on. same with the dovetails, although I will say I have found printing them with supports to be less detrimental than I was expecting, the supports printed only ended up being a .6mm line. Very nice design though, your design flow is so much neater than mine.
I enjoyed seeing how the designs available all had their own stamp. When yours is no longer a WIP I'm gong to print it too. Well done!
I hope HandToolRescue sees this, they would love this!
indeed
That's where I've this as well.
Pretty sure he's why this video exists!
looked for this reference, was not disappointed.
You're about 20 hours early
I don't think the sentence, "Next, I decided to service my kazoo" has ever been said in a video before
I came here for the Kazoo.. I'm kinda addicted to makeing them, I even bought a circle cutter on Amazon to streamline the process.
If this isn't a euphemism, I don't know what is...
@@evanphi Came here to say the same lol
it's actually a common term if you're in the habit of banana clamping.
Oh... but it has... Just not the type of video that TH-cam would typically allow to be posted. LMAO
I saw a TikTok of one of these while I was high and i thought it was one of the cleverest applications of fractal engineering ever. Sober now still think it’s the coolest fractal design.
Total respect .. having all your hard work to be open source ..that's just amazing
Just wanted to express my appreciation at you sharing the source CAD files - it's nice to have STL's to print things, but the moment someone wants to tweak things, STL is awful. By having your CAD, they can directly make adjustments as they please :) I'm sure you know this and that's why you shared it, but it's just refreshing to see someone making that choice.
I don’t have a 3D printer but this video is just incredible. So detailed and such a good walk through on building and assembly. And the fully open source aspect is just amazing to see after all the work you put in to making this.
*AND* It's Open Source! Absolutely amazing project, keep up the great work!
I saw the restauration video, and thought that someone could 3d print this vice. And you made it! You are a hero!
I worked seriously enough on the fractals for a while and can say this is the most amazing hand-made product related to fractals I ever saw. Thank you for sharing!
Glad I'm not the only one that came to the same sad conclusion that these fractal vises just are not available anywhere, anymore. So cool you did this vid @teaching tech I'm going to make one with my children now! Super Cool!
Superb work and fun to watch! The way you organized the prints also makes it super easy for people to duplicate 👍
So cool! I'm hoping to get a 3D printer soon and I'd love to print one of these
prusa's are dope
I like the creality ender 5
There are a lot of affordable options these days. I've got a small army of ender 3's and a cr6se that sits in my computer room.
If you don't have a 3d printer, just upload the the files to shapeways and have them print them for you, for a fee of course. You can even get metal prints, but that won't be cheap
@@GReaper any idea what shapeways charges? I'm on a tablet with no 3d printer or capable computer.
the day I found these, I was so taken aback about how incredibly useful these are
kudos to the inventor
Whoever came up with this thing is a goddamn genius. What an interesting design
It's so cool and interesting that something someone designed and developed over 100 years ago is instantly prized and replicated today.
Man, you are incredible. I wish i had you as a teacher.
I wish I could manipulate the various software that well. Nice job!
As soon as I saw Hand Tool Rescue's video, I though, "Someone's gotta do this!" I'm glad this has actually happened - now all I need is a 3D printer of my own!
When I saw this on Hand Tool Rescue, I had never heard of this tool, let alone seen one. Now I've seen two and have an opportunity to make one myself. Good Times! Thank you!
This is like, the simplest most obvious thing that I never would have thought of on my own. It's really just genius! Whoever came up with this is my hero
Why is this not a well known tool ? this is so handy in cnc machining the bottom, but also with some guides you have a straight vise... cool...
I bet you, ebay will have some Chinese suppliers offering this real soon :)
I'm not sure of the repeatability of location of the part in such a vise. Simple enough to find out: can you clamp something in two different orientations? Also will the piece stay firmly against an end stop?This matters a great deal in CNC machining.
@@HuFlungDung2 I agree to a certain extent, i'm sure that as it is, it wont have the repeatability, a bench vise also does not have the accuracy
epeatability of a machine vise, but I don' t see why that could not be solved, on the other hand, having to make fixtures all the time kinda sucks as well...a whole lot of effort goes into making fixtures, and often the accuracy is not that great either... I agree if we are dealing with precise cnc' s 0.001mm accuracy, its a bit difficult, way to many moving parts, but 0.01 region should be attainable, especially if you use something like a kinetic lock system and\or have the ability to lock the radiants in place...not saying its a one fit solution at all, but I do think it could save a lot on fixturing...a very usable tool in the arsenal of a machinist...
Probably because of all the moving parts, many which look sort of proprietary, it must have been expensive to manufacture and even more expensive to repair.
Just a guess.
I'm a patron member over on hand tool rescue too. I kept forgetting that he posted that video. I will be printing one of these.
Your split design also allows you to use different facing materials. Could sub in steel, brass, wood. Perfect for working on delicate pieces. This vise would be great for gunsmiths in particular, I think.
Lapidary also.
I pulled the trigger on my first 3d printer yesterday, and naturally am binge watching 3d printing videos. The amount of creativity and practicality this medium carries is insane.
I don't have a 3-D Printer, nor do I have a workshop - or any other woodworking tools save my Dremel and the ones that come in a typical household toolkit.
I loved watching this because...I'm an artist! And that fractal vise of yours, my friend, is art.
metal version on aliexpress in 3, 2 .... (actually I hope that happens) how are these not widely known about and why not still in production. I can think of countless projects this would have been great on.
I assume the production/repair costs with all those precise moving parts is not worth it considering many use cases could be done with a normal vise.
It was made in 1908. Before a lot of precision advancements. Each piece has to be labeled back then for the specific spot/fit
I would have assumed, that it is hard to grip stuff very tight without leaving marks. Similar results can probably achieved by just gripping it violently with classic tools or with softer materials like rubber (in that case it is less constrained, but probably less damaged, too?)
The biggest reason is probably that the manufacturer needs to think about customers and most classic customers probably grip flat stuff or already use their own version, so they didn't see the market. Maybe they overlooked it.
@@ConnorWeller I took a quick look. The pic's say "Patent Pending" so I'd think this design is their version of a fractal vise.
I think these vices were mostly made in the 1900's for holding items while being manually engraved. Engraving is not such a big business these days, with other processes being used for the same effect commercially, so I imagine it would be a very niche market, because even today they would be very expensive.
The Fractal vice is trending with the makers.
Excellent work. One thing I would change is the direction you clamp things. Most clamps tighten in the clockwise direction.
I noticed that late on and didn't want to disassembled and flip things around. I should probably do that. Wasn't sure if anyone would notice so well spotted!
I didn't think that the fractal vise video would get so stuck in someone else's head too. I've been to a few antique stores and garage sales, and I always keep looking at the tools/ vices hoping that I may be lucky enough to be graced by such a cool antique.
Dude! I watched the Hand Tool Rescue video, and 45 seconds in I was thinking, "my gods! WHY aren't these being made anymore!? The patent MUST be expired by now! I wonder if I could 3D print one!?" ...and here you are! And you OPEN-SOURCED IT!
Brother, I could KISS you! You ABSOLUTELY just earned the like/sub/bell/share/comment! THANK you!
This is absolutely outstanding. It offers the perfect grip on the object it's holding. Shows how powerful fractals are, and shows how they can be applied in real life to make cool and unique fuctions. It may not do as well as rhe normal vices. I feel like a semi sphere shaped version of this design would make it even more affective when it comes to more 3 dimensional objects
How would you keep the semi spheres attached to each other?
@@koopdi I'll try to explain the best I can on how I imagine it going down. instead of the vice being like the way it is in the video (2 dimensional) the parts would resemble more 3 dimensional all connected with a joint system that has circular freedom like ball and socket joints all working down into a fractal as shown in this video but instead of being flat it should be almost like a ball that is in 2 halves all descending down into smaller and smaller self-similar parts of it's self-giving a 3-dimensional grip on an object making desired objects less likely to slip ad there is more of a grip area. hope that makes sense. I'm no genius I wouldn't even know where to start with creating such a thing it's just an idea. it would require more parts but it could work
Makes sense. I might have a go at modelling something like that later. I didn't think of the ball/socket. Good idea. I was thinking of the same dovetail track system but with each segment rotated 90deg from it's parent.@@sizzleshnizzle9484
As someone who uses a vice several times a day I would suggest a couple of practical variations.
1. One less level of fractals, 4 ‘jaws’ on each side should be plenty for any real life situations I can think of and that is still 4 times as many contact surfaces as used successfully for most situations.
I think you probably want about twice the depth of jaws. I would like to see something about 4 times the depth on a woodwork vice to hold something like an axe handle or a carving vertically with much less point loads.
If you are thinking of using something like this it is probably because you want to grip something gently but firmly. The plastic components are gentle enough and the previous suggestion should help make it strong enough. Making it as a jaws that fit onto a normal metal working or woodworking vice could actually take this from a cool and inventive idea to something that is actually very useful in a number of situations.
Thanks for the post, and bringing windscreen wiper design to a vice.
Amazing, I was completely enthralled when I saw the vice restoration video, so pleased to see a 3D printed verson. Personally I think the little peg insert in each, uh, "moon shape", to stop the rotation, is more aesthetically pleasing to me than the cut-in-half circle, but man, watching this thing in action is so satisfying
Outstanding. I saw that restoration video a year or two ago and thought the concept of the fractal vise to be wonderful. Your remake is truly cool. Thanks for sharing it with us, Michael.
A new and fascinating idea! Not sure what material is optimal, though, for stability.
@@robertn7100 Yeah, I can understand that. Vises tend to take a lot of abuse, and that's not one of plastic's normal functions.
You just got my subscription. And Hand Tool Rescue is a great source for older tools that made this world what it is today.
I can´t wait for Ave milling it from some nice toolsteel.
Cue the classical music!
I would prefer This Old Tony for this one or Clickspring!
@@johnv341 Unless TOT has the Maho running 100% CNC now, I can't see it happening. But it would be fun for sure.
@@johnv341 Nah, it needs some fine canadian comentary
@@blubb7711 AVE for a laugh and rough machining. TOT for some finesse (and a laugh)
The design is excellent, I will be printing it, also looking forward to seeing what practical purposes people can use it for
With soft plastic jaws, it would be great for holding pieces of wood or stone for carving, engraving, etc.
Really appreciate this design process. My father showed me the restoration maybe 4 months ago. Your back engineering is really well done, and innovative. The tolerances, and actual design process is really envious... rather than the 'free fall' design I am working with. I'm trying to break bad habits, and this CAD, and explanation, is inspirational. 🙏
I saw the thumbnail for Hand Tool Rescue. Didn't realize it was so cool. I'm going to have to watch it now.
Brilliant and very clearly explained. I realised that I was so rapt that my mouth was hanging open! I needed one of these years ago but there were no 3D printers....
How have I never seen one of these before. Excellent work 👍
I would love to see this done in a filament or resin designed for metal casting. Taking the individual pieces and doing lost wax/pla/resin casting.
Agreed
Great design! You put an amazing amount of thought into it!
I have one suggestion for improvement: Make a grove along the center of the long edge of the gripping parts - maybe at a 90°-120° angle. That would make it much easier to hold on flat things like the wrench in you video.
I agree, that would be welcome. I could also release it as a variant without needing to change other files.
That's pretty amazing what can be accomplished these days with 3d printing and some smarts and talent.
When you started the video with "we've all been there, finding an interesting video etc. etc.," I thought you were being cheeky, describing my experience finding your interesting video. Then you went on to describe the video which inspired this one. Just thought you might find it nice to know that your video was to me what that original inspiration was to you.
I really need to take a few CAD classes to help me bring my ideas to life.
These are some of the first videos I made on the channel: th-cam.com/play/PLGqRUdq5ULsMDOxmu10AGPDIOkzNYu7D7.html
Get an OnShape account. Amazing tutorials for free!
I love that channel, they take some terrible looking tools and make them so beautiful!
First video I've seen of theirs but it won't be my last.
100+ year old vise design, that is no longer available.
Thank you for pointing out all of the folks who have modeled this. (Including you)
Thank you so much for sharing the original CAD files with this project.
I watched the restoration video a couple of weeks ago and decided I had to have one. But it never occurred to me to print one. This is amazing. Thanks.
Amazingly neat job. Seems that specific fractal vise is gong to be a legend.
what a great job!!!
The instant I saw the thumbnail... "Well, SOMEONE's been watching Hand Tool Rescue..."
Cool to see something like this come of that fractal vice restoration video.
Dude, YOU ROCK!!!
As soon as I get a 3D printer, this will be my first print job!!!!
Pretty rad. I’ve recently started experimenting with 3D printing molds and then using carbon fiber casting for the final product (for projects that need more strength). This project seems like an excellent candidate for a carbon fiber upgrade. Cheers and excellent CAD work as well.
That was a great video! I thought about trying to make one of these, but I'm not that great at 3d-modeling yet. So, I'm glad you designed this for us!!!
This bring the phrase "They've got my balls in a vice." to a whole new level.
Not really. No
Glad to find I’m not the only dirty minded on here😭
@@imtako4evr you must be new to the internet.
Holy feces on a roof tile. That is absolutely incredible. I have a lot of uses for this from drilling, soldering, glueing and a bunch others. I've always have had an issue clamping a raw rock in a slab saw. I have to use various sizes of wood to steady it. It's a mess.
I need one.
I just got a 3d printer recently. This will be one of my first projects after it's dialed in.
Fantastic.
This was like watching a movie in a foreign language with no subtitles….yet I watched the whole damn thing in awe!
Brilliant! The original video got recommended to me as well, but I didn't understand what the thumbnail was showing and therefore never watched it.
Exactly the same here. Now I’ll have to go back and watch it.
From the thumb I assumed it was broken but within a few seconds all was revealed.
Wow that was exactly what i was thinking. Looked like a whole chunk of metal was missing, just thought it was a normal vise but just destroyed
@@jijisniet Indeed, I thought: "that's just a generic brazing/welding job", so I wasn't particularly interested. He should've also made a thumbnail with the banana clamped in the vise.
Same. Saw the thumbnail quite a few times on the side bar and always thought it was some piece of metal with a really weirdly shaped (damage) hole in it...
"service my kazoo"
you, sir, are a treasure.
I work in a machine shop. I am going to take your design and instead of printing it, I will make it out of tool steel.
Wish me luck.
Awesome, please share when you're done.
Please do, as I have the same thoughts. But maybe I can just buy yours instead. Lol 👍
I saw this in my feed, and knew this had to be inspired by the hand tool rescue channel. That fractal vise is an amazing piece of engineering.
using filament for locating dowels....priceless. Great project and video!!
I like these remixes. Each one shows the strengths of each creator, and inspires the next one. This one brings some good innovations to the jaws, while completely omitting a vise bed... On that note, would this work with spheres instead of circles?
I think, half-spheres will not be securely fixed. However, it's probably good idea to use magnets. Also, it's possibly to combine vertical and horizontal half-cylinders.
@@ІванКлимчук-х2ф magnets are a great idea. I was thinking you would need separate dovetails on separate layers of each half sphere, for the X and Y directions. Your idea would need a lot fewer parts 😜
@@Bbonno Yes, but if you will work with iron, magnets will attract metal flakes. So this solution have it's own drawbacks...
The tips of the smallest feet chould be printed in a semi-soft rubber.
I was thinking that too--or just over-molded.
a crumple spring-like mechanism maybe?
I've had a psychedelic trip a year ago where I have seen a lot of fractals as an answer to my own engineering problems... Seems like I have seen the future 😂
You have seen the past.
@@jtcmlt1 to say it in fractal terms: I saw the interconnected self-similarity of the past, the present and the future ;)
@@dunichtich100 🤪
MULTIPLE Nobel prize winners have said LSD helped their discoveries. It's not as far out as it seems.
We have some of the same TH-cam algorithms, b/c I watched the Hand Tool Rescue vid a while back and loved it, too. Even more awesome that you chased this far. Well done.
This is awesome. This is why I bought a 3D printer. Thanks Michael
While watching the Hand Tool Rescue video, I figured it'd only be a matter of time before someone designed a 3d printable version.
Also I wouldn't be surprised to see some cheap made-in-China metal versions appearing on AliExpress or BangGood in the near future
Hmmm... I would add a hemispherical TPU 'button' on each bump to aid with gripping.
Agreed, it would make the design better.
I hope @This Old Tony sees this
your solution for that constraining lip was really well done
If I owned a 3d printer. I would be all over this. This is so cool.
FWIW, I passed the HTR video and info on to the R&D department of Veritas Tools and they would *very* interested, so a high-quality version might be coming in the next couple of years.
Okay... Going to take the mechanism and design a cast for my broken ankle.
4:01 Can't the dovetail overhang issue be solved with this kind of lightning bolt shape? (drive.google.com/file/d/1esv0DgH36oPnjaErialLkGQYEvzQ2HqR/view?usp=sharing)
Both halves can be printed the same way, but one half (red) can be assembled upside down.
Lovely idea, please remix :)
I think a horizontal cut would have made more sense. This also takes into account the layer line strength and makibg a stronger part.
Wow...now once again another printing project that you got my gears working...lol
Thank you Michael super cool project.
This is so cool. I was in awe of the Hand Tool Rescue video of the Fractal Vice and now I have two delta printers printing out parts. Thank you for providing the STL files on Thingverse.
Any shape you say?
No No No No No No No
NOOOOO
@@ATAOISI don’t get it helppppp does he mean egg plant?😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
@@That_droper umm. It is much more then that.
PP
He's talking about masterbating with it(jokingly)is that a word?
It has to be at least a couple centimeters, sorry
Any shape big enough
Now some company will restart producing metal one 😂
Some one with a CNC router should be able to take the STL files and with a little work machine the vice out of aluminum.
@@charliehorvath9787 maybe a little too much work 😂🤪
Hand Tool Rescue is one of my Fav channels and that vise is a work of art. Great to see you tacking this project.
You have my respect, dear sir. I don't own a 3D printer, nor do I plan on making this vice, but since I am an architect and I do practice a lot of product and furniture design, I know how work-intensive this was and I can only imagine how many iterations of this vice you've tested before you achieved this. Making this video and the open-source STL files is pure gold. I do hope you add 2 more zeros at the end of the views counter. You truly deserve this!
Ok, hear me out- print this out with low infill and single layer wall thickness, then do a "lost-pla" casting with aluminum, and voila, metal fractal vise!
Interesting. Suggest you do a video on this?
So 100 years ago we could all get an amazingly useful tool like this but now we are stuck with flat vises. What's that all about?
Cheap mass production over quality and creativity.
@@jorgemiguel2641 yeah. Are common people willing to buy that metal fractal vise? How often would they use it? It's not just quality and creativity, it is about real world usage, practicality, and price-to-performance.
The newer version of these are called flex vises and are ridiculously expensive 3 to 4k. Different design but same intended purpose
The next 6 months on the forums are going to be posts about this vise 🤦🏼♂️
You say that like it's a *bad* thing! : )
It was on HTR, it's already everywhere!
Hopefully people make extras. I want one but dont have this kind of free time
I knew about the other options out there but so classy to list them at the start of the video and go so far as to say that we might prefer those to your design. That said, yours is a really smart, clean design which I really like.
Now someone needs to cast a vise using the lost PLA method. This vise is the gift that keeps on giving