Homemade Tube Vise (by Stefaan)

I’m sure that a lot of people out there recognise this picture,“damn, there goes that needle again!”

Of course you can buy a tube vise, but over here in Belgium, they are rather rare (not to mention expensive). So I thought to myself, why don’t I go explain my problem to my neighbour Frans, he’s quite handy with these kind of things.

So I took the needle and a couple of my vises and explained him what I like and don’t like about them and what I needed. He took a good look at the vises and started drawing stuff, until a day later he came up with something that pleased us both.

So the last couple of days I went to see the progress daily.

This is Frans, busy with yet another piece of the puzzle.

And today it was ready! And it’s even better than I ever hoped it would be.

Here it is, my brand new rotary tube vise:

And the needle won’t come off, I can guarantee you that! It puts in very easily…

While this wheel, controls an axle spindle which goes straight trough the main axle…

to tighten this piece which holds your needle very solid.

But, that’s not all, because the entire front piece can be detached…

and this piece can be screwed on and tightened by the same axle spindle that holds the needle in place. I like this classic head which comes from a non rotating model on which Frans put a new piece to fit this setup.

So I don’t just have a new tube vise but a regular one as well.

It’s strong and robust, on a 4,2kg footplate (I know, it’s not a travelling model, but that’s what I wanted), although it can be put it into clamps as well (I’ve got two sets of clamps from other vises which fit perfectly). And since I put my left hand a lot against the mid section (with the ball bearings) while I’m tying (I’m right handed), I asked to put the wheel that controls the tension of the main axle, on the backside (I find it very annoying when the tension suddenly changes while I’m busy).

I’m sure that this vise will give me a lot of tying pleasure for a long time, and I can’t thank my neighbour Frans enough for all the time and effort he has put in to this beautiful piece of work.