I made these from a thread that I saw on another welding website. I thought they were useful enough for a revisit. Some of the materials you will more than likely have on hand. The ball bearings are 1". In the first pic it is hard to see but there is an angle welded at the top. I also have a hookup for a pair of 11R vicegrips. Anyone have any questions on materials and so forth please ask
I keep thinking about making something similar. Thanks for sharing these with us. How rigid is it when they are all tight? I kinda worried about it being to wobbly to really be useful.
They are tall.....but......with the way it can be adjusted it can go inches from the table. I also have shorter arms. I just got these finished but I think they will be very rigid......you can tighten the clamps up very tight. I built these primarily as a kinda third hand/arm. The original thread I got these from showed them made from all steel. I used steel tube and aluminum for the clamping blocks to cut down on the weight. It was material I had on hand anyhow.
hi rah.. old post sorry to ask so late
this idea would solve a couple things in my shop, i would like to ask you a few
ball size i did read is 1" but wanted to ask what diameter you drilled the blocks and if you chamfered
rod dia and lenght
plates thk
thread dia
and most important how it`s holding the test of time and if you think it could hold a weight of 2kilo about 5 pounds
thanks in advance
regards
pete
penca wrote:hi rah.. old post sorry to ask so late
this idea would solve a couple things in my shop, i would like to ask you a few
ball size i did read is 1" but wanted to ask what diameter you drilled the blocks and if you chamfered
rod dia and lenght
plates thk
thread dia
and most important how it`s holding the test of time and if you think it could hold a weight of 2kilo about 5 pounds
thanks in advance
regards
pete
Gimme a few days. I will throw some weight on 'em and get you some specs.
Craig, looks similar to the one I made some years ago. Didnt know they could be bought
Pete, if made with rough clamping surfaces ( friction is your friend here) they will hold 2 kg. Used mine to hold some deck chairs I repaired, believe they where heavier than that. Needed to re-position them and get some height to get around tubes while welding them which made this a handy tool.
I put about 4 pounds on the set up in the pics. The swivels slipped at that point. I would imagine that if you made the swivel plates out of 3/8" steel instead of aluminum and used 3/8" inch bolts you might be able to cinch the plates to hold. I never built these with holding anything independently. They were more for position holding.....like legs on a welding table. Let me know if you want the measurements.
guys
sorry the late reply thank god and heaven i`ve been busy with all sorts of jobs coming in the shop and this had to wait a little more so i`m making 4 clamps for this project following all the advice you have given me and will post pics when i finish them