Sliding round stock

[thecelticforge]

I am having issues with round stock not staying put in the vise. I make a lot of the old fashioned three footed trivets with the spade feet. However, when I put the legs through the holes in the trivet and begin to rivet them into place they slowly inch down and it take me three times longer than it should.

I am looking for a simple solution. I am thinking about putting a "riser" of 1" square with a hole in it on the collar of the vise to keep the leg from being able to drop. After the rivet is formed, then I would make the spade feet.

Does anyone have a better idea?

[John B]

If you are using a stock size bar, you can get a better purchase for rivetting if you make a simple gripping holder to fit to the vise jaws.

Get 2 pieces of flat bar, place a shim of steel between them approx 1/16" thick, and drill through with the stock size drill, (You can repeat this along its length for different sizes of stock) remove the shim and you can grip the stock in between these two bars placed in the vice.

You can weld on a couple of pieces of angle or similar to aid holding them in position, or put spring loaded dowel pins/screws in to align and help free them when in use.

I would think it easier to forge the spade on prior to rivetting on the legs.

If you use squared tenon in a square punched hole, they will not have a tendency to come loose if used hard by the client.

Alternatively you could make a device that has a split hole through but working on a cam arm that will grip harder, the more you force the piece down as you rivet.

[thecelticforge]

I shall try the gripper first thing in the morning. I generally do the spading before riveting and I prefer the square stock for the legs, but it is not as appealing so what I do is drill the holes in the trivet, then use a punch to square them. Then I square the area that is to be inserted through the upper part. I found they come loose if I use round stock if used for anything besides sitting on a shelf.

I upped your reputation by one. This was very good advice :~)

Thank you!

[Timothy Miller]

I use soft copper or aluminum jaw caps in my leg vise.

[Sukellos]

I use a device just like the one John B. describes. Mine has a loop of spring stock welded to one end to open it up when I release the vise. It's a help, but not a cure-all. If you hammer straight down on stock as in upsetting, it will still move some, but not as much. It also help keep the stock from getting as uglified.

[Glenn]

Photos please. (grin)

[John B]

Photos please. (grin)

This one is for relatively small stock, and the easiest to make, make yours to suit your requirements.

Using the square stock makes it more robust thin thinner flat bar, should have mentioned that in my original post, probably would not have needed to explain if I had posted the pictures then, but I have only just taken these after being prompted by the "grin"

I was going to do that anyway. (Honest, hindsight is a wonderful thing)

[John B]

Alternative gripper, but not for upsetting, I use it to hold round bars (like rose stems) when manipulating or working on items like flowers, arranging and soldering or welding bits on to the end

[Mainely,Bob]

Big John,Your alternate gripper is the holder from a flaring tool.These are fairly common up here as the other part(screw press and flaring cone) is usually the first thing to go.I picked one up yesterday at the dump and it is quietly soaking in vinegar as we speak.

I will try and find my the retired Bell Systems tool I use for this type of thing.It resembles a short set of tongs and is joined by a link at the end so it flips around and you get twice the size choices with it.I was told it was originally designed as a crimper.

[rasklking]

I generally keep a piece of wood handy that I can put under the piece and above the collar. A lot of folks end up over-tightening the vise when they do that kind of work and end up with rounded threads on the vise screw. It's simple, but it works. :)

[John B]

Big John,Your alternate gripper is the holder from a flaring tool.These are fairly common up here as the other part(screw press and flaring cone) is usually the first thing to go.I picked one up yesterday at the dump and it is quietly soaking in vinegar as we speak.

I will try and find my the retired Bell Systems tool I use for this type of thing.It resembles a short set of tongs and is joined by a link at the end so it flips around and you get twice the size choices with it.I was told it was originally designed as a crimper.

I thought that what was its original purpose. Having said that, I also had a serious flaring tool that actually worked based on two tapered dies with the tube being gripped between them and a screwed adaptor that pushed the die for the flare onto the end of the tube, (it looked like a vise, with the dies being held in a tapered portion, and the moving jaw screw held the flaring die, a latch stopped the tapered blocks from expanding the body) because of the taper, the more you pushed, the more the tube (Round section) was gripped, once pressure was removed, the dies lifted out quite easily.
This principle would work well for the upsetting or rivetting if adapted, unfortunately I have not got pictures or the tool, someone 'borrowed' it and has failed to return it.