I've been playing around with ideas for making a 3d printable fractal vise where the rotational degrees of freedom rely on flexures instead of the bearing surfaces.

To test these out, I started making these fellas that slide on to my existing Panavise jaws.

I really like the four bar design of V1-V4, but I haven't yet found a way to get them compliant enough and with enough range of motion.

V5 is the best so far at conforming to a range of shapes (you can check it out in action in this little short.) But it also has a bit too much torsional compliance, which seems suboptimal for a vise :)

I've got more details on all of the designs here, and I'll also keep updating it as I continue to tinker

Category: Tools