Hi,
this popped up in my instagram feed…rio grande…i am looking at it thinking “did i know this existed”…?…i am not sure!…did you?
it looks like a nice inexpensive solution for an inside ring holder, and along with a wooden ring clamp, seems like an inexpensive first step toward eventually getting a benchmate type ring clamp system…
julie
I’m interested in something like that but which can be used with either a normal vise or the GRS microblock (but without buying the full GRS set, I’m hoping not to spend that much). I’d really like to have something where I can use both hands.
Hi Sue, Julie and All,
I guess that you know that a similar gadget is included with a mini-engraving ball. If you aren’t pushing too hard or in the wrong direction and you have the right height setup for the engraving ball (which doesn’t absolutely HAVE to be the GRS shelf) the mini-ball will remain stable on a rubber ring and allow using both hands.
As far as the Rio Setter’s Clamp Set, I’ll bet that the wooden handle unscrews, and that means that if the protruding screw is in the handle, you can cut the head off a bolt with an identical screw thread, mount that decapitated bolt into the vise part of the Setter’s Clamp and use a T-nut to screw the setup into your bench pin. Prolly various other work-arounds for the creative mind. Oh, and a similar clamp setup with a metal handle on Ebay for under $11. Just sayin’…-royjohn
Thank you. I didn’t get anything like that with my mini ball, though I did order the clamp thingy with the cork. This works fine for a lot of things (was a life-changer, really!), but many of my rings are tapered, which doesn’t work. (I’m not sure I understand your second option - I’m sure your explanation is clear, it’s my brain that’s not).
Hi,
there are these as well…next level up in price range, and also requiring a vice or ball vice…the wooden clamp just seems like a nice first step…that is inder $50…versus those that are $100-900…
julie
Hi,
wow…having an affinity for GRS products, I never realized how many ball vices with accessories were available in the $100 range these days…when i was in the market years ago, i believe they were still in the $200+ range…interesting…a quick search reveals many options…i wonder why there is such a steep price difference…other than the fact that GRS in jade in the USA…I love GRS!
julie
Hi Sue,
My mini engraving ball is a 3.5" that I ordered from Ebay and it did not come with the black split collets, but they are available on Ebay for under $20, shipped from China, if you dare. I think I did order a set, but I don’t see them on my bench right now, but what else is new?
My second option was to unscrew the handle off the hand held “ring setter’s clamp” and see whether the screw holding the wooden handle is on the handle or protrudes from the gizmo that sits on the handle. If there’s a screw coming out of the gizmo, you can use what’s called a T-nut to fasten it to a wooden bench pin. If the screw comes out of the handle, you have to get a shaft with a screw thread to screw into the gizmo, which you do by getting the right size bolt and cutting off it’s head. Once you have a screw thread protruding from the gizmo, you use the T-nut which you set into your bench pin as described above. Clear as mud? -royjohn
Hi Royjohn,
ok, cool, i get it…you are basically saying that one could remove the head, drill a hole in the bench pin, and screw it into the bench pin, using a wing nut for easy on/ off…and the question is just “does the head have a screw protruding out of the bottom? or does it have the threaded hole”…which determines whether you need a wing nut, or s bolt…
julie
Great, the second one looks right. I didn’t look hard enough, so thank you.
Well, actually I was thinking of a T-nut (google that and look at pictures of them). They are a way of mounting a nut into a piece of wood. So the bolt, the male part, screws into the T-nut, which is embedded in the bench pin. But I didn’t think of drilling a hole all the way thru the bench pin and putting a wing nut onto the bottom of the screw thread where it comes thru the bench pin. That also works, and is actually simpler! If you can tlighten up the wing nut so that the clamp doesn’t swivel…If you use a T-nut, you can tighten up the screw into the T-nut so that it doesn’t swivel, hopefully. I would use my engraving mini-ball, or possibly a small vise which clamps onto my bench, but I might make a hole in my bench pin and try what I described… -royjohn