Lambco machinery 10” vice and 11”

[Pressbrake1]

Hello
After seeing my vice discussed here it was suggested that I start a thread.
I made ten of the original 10” vice and I’ve just started making a batch of the 11”
I’ve deleted most of the production pictures but I thought I’d put I have here so people can actually see the process of very small scale production

 

[Pressbrake1]

More

 

[Pressbrake1]

More

 

[Pressbrake1]

And more….

 

[Pressbrake1]

So now the mk 2 which has a 18” opening
No finished pictures yes as it’s not fair on the customer as he wants to show it first and I need to finalise some bits
Please note scale is in kg not pounds , do your own conversion!

 

[LXCam]

I’m glad you decided to share, those vises are glorious.

 

[tripplejl]

That's a lot of iron!

 

[Outwest]

Very nice!

 

[tool_scrounge]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Great looking vise

 

[Loga_3]

Awesome!

 

[Maui]

Please let us know if we have the ability to order one.

 

[Shiftless]

Are fellow members Royce and KMScott familiar with your work?
They teamed up to build a monster vise.

 

[scooby074]

Monsters

 

[Pressbrake1]

Are fellow members Royce and KMScott familiar with your work?
They teamed up to build a monster vise.

Yes Royce is as far as I know , I’m familiar with Royce’s work

 

[Pressbrake1]

Please let us know if we have the ability to order one.

Yes just email me

 

[paulsomlo]

I'm curious - what material and what's the process used to make the patterns?

 

[Pressbrake1]

I'm curious - what material and what's the process used to make the patterns?

Lots of drawings and working out
There’s a reason why a pattern makers apprenticeship is two years or more longer than a machinist’s
Patterns are from hardwood and beech plywood
Vice is from 420sg malleable iron which is same tensile as mild steel. I did make one from tool steel but it added a grand to the cost

 

[paulsomlo]

So, you make the patterns by hand, no CNC involved?

 

[Pressbrake1]

So, you make the patterns by hand, no CNC involved?

Correct

 

[Pressbrake1]

I also make cast iron English wheels from 10” to 42”
Another love job! Also a deluded idea of making something permanent

 

[tripplejl]

Fantastic workmanship! ^^^^^^

 

[Shocker]

Simply amazing. Thanks for posting.

 

[General Geoff]

I did make one from tool steel but it added a grand to the cost

That's amazing! Did the finishing on that one eat up a lot of extra tooling?

 

[Pressbrake1]

That's amazing! Did the finishing on that one eat up a lot of extra tooling?

Cutting the nut dovetail was painful
The unfortunate thing with steel is the heat damages the sand mould so you loose the beautiful definition you get with sg iron

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

@Pressbrake1
Thanks for posting the pics. Your wheel looks great. Too bad about what happened with Dom. I hope you still produce these because I have no doubt they would be superior to his imitation Ranalah.

 

[Pressbrake1]

@Pressbrake1
Thanks for posting the pics. Your wheel looks great. Too bad about what happened with Dom. I hope you still produce these because I have no doubt they would be superior to his imitation Ranalah.

Thankyou. I try and block him out otherwise my thoughts become dark . Tbh he was doing it out of vanity. He’s gifted Aston Martin one and Geoff moss . That’s it
I’m currently making a fullsized machine of 42”

 

[Pressbrake1]

Minimum effort video from the e wheel number one

 

[General Geoff]

Love the Wheel video!

 

[Pressbrake1]

Last bit of screw cutting for 2023 unless I get an emergency repair to do!
Screw for my last mk1 vice for a friend in Ohio

 

[royce]

How wonderful this is.
Thank you kindly for sharing.

Royce

 

[Pressbrake1]

How wonderful this is.
Thank you kindly for sharing.

Royce

Thankyou Royce
Your work has been a inspiration that was the genesis of my vice project

 

[royce]

Thankyou Royce
Your work has been a inspiration that was the genesis of my vice project

Wow isn't that something, makes me feel good for both of us.
I can imagine us meeting, shaking your hand and seeing your work in person.
Again, well done.


Royce

 

[Pressbrake1]

Wow isn't that something, makes me feel good for both of us.
I can imagine us meeting, shaking your hand and seeing your work in person.
Again, well done.


Royce

Well if you ever make it to England…

 

[paulsomlo]

Last bit of screw cutting for 2023 unless I get an emergency repair to do!
Screw for my last mk1 vice for a friend in Ohio

Acme? Looks like you're using a follow rest? Is that one piece - you started with a bar the diameter of the hub and turned it down? If so, that made one heck of a pile of chips.

 

[Pressbrake1]

Correct

 

[paulsomlo]

Do you grind your own Acme bit from HSS, or use an insert?

 

[Pressbrake1]

Do you grind your own Acme bit from HSS, or use an insert?

Insert
Time is money so I screwcut at high rpm and with higher tensile steels I prefer carbide.
That said when making new screws for lathes etc I’ll form grind round carbide (from old endmills) and put it a holder . Being round I can tilt to match the helix on the small diameter

 

[tombell572]

A tribute to manual machining. Running a true production job on an open side planer is a site rarely seen any more. Could that machine be a Rockford? Thank you

Tom B.

 

[Pressbrake1]

Thankyou. Yes it’s a Rockford, 1963 vintage so quite new!
I had seen Rockford planers on the internet but no idea they had made it to England.
I had been looking for a planer but everything here in England had been exported , scrapped or a hundred tons . I was getting desperate and was poised to pay a dealer too much money in America for one, pay too much shipping and then mess around with the voltage and frequency difference.
A week before I was about to sell my soul to raise the money this Rockford came up for sale 150 miles away for sensible money!!

 

[dutchgray]

I was at a machinery auction about 3 years ago (RHG Stone, near Street, Somerset) well it was an online auction but I went and viewed, they had a nice hydraulic planer, about an 8' bed length, a 60's machine, in very very nice condition, it went for quite a lot of money If I recall, there was also about 10 Dean Smith and Grace lathes there, which were not in the auction, apart from the newest one, one of those 80's era 1810's "Hardglydes" the one with an electromagnetic clutch on every speed so you can shift speed while running, but they fail and you can't get the clutches anymore.