Ball setting vise

I'm wanting to buy a ball vise, it's my birthday soon and the boyfriend has offered. I'm going for a generic brand as we can't afford the GRS one. My question is this should I go for a 5" or 3" ball? I mainly want to use it for setting stones.

If it's just setting, then most of us use a 3" ball. Bits of T section aluminium are useful for glueing objects to (either setters pitch or superglue), but make sure you get the stuff without a root fillet.

Thanks Peter, that was very helpful. I do prefer the idea of the smaller one as it won't take up so much space in my flat too

I have a mini ball suits pretty much all I need, although now that I'm getting into engraving I may need the large one as well, (need to save my pennies )

Yeah, my larger ball vice is far better suited to use with bigger objects. And it holds the Ringenie, which is a bit of an ask for the smaller ones.
That said, small engraving jobs are fine on the smaller ball vices. Monograms, that kind of thing.

Perfect timing Sheena, as I'm looking for one too, to complement my coolmorph purchased before Xmas, ready for stone setting.

Which one would be most durable
https://cpc.farnell.com/stanley/1-83...gle/dp/TL12890 or this
https://cpc.farnell.com/modelcraft/p...5mm/dp/TL16613 or this
https://www.axminstertools.com/axmin...16875642147ba9

I had one years ago and it just didn't hold things steady without them moving slightly and would be interested to hear your thoughts..

Hi Jules, this is what I was thinking of buying. Ball vises seem to be popular for stone setting.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386300887481

Thanks Sheena. Silly question, how does it fix to the bench??

It doesn't, the rubber base stops it from moving. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

So, another probably silly question.. would this vice enable a hands free type of operation, once you've fixed the piece to be set, or do you have to hold it to make it work properly?

Most of them have a screw to stop them rotating, but if you're considering thumping something then the larger balls are more resistant. I wouldn't use a small one for hammer & chisel work, for example (standard engineer's vice on a post, walk around it is easier)
My usual way of working is one hand manipulating the vice, other hand has the graver/micromotor/hammer handpiece/whatever.

So, if I'm using a hand pusher type, I'd still need to hold the ball with one hand and push with the other, as only having one screw to stop them rotating is not enough, surely?

The brake is there to stop it or slow it rotating - so if you're engraving straight lines, for example. You'd still hold the ball though.

OK, many thanks for that Peter.