Ball setting vise

[Sheen]

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.

[ps_bond]

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.

[Sheen]

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

[china]

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 )

[ps_bond]

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.

[Petal]

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..

[Sheen]

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

[Petal]

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

[Sheen]

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

[Petal]

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?