Ball Vice/Engraver's Block Dilemma

[joella]

Hi Claire, yes, even down to the grs branding- in the product pic on cookson’s site I think the branding is ‘park’ but what arrived has grs branding and not all pins fit in vice, one of the nylon protectors isn’t attached, on the same part as yours, it’s exactly like yours. I’m guessing both cookson’s and cousins used the same supplier.
Sue

[Claire Lockwood]

Jeez - It's pretty shocking! I should contact Cookson's because they're far more agreeable about returns and the like, and you must have bought yours more recently than I bought mine. You can just say you hadn't had chance to use it until now so hadn't looked at it. It's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

[joella]

I got mine in February after it had been out of stock for ages, so I kinda feel it wouldn’t be fair to go back to them now, after such along time. It’s just the small one, think it cost about £105 or something like that - much cheaper than some I’ve seen - couldn’t justify the more expensive one, so took a chance with this one. Live and learn, pricey mistake.

[joella]

Actually, if you look at the cookson’s pics for this item, it shows those nylon pieces as separate from but with, the pieces that they go with, if that makes sense. So really the problem is the pins that don’t fit the vice, but on mine, some of them do fit, how about yours?

[Claire Lockwood]

Hi Sue - Some fit and some don't. I don't have two in a pair that fit for either these -


or these


Also, I have one leg longer than the other on one of them!!


The nylon pieces absolutely should be attached or they're useless, so it seems more likely that they fell off just as quickly as mine did, when someone was taking product photos and whoever it was didn't realise it was a fault / just decided to carry on anyway!

I do think that as Cookson's are far more amenable with returns you should contact them. They must have many customers who, for whatever reason - say it's a gift, don't get round to opening an item properly for a couple of months. I felt on the back foot with Cousins but I think Cookson's would be different.

[joella]

Hi Claire,
Sorry it’s taken me a while to get back with pics.


This is my set


These are the bits that do fit


These are the items that befuddled me, the big pins are too fat to go in the holes in the vice, the little pins are too thin, and would just fall straight through - and the little black screws I have no idea what to do with them, they fit the holes though!

[Paul Kay]

I have no idea where some of the U.K. suppliers are sourcing their versions/brands of this model, but it is currently available as a single purchase with the same attachments and GRS or alternative branding on AliExpress with free postage to the UK for $37 / £28 and upwards, and on AliBaba for negotiable wholesale prices. Given that some U.K. suppliers have the same, genuine (I presume) GRS block and attachments priced at, all but, £400 incl. VAT, may be an indication of why some of the parts don't fit. I would return these as not fit for purpose, at the very least. Rest assured that, given time, the Chinese versions will improve.

[frankydean]

Why don't you look at the GRS vice, not the ball vice, I use them at work, they fit on the GRS dove tail, you can get angles on it and move it through 360 deg, and any of the GRS bits and pieces fit it, I am a toolmaker, and fairly new to jewellery, but some bench tools are similar, you can get the bench pin, it fits on the dove tail as well, so you can swap in a jiff between the vice and a pin, buy the clamping bits as you need them or use the bonding sticks they sell, just a note, GRS / most American tools are imperial so you will not be able to fit, anything but GRS or as we say English sizes like 9/64, 1/8, and so on, but it is a super vice, heat treated, well made, will hold items secure, and last for years,
all the best Frank