Model Ship Building Stands And Vices

[LEGION 12]

Hey all searched around and couldn't find anything , looking to make a stand or something similar to aid in building my models , something I could use with different scales and for plastic or wooden models . Remember seeing one here that looked like a turntable or a lazy Susan can't seem to locate it now any ideas ?  Thanks in advance Rich . 

[mtaylor]

Rich,

Models with a keel or more modern ones where there isn't a visible keel?

 

If you go here: https://modelshipworld.com/forum/18-modeling-tools-and-workshop-equipment/   and use the keyword "keel" there's quite a few hits for everything from homemade to manufactured.   I posted some below.

 

 

Amati make a "keel klamper". 

 

Hobbyzone has one.

There's this topic:

 

 

Here's a topic on a home made one:  

 

[Gregory]

I don't care too much about the stands, but I would like to hear more about the " vices "..

Edited March 7, 2019 by Gregory

[Jim Rogers]

1 hour ago, Gregory said:

I don't care too much about the stands, but I would like to hear more about the " vices "..

Scotch and Vintage Vinyl.

[Richard Griffith]

Spiced rum and bourbon are my favorite vices...…………..

 

You can make your own with hard wood and wing nuts to suit any configuration.

[tkay11]

Once in Barbados I thought I'd go to buy a present of rum for a relative. I went to a local small supermarket and looked at the vast array of different types of rum. Not knowing anything about rum, I decided to ask the rather bored-looking young woman at the till for a recommendation. 'Suit yourself', she said, 'They all make you drunk'.

 

Something similar may go for the various types of clamp. Perhaps they all hold your ship.

 

Tony

[LEGION 12]

14 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Rich,

Models with a keel or more modern ones where there isn't a visible keel?

 

If you go here: https://modelshipworld.com/forum/18-modeling-tools-and-workshop-equipment/   and use the keyword "keel" there's quite a few hits for everything from homemade to manufactured.   I posted some below.

 

 

Amati make a "keel klamper". 

 

Hobbyzone has one.

There's this topic:

 

 

Here's a topic on a home made one:  

 

None of mt current models have keels but a few of those look interesting. 

[LEGION 12]

13 hours ago, Gregory said:

I don't care too much about the stands, but I would like to hear more about the " vices "..

Lol ........ 

[LEGION 12]

I have many vices.  

[tkay11]

I have a pair of these very handy vices which are the ones I turn to mostly. They do have a couple of downsides, such as strength of grip which seems to decrease with age, but in such instances I turn to the other types. These are readily available from parents, although it's good to be cautious when looking for a source online.

Tony

[vossiewulf]

They are hard to find at a reasonable cost (they keep getting more expensive for some reason), and only work for small to medium-sized ships, but given those caveats an engraver's block (correct term) or ball vise (slang term) is really excellent for building. You can basically fix the ship in any position or twirl it around in your hand as called for.

 

[Bob Blarney]

On 3/6/2019 at 8:24 PM, Gregory said:

I don't care too much about the stands, but I would like to hear more about the " vices "..

About Vices?  What you need to know:

Vises grip firmly for you.  Vices grip you firmly. 

Just sayin'

 

[Mike Y]

How come none of you broke off the keel accidentally when clamping a model like this? Should be very careful, can't sand or apply any force to the model when it is clamped this way - what is the real use for them? 

Proper clamp/jig should really hold the front end the back part of a hull as well...

Edited March 9, 2019 by Mike Y

[LEGION 12]

[wefalck]

I tend to use two screws to fix my models to their display cases the same nuts that are inside the hull also are used for temporary mounting screws that hold the model to a piece of wood that in turn can be held in a vice etc.

[Bob Cleek]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned using a Zyliss vise for a keel clamping vise. (Sometimes called a "Z-vise, "Oz Vise" or "10-in-One Vise." Beware of inferior Chinese knock-offs. See below.)* This clamping system is truly the "Swiss Army vise," being originally designed for field use by the Swiss Army. I don't think they were ever sold "retail," but were a standby on the tool and home show circuit in the seventies through nineties. (You know, the fast-talking guy with the microphone on a cord around his neck, "It chops, it slices, it dices, it's ten tools in one!") It is an extremely versatile patternmakers' vice that clamps onto a workbench or wherever you want to put it. The original Swiss "government issue" model by Zyliss isn't made anymore. (Zyliss makes top-end chefs' tools now.) There's been some talk in recent years that later Chinese-made versions are made of inferior castings, but the originals are fairly available on eBay and advmachinery.com was selling new old stock at one point, as well as a slightly different, newer vise from the same designer. Make sure you have all the various parts and attachments that come with the basic vise system if you buy used. Some offered on eBay are missing pieces and you'd probably pay hell to try to find them. Complete "originals" are going for around $60 to $100 on eBay. They were always expensive. New old stock was recently selling for somewhere around $500! They also have an attachment that will turn it into a drill motor driven wood lathe. I can't imagine a modeler not finding many uses for one. Definitely a garage sale "grab it if you find it" item.

 

 

 

(With the "turntable" attachment in place, the work held in the jaws can be rotated 360 degrees and tilted through an arc of 270 degrees, making it very useful for planking and rigging work.)

 

See: demonstration videos:

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Zyliss+Vise+Manual&&view=detail&mid=67AE3A851F29063984B567AE3A851F29063984B5&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Zyliss+Vise+Manual&&view=detail&mid=5D096BE24AABA6C778E85D096BE24AABA6C778E8&rvsmid=67AE3A851F29063984B567AE3A851F29063984B5&FORM=VDQVAP

 

* I did a bit of googling and came up with the following report on the various brands of the original Zyliss vise. Once again, the Chinese People's Patriotic Reverse-Engineering Collective rears its ugly head:

 

After more than fifty successful years, Swiss production of the original Swiss ZYLISS Vise was shuttered due to unmanageable cost increases around the turn of the decade. During a brief transition period the US-assembled zVise2 was the authorized ZYLISS successor. The only factory-authorized Chinese version was then introduced as the JML Visemaster in Britain, and as the z2 in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. After British distribution ceased, a small quantity of JML product was also sold in the US. Of all vise products currently available, the z2 today remains most similar to the original ZYLISS

In contrast, the Gripmaster was an unauthorized reverse-engineered Chinese knock-off distributed starting in 1993 by the now defunct Clark National Products, who typically claimed it was a ZYLISS product, or at least was very willing to create that impression in its demonstrations. Clark had the credibility to do this since they had previously been, for many years, the exclusive US ZYLISS importer. They sold the cheaply-made Gripmaster at ZYLISS prices and under largely false pretenses for many years before unceremoniously going out of business several years ago.

Nonetheless many vise parts will fit across the various brands, although there is never any assurance of that. z2 and some residual ZYLISS parts are available from Advanced Machinery in New Castle, Delaware, USA.

A high-end alternative product, using a similar design but with more refined engineering and much heavier construction, developed by the original inventor of the ZYLISS and still manufactured in Switzerland today as it has been for over 20 years, is the SWISSREX. This product is currently sold by the factory in Switzerland and also in the US by Advanced Machinery.

Finally, the latest in a long string of unauthorized ZYLISS knockoffs was a Chinese product packaged and marketed from Germany, called Mr. Strong. Burdened with a fatal engineering flaw, this product was a dismal failure in the American market despite its clever packaging and initial good appearance, and appears to have not done much better elsewhere.

 

 From: https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/25663

Edited March 12, 2019 by Bob Cleek

[Andrea Rossato]

On 3/8/2019 at 5:50 PM, tkay11 said:

I have a pair of these very handy vices which are the ones I turn to mostly. They do have a couple of downsides, such as strength of grip which seems to decrease with age, but in such instances I turn to the other types. These are readily available from parents, although it's good to be cautious when looking for a source online.

Tony

@tkay11 My hands are always glued to the strips ... they are sticky with epoxy ... they peel off vinyl and finally ... full of cuts, chips, abrasions. But they remain the best clamps