3. Ball Vice Remix: Fusion, USA Hardware, Custom Inserts and More

The ball vice I made results from remixing three models: Open Ball V1 (Ball vise system), D-Series Ball Vise and D-series Dovetail Vises. Credit goes to Chris Borge for the original designs, Chris Deeter for his very helpful Build Guide, and ThatRobHuman for his remixes and excellent visual PDF instructions.

I made a number of changes overall, primarily to use hardware that’s cheap and easy to buy in the USA, but also to simplify my printing and add some new capability.

This is the third of three remixes needed to make the ball and vices in the way that I did. Included are modifications to the vice and fractal jaws, and a new general-purpose jaw with an easy-to-swap insert design. The first remix covered the bottom and ball. The second remix covered the index plate and dovetail spin plate.

Some of the metric hardware specified in the original design is time-consuming and expensive to source in the USA. I modified the models to use common threaded rod, cut to length with a hacksaw. Instead of a hex bolt head I filed a flat on the lead screw to lock the spur gear.

I imported the models into Autodesk Fusion. I found it helpful to see how the assembly fits together before printing. The Fusion f3d file with my modifications is included.

• Replaced the M4 x 60 Bolts, M4 x 65 Bolts and M4 x 20 Coupling Nuts with #8 threaded rod easily available from Lowes or Home Depot in the US. Used a hacksaw to cut two 5-9/16” (141 mm) lengths of rod, and two #8 acorn nuts per rod to hold the vice together.
• Enlarged the opening that previously contained coupling nuts to allow pliers to grab the threaded rod for tightening/loosening the acorn nuts.
• Replaced the M5 x 100 hex bolt with 1/4-inch threaded rod easily available from Lowes or Home Depot. Used a hacksaw to cut one 4-5/16” (110 mm) length of rod, then used a chainsaw file to file a flat 9 mm long and approximately one-third through the diameter.
• Modified SpurGear to press-fit on the flat on the 1/4-inch threaded rod.
• Enlarged the cavity inside all Movable Jaws to entrap a 1/4-inch nut instead of an M5.
• Combined fractal jaws and inserts to avoid gluing the two parts together.
• Combined SplineShaft and Knob to avoid gluing the two parts together. Added a Color Change in PrusaSlider to print in two colors.
• Designed new general-purpose jaws that accept custom inserts. Push two M5 nuts to the bottom of the internal holders. Attach inserts with two pan-head M4x12 bolts.