3D Printed Vice Clamp

Hello Makers, I am back with another 3D printing instructable, and this time we are building a bench vice with a universal clamp ( I might call it clamp-vice). Okay, but what's new here? and the answer is THE CLAMP, it's not an ordinary clamp, it has grooves on it so you can fix anything on it, and in this instructable, we will fix a bench vice on it (and maybe a robot later). So let's get started.

Here is the list of material and machines which are used in this tutorial

1. PLA filament

2. 3D printer

3. M14 nut x2

3. CAD software(optional)

4. Slicer(optional)

optional as all the files are attached in the end.

Clamps and bench vices are an essential tool in any hobbyist workshop as they can help them to hold objects firmly while working. The working principle behind these tools is similar to a simple nut and bolt. As, In the attached GIF file the black part is the casing of the bench vice, whereas the blue part is our bolt/screw, and the grey part is our nut AKA the moving part. So, when the screw rotates, our nut can move in a linear direction with the help of helical threads. We cannot push the nut with our hands because threads won't allow this motion, as shown in the photo. Based on this simple mechanism, we will design and build our clamp-vice.

In this section, we will talk about the design of our clamp and vice. So, first, let's talk about the clamp.

• Clamp:

As shown in the picture (left), the clamp is 125mm in length and 60mm in width with a clamping length of 40mm. It also has three grooves on its flat surface so that we can fit anything onto it. I have also added some slots in between the grooves to reduce material wastage. We have a circular plate and screw at the bottom, and when the screw rotates anticlockwise, the circular plate rises upward and holds the object firmly.

• Vice:

The dimension of the vice is similar to the Clamp, but it can hold any object up to a length of 77mm. It also has three reverse grooves so that it can fit onto the clamp. Similar to the clamp, when the screw rotates, then the jaw of the vice moves linearly to grab the object. Moreover, I have added two supporting rods to support this motion.

Notes

• Dimension of grooves and reverse grooves is crucial because if the clearance is not appropriate, then they won't fit perfectly, and we don't want a loose fit. To solve this problem, I gave 0.2mm clearance, therefore, the grooves on the clamp have a width of 7mm, whereas the width of reverse grooves in the vice is 6.8mm.
• The same goes with our supporting rods, and in that case, I have given 0.3mm clearance.

Thanks for staying so long, and here we are at our last step, and let's get started with vice assembly.

Vice

• First, fix the M14 nut in our vice jaw with a little bit of strong adhesive.
• Second, insert support rods into the vice body and then fix the jaw with the help of the supporting rod.
• Last, insert the screw through the nut.

Clamp

• First, fix the M14 nut in our clamp body with a little bit of strong adhesive.
• Then, insert the screw through the nut.
• Finally, fix the clamp head on the screw with the help of strong adhesive.

And yes, it's done now we can just fix our vice on to the clamp with the help of grooves.

I hope you have learned something from this instructable. All the part files, STL, and Gcode files are attached below. Feel free to download and customize. I believe that I wrote every piece of information regarding this topic in this article however, it will be great if you check this video out (this really motivates me ) :) and it also has some satisfying timelapse.