Bench Vice - FDM optimised

CHANGELOG

v1.2.1 - Carriage Bolt Edition

• Tweaked the Knob + Cover pieces to reduce thin walls and features that wouldn't slice properly. Still requires supports on Cover Piece 1.

v1.2f - Carriage Bolt Edition

•  turning knob added, to allow people to use M10 Carriage Bolts (Cup head) + 1x M10 washer instead of Hex Bolts (Note: The cover pieces WILL require supports - until I fine tune it later. Please check below for carriage bolt matches measurements or else edit the STEP file.)

v1.2f - Fixed the fillet on Turning Knob to help with clearance on all models - including older models, with which it had great difficulty fitting.

• Reduced Turning Knob fillet from 4mm to 2mm

v1.2 - Strengthened some parts and fixed knob clearances (see video Potato stress test: Part 2, and Part 3 for the v1.2 updates)

• Improved strength of Turning Knob + Bolt Trap.stl, and added stress relieving gussets - Now requires 1x M10 Washer <= 20x2mm. This change moves the Drive Screw forward 2mm. (Compatible with v1.1 and v1.0 but needs Bolt Trap Covers 1 and 2 v1.2)
• Overhauled Bolt Trap Covers 1 and 2 with tighter clearances, washer space, and stress-relieving gussets.
• Added clearance to main body for the Turning Knob slot - should be much easier to mount the Turning Knob + Bolt Trap.
• Updated Main Body Bolt Trap Cover.stl to match new clearances.
• Drive Screw has been pushed frontwards by 2mm to make room for the new washer - This will remove 2mm of Jaw Movement from the end.
• The Vice now officially squashes a potato as of this version.

v1.1 - After some user feedback I have strengthened some areas with weak stress points.

• Rounded some corners to reduce stress fractures.
• Chamfered the Bolt Trap area to reduce stress on corners.
• Thickened the Main Body base to reduce deflection (This change lowers the Table Clamp range to approximately 48mm maximum).
• TPU pad shortened 2mm.
• Removed an error face on Main Body.

INTRODUCTION

I wanted a bench vice that used hardware to drive the jaw, and was completely optimised for supportless 3D printing. The goals for this build in order to maximize effectiveness and accessibility:

• Using easily accessible hardware - to drive the jaw / no weak printable threaded substitutions.
• Optimise layer line orientation - to prevent critical failure points / reduce “against the grain” contact effects.
• FDM optimised - no bottom fillets or rounded hole tops, no supports, and minimal to no bridging. 
• Fits on a 220x220 plate with a decent range of jaw motion and customization options.

The main assembly is printed on it's left side in order to maximize layer line strength, enable supportless printing, and to allow smooth part contact sliding when connecting rails to the jaw. 

All holes are teardrop chamfered, tapering towards the right side of the vice to make it easy to print on it's left face with no supports. Most overhangs do not go under ~35 degrees at the most, and there is minimal to no bridging needed.

Because of the unique properties of layer lines, we can take advantage of the small ridges in and bumps in printed plastic to create a locking friction that secures the clamp very tightly. This fact combined with the leverage the turning rod provides makes it easy to clamp things securely.

For anyone interested in the compressive strength, here is my attempt to mash a raw potato:

This video showcases my demonstration model (v1.0) at PETG 4 walls (blue) and PLA clamp inserts (beige). There is a lot of room for improvement, and I have already thickened some areas for v1.1 to help reduce bowing and stress fracture points.

Edit: …and for some reason, a lot of people wanted to see a part two. So here it is:

The thrilling conclusion:

Turning Knob + Bolt Trap.stl will be updated for v1.2. Will require an M10 washer.

**Please don't tightly clamp items without mounting to a table first. The clamping action will cause downward deflection and possible stress cracks in the main body.

BOM

NOTE: The following hardware is customizable. These are what I used but check the area below for different options.

Drive screw

• 1x M10x200mm hex bolt - partial threaded 80mm or full threaded
• 1x M10 nut 
• (v1.2) 1x M10 washer 20x2mm

Link to the Drive screw (for the Aussies)

https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-m10-x-200mm-zinc-plated-hex-head-bolts-and-nuts_p0510460

OR

• 1x M10x200 Carriage Bolt - Partial or full threaded
• 1x M10 nut
• (v1.2) 1x M10 washer 20x2mm

Turning rod

• 1x M8x150 hex bolt

https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-m8-x-150mm-hot-dipped-galvanised-hex-head-bolt-and-nut_p2310074

Table clamp

• 1x M8x80 hex bolt
• 2x M8 Nut
• 1x M8 Washer

Hex rails

• 2x M4x20 SHCS (Anything M4x10 - M4x20 will do)

The Jaw is driven by a single M10x200 Hex Bolt (or Carriage Bolt) screw, and a trapped Mx10 nut. The screw has 80mm of threading at the end, but can easily accommodate screws with various lengths / thread length with the trade-off of less jaw movement - for example, the screw I use gives ~80mm of jaw movement. You could also use a front nut with a full threaded M10 screw to give you approximately (thread length minus ~30mm) of jaw movement - but it will require editing the STEP to remove the endstops.

The front nut housing is not compatible with partial threaded screws, as the unthreaded section is bigger than the threads.

Please make sure your nuts are not larger than these measurements for the nut traps (or else modify the STEP file):

• M8 Nut - 13mm (longs) x 6.75mm height
• M10 Nut - 16mm (longs) x 8.25mm height
• M10 Bolt head - 16mm (longs) x 7.00mm height - OR
• M10 Carriage Bolt - Head diameter <25mm x <6.19mm height, and square neck ~10.5mm x 4mm height
• M10 Washer - 20mm Diameter x 2mm Depth

**NOTE: If you plan on using dual nut traps on a full threaded screw and modify the original file, the nuts need to be at a distance divisible by thread pitch (e.g. 1.5mm on a m10 nut) in order to align perfectly with the screw when engaging the thread. They are currently 78mm distance, which is divisible by 1.5.

The turning knob uses a M8x150 screw  + printed handles to create the Turning Rod, but you can also use any screw or rod you see fit as it's just for turning the knob. You may need to modify the hole diameter of the Turning Knob + Bolt Trap file to accomodate different rods (loosely, approx 0.2mm clearance).

v1.2 - NEW addition of M10 washer, to be inserted with the bolt into the Bolt Trap like so:

The clamp uses a M8x80 screw with M8 nut, but again can be customised for more or less clamp movement. The M8x80 gives you ~4 - 48mm of table clamp range, (Depending on TPU pad attached).

Approximate cost for the build is ~5AUD plus filament. The bolts at the links above come with a free nut each.

PRINT SETTINGS

**NOTE: The new v1.2f Carrige Bolt Edition, Bolt Trap Cover 1 - DOES REQUIRE SUPPORTS FOR NOW.

The ‘Individual Files’ folder and “Assembled Plate” STL has one of each item needed.

• 0.2 layer height 
• Supports OFF (except when printing v1.2f Carriage Edition - Bolt Trap Cover 1)
• 4+ walls 
• PETG or higher recommended 
• Turning Knob + Bolt Trap.stl - Use the highest compressive strength filament you can, e.g. PCTG, PC, or CF-infused filament, AND 6+ walls minimum. See image below for context.
• TPU or PCTG recommended for pad and clamp inserts

Please maximize settings for optimal overhangs and dimensional accuracy. Things that can help you achieve this:

• 0.2 layer height maximum 
• Arachne wall generator
• Inner/outer wall order 
• Calibrate nozzle temp, flow rate and pressure advance 
• Lower infill/wall overlap% (maybe 15-20% if you print high wall count to prevent overextrusion)
• Dry your filament 
• Prioritize using plain filament for accuracy over fancy filament

Edit: For anyone who witnessed Potato stress test: Part 2 above, I found the actual source of the crunching sounds:

The Drive Screw chewed through the PETG turning knob, making this the weakest part of the build. I am upgrading my recommended Print Settings for the turning knob to increase the strength, and working on increasing the knob strength further. Edit: Potato stress test 3 and v1.2 is now updated.

Most pieces are designed with a range of 0.12 - 0.16 clearance so you may struggle with the build if you don't prioritize quality and accuracy.

If you have bad results with seam bumps, rounded corners, dimensional / hole inaccuracies, and inconsistent tolerances, you may struggle to fit pieces comfortably.

All pieces will fit on a 220x220 plate.

All parts are oriented correctly for optimal layer line and orientation and supportless printing. If you reorient a piece you may introduce an “against the grain” contact effect, such as printing the hex rails vertically (bumpy) instead of horizontally (smooth).

As mentioned many times, parts are designed to be almost entirely supportless and bridgeless, with some exception for the Turning Knobs.

All cover pieces are printed in a separate flat orientation and inserted later to further trap the nuts into place, and to complete the build aesthetically. They are not mandatory.

ASSEMBLY

**Note: You only need 1 drive screw nut (if you're using partial threaded screws)

Attach the drive screw to the main body. Attach the Jaw and Hex rails, screw both hex rails into place. Screw in M4x20's into the rails.

Assemble the knob with the drive screw in it's place, add bolt trap covers 1 and 2.

Attach turning rod and handles.

Assemble the table clamp, clamp inserts, nut trap and knob covers. Glue TPU pad / rubber material to underside.

The clamp is assembled by securing a nut against the screw as such:

You may need to apply threadlocker to fully secure it.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that the Turning Knob + Bolt Trap.stl is having a hard time fitting in to the main body slot. If you are having difficulties getting this piece inside, please gently heat the area / use a deburring knife on the slot's edges, and it should go in. I have tested and it again and it works, it just doesn't leave much room for error. Clearances have been fixed in versions 1.1 and above, and Turning Knob v1.2f is backwards compatible with all models, with better clearances and improved strength.

Make it, sell it, remix it, do whatever you want with this. Just promise me that you will report your results in return so I can further improve upon it.