Yesterday, the NAWCC group that I belong to (Granite State Timekeepers) held one of its meetings, and amongst other exiting happenings, I acquired a 100+ year old engravers vice. It was free, thanks to Dennis, at Carignan Watch Repair, who had it as a long forgotten spare.
It is dusty, and it is rusty, with a couple of parts that need attention, but despite it's age and use, the parts that matter are still perfect!
And here is why I think it perfect, and why the title of the post:
An engravers vice, or ball vice as it is also called, is made of two sections, a sphere cut in half, with the top half (the half with the jaws) swiveling atop the bottom half. The two halves are not bolted together or in any other way mechanically connected. The top half just rides on the bottom half with only a couple bearing surfaces touching.
The photo is of me holding the entire vice suspended in the air by only the top half... it is the adhesive and cohesive forces of the oil in the perfect bearing surfaces that are keeping the six pound bottom half from falling off!
And here are the 1/2 inch wide bearing surfaces (on the perimeter only) that provide all the holding power for such a feat. Those few drops of lanolin based oil is all it takes ...
Another perfectly machined tool from a century ago...
