Tool Talk
What's-It Forum => What's-It Forum => Topic started by: JoeCB on May 01, 2017, 04:01:43 PM
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I found this beautifully made little hand vise at the flee market... then I noticed that it has a hollow shank and even the clamp bolt is drilled thru thus allowing for pass through of wire, or?? I have a length of brass wire through in the photo. Ideas??? maybe a jewelers wire twister or wire draw tool. Much too nice and decorative to be normal hand vise.
Joe B
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Used mainly by jewelers but not that unusual for a hand vise to have a thru hole in the handle.
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I'm pretty sure the hole was used when a jeweler was wire drawing, so that as the wire elongated as it went through the plate it could be fed through the handle.
Chilly can probably give a more exact description of the process.
Mike
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The hole through the handle is just plain handy when working with silver or gold wire.
The pliers used for drawing wire are pretty beefy, and usually have a hooked handle on one side. If you are drawing wire by hand uou rwally need a good grip. The end you grab is scrap. It has to be filed or worked down to thread through the drawplate.
A drawplate consists of a bunch of holes, graduated in size, tapered woth the larger size on the back and to size on the front. Anneal the metal, apply some lube, stick the tapered end through a drawplate held in a vise, and pull. Sometimes you can pull a couple sizes before annealing.
The plates come with different shape holes. Square, triangle, etc. To get half round (like to make a ring) you pull two wires together through a round hole. They will be flat where they draw up to each other.
More often, instead of hand pulling the wire, a draw bench is used. A draw bench is a narrow (maybe a foot or so) long (5-7 feet?) bench. At one end is a holder for the drawplate. At the other end is some kind of winch. Old benches had a huge handwheel. The winch pulls a cable or chain with a loop on the end that catches the hooked handle on the pliers.
After pulling the wire, when fabricating, hand clamps help hold small parts. A hole through the handle is very ergonomic. In many situations it could get complicated - without a hole to hold the wire straight up. When held at right angles a wire has a tendency to bend, held straight it is supported for 4" or more.
Chilly