Slide Lock Drill Press Vise

I remember seeing those pictures . Maybe when you built it ?

Probably similar pictures. I just took those this morning. I was making a bracket to hold a battery box in place, and it was the best tool for the job. I use it most of the time when I use the drill press, and speed generally isn't an issue. I don't mean its not fast. I mean its fast enough. I loosen the top clamp, and slide the vise partway off the edge of the table where I can free spin the vise handle with a finger. Then when the part is secure I position it as needed and snug the top clamp screw. Not only is it pretty fast and pretty safe, its also pretty darn handy sometimes. Like for that really awkward bracket.

Admittedly I don't use the drill press for the typical machining job anymore. Those usually all get drilled before they leave the mill/lathe.

P.S. I was going to do an evaluation video of the cheapest press brake on the Internet, but my camera was positioned wrong and it would have been a terrible video. Proline. It was literally the cheapest press brake I could find. I think it was on eBay. That's kind of odd really as the last couple years the import tool vendors on eBay have crept up higher than Harbor Freight or Vevor. This one was a little cheaper net delivered. I think I make my own guide pins a little taller than the ones that came with it, so I can let the press lift the top die a little higher for clearance, but other than that it worked great for this quick and dirty project.

Correction. ProLineMax

I have the 30" 3-in-1 and this:

The 3-in-1 struggles and may need realignment at its rated capacity. It's happier with 0.050" aluminum and 24 gauge steel, which I usually cut with a more easily resharpened 8" bench shear. The 3-in-1 has been OK after some rework for occasional non-critical hobby work like electronics enclosures. I bought it second hand, the previous owner had given up on it.

My initial reason to learn machine shop practice was to be able to design shapes that could be made quickly and cheaply, within the common vocabulary of standard machine tools. Electrical engineering grads I worked for apparently don't learn much outside their field, unlike chemists who may work in any industry and have to design what they need built. I studied Statics and Strength of Materials.

The self-serving attitude I encountered was that machinists could do anything, difficult operations were job security, and I didn't find anything written about production engineering for efficiency which may be proprietary secrets. Apparently the practice even for Detroit is or was to design for the optimal balance of strength and weight and then "throw it over the wall" to the production department to figure out manufacturing.

It was funny to see machinists react in horror to the first metric dimensioned job I gave them, a computer designed GPS patch antenna. They could do anything except push the inch/metric button on the DRO.

I've actually got 4 bending brakes. My first one was a vise brake, and overall the one I used the most in the past. I've since found better methods for everything I did with it. Its an okay light gage bender, but what I most used it for was bending stainless wire for pull pins for lead casting molds. I've since taken to using a cheap bender off ebay for that job. The bender is intended for rod and thin bar, but it does a great job on stainless wire and rod upto 1/4 inch. I quickly ran up against the limits of the vise brake for sheet, and bought the 30" Harbor Freight bending brake.

I did quite a few jobs with the HF 30 inch brake until I bought the Tennsmith 48" brake. The Tennsmith has been used most recently for bending 1/4" polycarbonate sheet for a semi custom boat windshield. I don't use it much, because its big, heavy, and usually blocked in by other stuff on both the front and the back.

The press brake was purchased for bending heavier stock. Things like

I've actually got 4 bending brakes. My first one was a vise brake, and overall the one I used the most in the past. I've since found better methods for everything I did with it. Its an okay light gage bender, but what I most used it for was bending stainless wire for pull pins for lead casting molds. I've since taken to using a cheap bender off ebay for that job. The bender is intended for rod and thin bar, but it does a great job on stainless wire and rod upto 1/4 inch. I quickly ran up against the limits of the vise brake for sheet, and bought the 30" Harbor Freight bending brake.

I did quite a few jobs with the HF 30 inch brake until I bought the Tennsmith 48" brake. The Tennsmith has been used most recently for bending 1/4" polycarbonate sheet for a semi custom boat windshield. I don't use it much, because its big, heavy, and usually blocked in by other stuff on both the front and the back.

The press brake was purchased for bending heavier stock. Things like

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An anvil can be quite useful for bending, such as rod in the square or round hole, or curves over the horn, and flattening sheet metal. With a forge and skill square stock can be bent to a square corner, both inside and out, by upsetting (shrinking) the metal, striking it endwise against the anvil to swell the hot end and then reshaping it. I've only watched the instructor do it. A skilled smith is a magician with only a hammer and anvil.

You know that generally most of the blacksmiths that I follow on youtube and facebook want the edges of an anvil to be round.

I was in school during the Jimmy Carter era so I was exposed to metric at a young age. The hardest thing for me to remember was the difference between deci and deca. I just figure everything I do today in either inches or millimeters. I pretty much use them interchangeably since the US decided to set the SI at exactly 25.4 mm.

Okay, if I am build shelves or cabinets I admit I devolve into multiple different units. Right now (in a little while) I need to cut a piece of plywood to complete a bench above my 7 office to 7 feet 9 inches and 23

Yeah , but not all of them . Mine's a 66 lb and when it was new all the corners were sharp and square . I've rounded 2 areas - different radii - and left the rest square but not all "sharp" . Works for me , YMMV .

I would have added that a varying radius down the edge is what they usually go for to facilitate different types of work, and a sharp edge is considered undesirable for two reasons. It may break easily, but also it can lead to cold shuts which can lead to hidden hard points for stress risers. I was replying from my phone, and while voice to text works the AI that manages the voice to text thinks its funny to totally mess up the translation.