yea I damaged a super nice mini machinist vice when I was a kid making little aluminum foil cubes out of lunch remains
![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/facepalm.gif)
I think I wedged it into a cabinet drawer and used channel locks to turn the little handle, which was thicker then the screw.. A good idea for vise design is to make the handle the weak point. I noticed the vise I am restoring actually has an aluminum handle, despite having thick metal threads and guide pins, I think for this very reason.
I mean if you are designing for use against idiots.
Otherwise thick handles are shit! A nice knurled metal teardrop shaped handle on a swing joint is way better then the stupid little 'q-tip through a hole design' some of my medium sized machinist vices have.. god I hate that shit, its like you need to turn it, then push that metal thing, then turn it, then push the metal thing, and it ends up banging into whatever you are holding in the vise so you hear that god awful noise.... vs a swing arm which is super natural to use. I mean like a pin joint that has a thing that changes direction. try to spin most vises fast and you hear bang bang bang bang bang
![Banging Head |O](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gif)
and it slides around, and its a pain to clean and has no texture
Same thing on the rotation clamps that most vices have. I made a god damn cheater bar for the one I bought at home depot just to save my hands from the tiny little handle!!! You are selling me like 20 pounds of metal do you really need to save the penny on making a swing arm instead of that stupid Q-tip design??
that little vise was super overbuilt though, so the screw deflected a bit, but it works fine thankfully. I have been meaning to unbend that screw for like 20 years..
What is the proper term for those Q-TIP handles anyway? They also look like old-school barbells that strongmen used to lift if you don't get the Q-tip thing
![](https://cdn2.omidoo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full_width/images/bydate/20130425/shutterstock134950373.jpg)
Why do you make the vise associate with some burly strongman anyway? I want that shit smooth not flaking off with paint and zinc whiskers !!!
this style is so much better
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQa6s7h0jw-EdcMaTl1Oj6ciGkL4PL-nDLC85UuDr_gvNRZfAj4qAwith the other kind I feel like im fighting a god damn marine trying to use the thing
![](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7a7485898b3961934f03bec0af55995b-c)