[TheForge] OT - hand jig

[Andrew Vida]

It is a jeweler's hand vise.

On 1/24/2012 10:03 AM, Bruce Freeman wrote:
> Harbor Freight has an interesting little tool, I picked up a couple
> months ago, called a "universal work holder" (item 65007
> http://www.harborfreight.com/universal-work-holder-65007.html , $13
> on-line, but I think it was on sale when I bought it).   This thing is
> a little hand-vise, the jaws of which have a flat upper surface full
> of peg holes.  Steel pegs are included, making the thing a
> wire-bending jig atop a hand vise in the middle.  I read the
> instructions ("Wear moon suit and bulletproof vest when using..."  OK,
> I'm joking), and put the pegs in a little plastic zip-lock bag so I
> wouln't lose them, but didn't have a project for it at the time.
>
> Well, yesterday, while hanging drapes using those two-prong drapery hooks
> (http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v1/217981054/Slip_on_drapery_hooks.jpg ),
> I discovered that I had two different kinds of hooks,  and not enough
> of the kind I needed.  (I could have gone out and bought more, but
> this was 10 PM or so, so that would have delayed the project and had
> me scrambling around looking for the things.  Besides, I had no other
> use for the too-long hooks.)  Basically, I needed to "lower" the hook
> on some of these.  These things are made of wire about 16-ga or so.
> So I took one hook as a model, clamped it in the vise, and set up the
> pins.  The pin arrangement wasn't perfect, but it was close enough for
> starters.  Then, by straightening the hook end, clamping the thing in
> the vise, and rebending the hook, I was 80% there.  I only needed to
> tweak the hook and cut of the excess and I had fully functional
> drapery hooks in jig time (if you'll pardon the pun).
>
> I mention it because it hangs inconspicuously on a peg in an aisle in
> the HF store, and I'd walked by it a few times without realizing its
> potential.  The wire I was bending was quite soft, but the tool is
> sturdy and could be used for bending spring wire.  In my opinion, this
> tool paid for itself in the one use.
>