I upgraded the hammer to be 100lbs and got a brand new Hardtail to test, seeing how many hits it will take to fail. I removed the swivel base since the focus will be on only the vise itself (and the swivel base was tested in this video).
It didn’t go according to plan, so it ended up being split up into 3 streams. You can watch the replays here:
YouTube:
Hmmm, I think it needs a bigger hammer so it would only need to hit the vise once to break it. That would solve your rigging issues. /s
Seriously though, it is impressive that the vise broke the destruction rig vs the correct result of destruction rig breaking the vise.
Missed the live video, but I’m watching it now. Sounds like the vise has continued to be a beast from what @too had to say.
Jason,
To minimize the swinging I have a few suggestions:
A) Move the vice back, so that when the hammer head breaks contact with the “test bar” on the up stroke the shaft is near vertical. The compromise here is the strike occurs closer to 7 o’clock where the potential is a bit lower than it’s maximum at 6 o’clock.
B) Keep the vice centered under the rig. Extend the test bar so that it absorbs all of the bounces, and does not break contact with the head until the hammer swing pin is between 11 and 12 o’clock.
C) Adjust nothing and add a dampener, for instance you could hang a heavy rubber sheet(s) (i.e. convyor belt) behind the rig to catch the extra “swing”
Happy Hammering!
Aside from it being an even number, I’m curious why 100lbs was the weight that was picked? Was it an arbitrary number that was greater than 77lbs of the original hammer or was there a functional reason for it?
Thanks for the videos
@Fireball_Jason I just realized that you need to make the hammer a dead blow! That would reduce the issues of rebounding tremendously.
The man makes a good point.
Are we missing a post that was here yesterday? 
That’s a big dead blow hammer.
Eh, you could just add that functionality to your current hammer. Mass on end of light spring could do it. Saw this on a P90 auto bolt assembly so it prevents out of battery firing.
I was thinking about your testing method. Rather than subjecting the jaw to shock loading, why not use a pressure load? You could use an Enerpac pump with a ram or pancake jack. Instead of creating a moment use a linear force.
First, test to failure. Find the force needed to break the screw. Once that failure force is known, set your factor of safety. You can then figure a “safe working load” (SWL). Say it fails at 1500 pounds, set a factor of safety at 1.5. You have a SWL of 1000 pounds. For fatigue testing load the vise to the SWL and see how many times the vise can be loaded to that limit before failure.
The 100 pound hammer strike is interesting, but the vise will never see loading in a similar fashion. If you still want do test with a striking force, try changing the orientation of your testing. Build a stand that mounts the vise so that the jaws are parallel to the ground, and the screw is perpendicular. You can raise the hammer to say 4’ above the jaw, then drop it, guillotine style. You can then test to failure. You can also change loads from 100 pounds to whatever you like by adding weight by increments.
Jason did some clamping force videos showing that the vise handle would fail well before the max clamping force was reached, which was waaaay more clamping force than any other vise on the market. Even with a cheater bar, you can’t get it tight enough to fail, and when tightening by hand, you will never get the handle to fail.
I think the striking tests are because that is when vises break… hammering the piss out of something in the vise. I’m pretty sure he’s prove that the hardtail can take more true “abuse” than any other bench vise. And that’s just it… it’s an abuse test.
I’m pretty sure the failure of the rig is from the faster speed setting… the back bouncing of the hammer is busting the guts out of the motor and/or twisting the motor mount. Mitigate those forces in the rig, and it should work fine.
Here is the slow motion video of the hammer hitting the vise.
1500 frames per second.
Sure looks to me like the swivel bolts are the spot most likely to fail based on how much the base lifted when it got smacked. That’s a helluva hit.
Let’s take a look at the carnage…
First off, this is a closer look at where the vise failed after 184 hits.
These are the drill bits that (attempted to be) drilled through the table. The material got stuck inside the flute as these shafts weren’t long enough, and you can view the kind of damage it does.
Some of the bolts lost in the line of duty…
…and the hammer…
…then finally a washer.
Rest in peace.
Rest In Pieces
Can I have the broken vise I could use it
Did anyones wife ask them if they were really going to watch the hole video or just mine lol
….ya why not.
