Not that long ago, most of us didn't even know what a fractal vise was. Now, however, we're hearing about the fourth one in six months. That said, the Titaner TiFractal Vise still manages to pack in a few unique selling points of its own.
Fractal vises' big claim to fame is the fact that they can firmly clamp irregular-shaped items without damaging them. Here's how they work …
Whereas most bench vises simply have two straight-edged rigid jaws, fractal vises' jaws incorporate multiple nesting/rotating semi-circular grips. As the jaws are closed around an object, those grips freely and independently pivot to conform to its contours. In this way, they hold the item secure without placing too much pressure on any one part of it.
Although fractal vises in general date back to the 1920s, it was just this March that MetMo introduced a miniature modern version. It was quickly followed by models from MakerPi and Konink. Now, established gear manufacturer Titaner has entered the ring, with the all-titanium TiFractal Vise.
Each of the TiFractal's two jaws is made up of three nested grips, sitting four layers deep. This gives it a total of 16 contact points, spreading the pressure well out across the object being gripped.
If needed, the jaws can be taken out and swiveled around so their flat sides are facing inwards. This allows the TiFractal to be used like a regular bench vise or alternatively, it can be used to hold hollow objects from the inside (i.e: the object is lowered down onto the vise, then the jaws are expanded outwards until they contact the object's inner walls).
Additionally, Titaner claims that the TiFractal is the first fractal vise to offer a limitable torque system. Users start by setting the maximum clamping force. When they're subsequently turning the clamping handle, it will simply produce a clicking sound and clamp no further once it reaches that threshold.
The TiFractal also offers an unusually large maximum clamping width of 100 mm (3.9 in). There's additionally an optional ball head base, allowing the whole rig to be rotated and locked in place at the optimum angle.
The TiFractal Vise is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, and only 1,000 of the things are being made. A pledge of US$1,099 will get you one, assuming everything works out – the planned retail price is $2,461.
Source: Kickstarter
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