How do you keep parallels from moving around?

I made little "L" brackets with 7-pound-pull magnets attached to one end, they cling to the vise and wrap around to hold the parallels in place. (Magnets from American Science and Surplus, the brackets are bent as you see to hold standard 6-inch parallels in my five-inch vise. The magnets hold quite firmly.
 

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I used aluminum "hooks" with magnets that stick to the vise; build thread is below. These are available off eBay and Amazon for under $25. Do a Google search for "parallel keeper".

Alternatives are a piece of steel banding bent to act like a spring between the two parallels. I've also heard of guys using Styrofoam. I like the hair tie idea from Dave Best above, my magnets accumulate chips. I've got a roll of elastic band for replacing straps on goggles, may have to give that a shot.

Bruce


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2019 POTD Thread Archive

alright, finished up the knife with a day to spare! Nice job, Matt! Did you make all the parts from scratch with the exception of the screws? I toy with the idea of trying a knife as well, not that I need another one or intend to start selling them but just to see if I can make a nice one...
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Not so much moving when machining but when you go to take a part out or , if you have the vise mounted on a angle plate . I used to put a spring in between them .
 
great white said:
Did this guy also have to be taught how to breath?
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We hire the un-hirable . :rolleyes:

Smack them down until tight but still able to slide under the part . Had to do a round coupling today with a 4 BCD to a 3 BCD . This is really depending on the situation of what you need .
 
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This is way off topic here , but just to document . Nightshift mechanic last night was totally wasted . Combatted supervisors , operators , and his partner . Needs waffles and sausage , dissapears for 2 hours , leaves 6 hours shift ends , family emergency . We let this go on . I hear this as no one approaches the big guy other than myself . I questioned my superior off the record about it and HR was supposedly notified . :dunno: He has a screw loose , and nobody wants to be anywhere near him , including myself . Just a dangerous guy that we read about on tv . This trend is increasing . He needs help or a shove to the door . Nuuf said .
 
mmcmdl said:
We hire the un-hirable . :rolleyes:

Smack them down until tight but still able to slide under the part . Had to do a round coupling today with a 4 BCD to a 3 BCD . This is really depending on the situation of what you need .
Click to expand...
Kind of reminds me of a young officer we had on the escape/evade/survival course. I was an NCM at the time and this was an officer cadet.

We were in cabins with woodstoves at one point. I come around the corner and this kid is holding a piece of firewood upright (ie: on end) with one hand. He actually has most of his hand on the top of the piece.

He suddenly lifts an axe with the other, swings at the end grain and pulls his hand away at the last second. The wood falls over and he misses everything with the axe, driving it into the stump wood we had as a cutting block.

I start to say to him about how he may want to split the wood without chopping his hand off and before I can finish he blurts out: “I know what I’m doing! I know how to split wood!”

He was a city boy out of Toronto and young, about 19-20.

Figuring “you can’t fix stupid” or “some people can’t be helped” I say something like ok (sarcastically) and walk away.

Hey, its a survival course. If you can’t survive in a cabin….


(he never actually hurt himself, the guys in his cabin came out and took the axe away from him when they saw what he was doing)
 
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