Bowling ball clamp jig

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Thought I would post this about a small adjustable table for making small parts on, to make the table you need five items,




1 (Copy).jpg
A bowling ball, here in Australia these can be bought cheaply in some Charity shops




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Cake baking tin or an old cooking pot






3 (Copy).jpg
6 inch length dowell for handle





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A piece of thick felt to go round the top of the baking tin, you may have to wet the felt to get it to conform to the lip of the baking tin, but once you have it in place put the bowling ball on and when it is dry it wont move out of place and the weight of the ball and the grip of the felt will hold it whatever position you want, see next pic




5 (Copy).jpg
 
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And a piece of wood for the table, you can make this whatever size you like, you drill through the wood into the ball, then enlarge the holes in the ball to accept wall plugs for the screws to go into, when you have screwed the table part to the ball you might want to reinforce the under side of the table with some car bog filler, as in photo.




7 (Copy).jpg
Shows the table top I used and the fixing screws





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Make sure when you fix the table it is just above where the Dowell handle will go so you will have lots of positions
to turn it to, see photo. Use a dowell that is a tight fit, you can glue it in if you want.




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These next four photos show the versatility of the table, you can fix a vice on it if you want, or just clamp the items you want to work with, its really adaptable. I have .


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just used double sided tape to hold the boat




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And a piece of wood for the table, you can make this whatever size you like, you drill through the wood into the ball, then enlarge the holes in the ball to accept wall plugs for the screws to go into, when you have screwed the table part to the ball you might want to reinforce the under side of the table with some car bog filler, as in photo.




View attachment 26425
Shows the table top I used and the fixing screws





View attachment 26426
Make sure when you fix the table it is just above where the Dowell handle will go so you will have lots of positions
to turn it to, see photo. Use a dowell that is a tight fit, you can glue it in if you want.




View attachment 26427
These next four photos show the versatility of the table, you can fix a vice on it if you want, or just clamp the items you want to work with, its really adaptable. I have .


View attachment 26428
just used double sided tape to hold the boat




View attachment 26429View attachment 26430
A great idea that is easy to make!
 
And a piece of wood for the table, you can make this whatever size you like, you drill through the wood into the ball, then enlarge the holes in the ball to accept wall plugs for the screws to go into, when you have screwed the table part to the ball you might want to reinforce the under side of the table with some car bog filler, as in photo.




View attachment 26425
Shows the table top I used and the fixing screws





View attachment 26426
Make sure when you fix the table it is just above where the Dowell handle will go so you will have lots of positions
to turn it to, see photo. Use a dowell that is a tight fit, you can glue it in if you want.




View attachment 26427
These next four photos show the versatility of the table, you can fix a vice on it if you want, or just clamp the items you want to work with, its really adaptable. I have .


View attachment 26428
just used double sided tape to hold the boat




View attachment 26429View attachment 26430
Hi john,
That's what I call lateral thinking, wonderful idea.
Cheers,
Stephen.
 
How do you keep the ball from rolling around with lateral pressure other than don't do that??? Rich (PT-2)
That's what the felt is for, the weight of the ball on the felt acts like a brake, and as long as you don't go silly and attach a really heavy object to the table on the top it works really well,
Best regards John,
 
That's what the felt is for, the weight of the ball on the felt acts like a brake, and as long as you don't go silly and attach a really heavy object to the table on the top it works really well,
Best regards John,
In my opinion if you wanted to add more weight increase the friction, you could and use rubber instead of felt.

Cheers,
Stephen.
 
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