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Antikythera Fragment #1 – Ancient Tool Technology – Making A Small Parts Vise, by Clickspring.

A possible answer to the question “How did the Ancient Greeks hold small metal parts for filing?”

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Abbreviated Transcript:

00:25 And I’d like to talk a bit more about that in this video as I make a version of the device that I described. It’s basically what we would today call a “stitching pony”. or as I intend to use it, pushed firmly against the bench. A shallow wedge acts as a spacer for the 2 jaws, and a basic bronze casting can be slid up and down the taper to apply or remove the clamping pressure.
00:54. Much like the modern equivalent, an ancient version might have had the jaws covered in leather to both protect the work, and also improve the grip on the workpiece. Now of course, I’m using modern tools to make it. But its easy to imagine how this could have been constructed with the known tools of the day. The materials are common enough, and for the most part
01:13 I’m using interference fits and a wedge to hold everything together. So there’s no modern fastener tech required. I must admit though, its very pleasant to be able to use modern power using a similar principle to the modern machine screw. So its not a huge leap to imagine a simple wooden screw vise existing in the same period.
02:01 But as tempting as it is to imagine the Ancient Greeks using tech closer to our own to solve the same problems, I think its worthwhile establishing that this need not necessarily have been the case. The Antikythera Mechanism is an elegant and strikingly efficient design, and much the same could be said of the broader Classical Greek culture.
02:22 I think that its reasonable to assume that the Ancient Greeks Secondly, each tool was a solution to a specific problem. So I’d expect the tools to be practical and functional, with no unnecessary embellishments.
03:07 So the tool would need to be easy to repair when it inevitable breaks or wears out. So I would expect no unnecessarily complex tech, and as few moving parts as possible. As I speculate on the tool technology going forward, And the tin is also scrap, left over from making the tin lapping discs in a previous video.
04:48 The casting looks to be OK, and now needs the sprue and riser cut off, and be given a general clean up. I used a file to knock off the sharp edges, and I’ve left the other surfaces with a bit of a rough “as cast” look to give the tool a bit more of an authentic presence. OK, so next up is the main body of the tool, and then hammered home.
07:14 Now there were quite a few traditional adhesives available for use in the ancient world. Although I imagine that a good choice to hold the leather in place would have been something simple like pine pitch, a thick tarry substance. I don’t have a lot of pine trees in my part of the world, I cut it to a convenient operating length and then pinned the base with a single dowel. Now I’m not so sure that a finish was necessarily a high priority for an ancient working hard to make a living on the tools.
08:27 But I figure if it was, then a natural linseed oil would probably be one of the options available. OK, so that’s the tool compete, and I have to say that it has a nice convenient feel. is to use it to make something genuine, like a wheel from the mechanism. Initially I had expected to have to permanently fix the vise to the bench somehow.
09:41 Now to be clear, I’m not saying that this is definitely how the Ancient Greeks approached the problem of workholding. These are just my personal thoughts based on what’s required for this specific machine. But I do think that this sort of approach is worth pursuing. And I think it will shake out some really interesting ideas and conversations as I build more of the tools.

Antikythera Fragment #1 – Ancient Tool Technology – Making A Small Parts Vise, by Clickspring.

Vise features a rugged cast steel base with pipe rest and bender.