How To Use A Gun Vise
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 11 months ago
I think he doesn’t understand that he’s misusing the terms “energy” and potential energy.” However, his point remains true, and I would have thought the point intuitive. The energy needs to be applied to the right location, and putting components into a vise as a cantilever isn’t the right way to approach the problem. Keep everything along main axes if possible to minimize the torque (force × moment arm) applied to the component itself. Things can break. But I’ve seen situations where this wasn’t entirely possible.
On January 22, 2021 at 3:42 am, Nosmo said:
“….and I would have thought the point intuitive.”
I learned long ago what should be quite broadly intuitive is not so, and so it must be taught.
On the “energy” thing, I’m trying to explain what he meant without math, thrust vectors, and structural resilience, and the best I can come up with is: when the slide extends past the jaws of the vise a portion of the energy imparted by the struck punch is absorbed by flexing the slide rather than being applied to moving the sight were the slide/sight assembly held inflexibly (more rigidly) by the center mass of the vise.
There must be a shorter, simpler way to describe it, but again, there was a time when such was intuitively understood and no further explanation was necessary; that time is long past.
On January 22, 2021 at 10:03 am, Herschel Smith said:
The way the slide was mounted to begin with made the slide a cantilever. Torque = force × moment arm. On one side of the slide there are tensile forces, on the other side, compressive forces. A torsion is being applied. I’d have to draw a “free body diagram.” That’s not good for the slide.
Mount the slide on a major axis and avoid problems.
On January 22, 2021 at 11:27 am, billrla said:
@Nosmo: “…there was a time when such was intuitively understood…” That was back when people grew up interacting with the analog world, instead of with their computers and their smartphones. Today, many people cannot be trusted to pick up a hammer or turn a screwdriver.