Vise for small objects

A rotatable vise for holding small objects which comprises:

• a. mounting means for attaching the vise to a fixed support;
• b. a body means attached to the mounting means;
• c. a freely rotatable arbor mounted in the body means, said arbor having a longitudinal axis essentially normal to the mounting means;
• d. hubs mounted at each end of the arbor adjacent to the body means, one of said hubs being fixed to the arbor and the other adapted for limited sliding movement along the arbor, said hubs being of sufficient mass so that when the arbor is rapidly rotated in either direction the hubs supply inertial energy tending to maintain said rotation;
• e. arbor locking means associated with the slideable hub, said means comprising a fixed pin mounted on the hub and a plurality of angularly spaced recesses located in the body means adjacent to the slideable hub and engagable by the pin so as to lock the arbor when the hub is moved along the arbor from a freely rotatable to a locked position;
• and
• f. object clamping means mounted proximally on the fixed hub, said clamping means having a fixed member mounted on said hub and a cooperating moveable member, said members having distally located, essentially planar, opposing jaw portions,
• the clamping means having a longitudinal axis which lies offaxis from but essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the arbor means so that the longitudinal axis of the arbor means does not pass through the clamping means and the clamping means will normally assume a resting position below the longitudinal axis of the arbor means when the arbor is not locked.