Update on your Fractal Vise Pre-Order! 🥳

Hey everyone,

If you’ve pre-ordered your Fractal Vise on our store for April delivery, you might be wondering what we’ve been up to recently... well wait no more!

I want to keep you up to date on the production process while you wait for your new favourite workshop addition. These updates will be posted monthly right here on CubeClub for those of you who purchased through our store (if you backed the Kickstarter campaign then you’ll get updates over there, with info tailored to the campaign timelines!).

We've been hard at work finalising all of the fun logistical bits that come with a launch of this scale. We've clamped down on absolutely everything, from packaging and peripheral purchasing, to stock levels and forecasting for the future, ensuring we've circled every square and dotted every matrix. 

This means we have some exciting topics to cover in this month's update, so get ready for:

• A whole new packaging experience, now with extra thumb holes!

• Some funky bits we found and fixed

• Our sweet new threads

• In-depth ball check and pre-production fiddling

• Rotating by 90 degrees

• Buying a truck load of metal

• Probably extra stuff too...

So, without further adieu, let's begin with the most exciting bit...

Everything On Order

We've collated all of the information from the original crowdfunding campaign along with your pre-order info, reviewed material quotes, and negotiated machining costs and shipping schedules, which leads us to this exciting statement:

We have officially ordered the first production run! 🥳

Packaging Upgrade

After many years of battling with packaging, we've finally found a local foam master that is willing to work with us and can produce nifty foam inserts to keep the heavier things we make safe in transit to you all. Here are some samples mocked up and looking sharp. 

In the past we've used complex folded card inserts to try and wedge everything in place. This looks great when we pack them up here, but after travelling a few thousand miles... the caged MetMo tries to nibble its way free! Packaging in this new way means that even if they're drop kicked into your front garden, the foam will absorb the impact like a champ and your shiny metal bits won't even notice. 

The Pre-Production Run

In other huge news, we've taken delivery of the final pre-production units and have been busy fiddling away to make sure everything is perfect for full production.

We've put together a quick rundown of what we found and what we're tweaking to give you guys a view of what we've been up to. This stage also forms part of our quality control documentation that we put together for the machine shops to help them spot any issues, and maintain our very high standards for production.

Dowel Dilemma 

We are talking dowels people! These off the shelf parts weren't quite right on the Stainless Steel 32's, so we're scrapping those and getting a new supplier that will make them to the right tolerance and finish.

TR12x2 In The House!

Not to be confused with the TSR2, this one was requested during the crowdfunding process. We have had the samples machined and have just finished testing them. Functionally they're the same and will provide the same use for everyone, but could offer some long term benefits, so we will be upgrading all the vices with this trapezoidal thread.

Vertical Brush

Here we had a vertical brushed finish in a world of horizontal. This one is just minor surface finishing but we didn’t really like it, so that will be modified to be the same direction on all the parts. 

Tommy Bar Collision

This was a mod from the original design that we'd made a long time ago, but these are the first ones we have machined. This little change just stops the bottom edge of the tommy bar catching on flat surfaces from time to time. It’s the little things, you know?

Access Hole

What tool is complete without a good old access hole? Not the MetMo Fractal Vise that’s for sure! We added this point so you don’t have to dismantle the whole vice to do some maintenance. Why undo four screws when you can undo one, as the old saying goes. 

This also gives you a good glimpse at the bottom of the vice without the silicone anti-slip component installed. You can change the orientation of the base plate to have the quick release be in-line or at 90 degrees, which just gives a little bit more freedom to your personal setup.

New and Improved Ball Clamp In Action!

Our first full metal version of this upgraded ball clamp, proved out from earlier 3D prints, works even better than we planned. The metal collar lets you lock the vice much harder than the old design and doesn’t stick when using it to clamp lightly, so you have more control and can focus more on what you're working on. We are much happier with these very small changes that just make it a nicer thing to use.

Quick Release Testing

Another later addition, this is the first fully machined version we have been able to play with and it works perfectly. It only needs some minor tweaks for the main production run to the lead screw so they are even quicker releasing!

Proper Adaptor Plates

These passed QC with flying colours and haven't changed from the 3D prints we used as the basis for the design. Marvel at these sweet metal plates, but don't eat your dinner off them...

Ball Mount Direct To Desktop Workstation

The first version of this in metal (rather than a snazzy mock-up on our computer) is a direct attachment point in the workstation itself, saving you time in switching it out and the need to buy extra parts to swap things around.

Magical Loctite

What grub is complete without being doused in a healthy layer of loctite? This is actually something we've worked on for many years, and this very particular grade of anti vibration treatment is now being applied to most of our fixings. The reusable film creates a thin barrier between the threads as they are screwed together and stops them slowly working their way free over time.

Vertical Jaws Are A Go!

We have officially released the Vertical Jaws! We received well over 300 votes for this design during crowdfunding, and they are now available to purchase to add a whole new dimension to your fractal clampability. If you want to add these to your pre-order just send our customer service team a message!

We will only be offering these jaws in 7075-T651 Black Aluminium as that won in the voting against stainless steel. This particular grade of aluminium is extremely strong, and if you Google it you'll see it's used for things like aircraft landing gear, so we're very confident it will stand up to the test of time and be a solid substitute for a steel variant.

That's everything for this month and we're excited to share the next stage with you all when your Fractal Vises start to be machined!