I Win The PanaVise Contest

I discovered that PanaVise is running a contest every month on their Facebook page, where they ask people send in pictures of their PanaVise use, modifications, etc. Being the sort of guy who uses PanaVises I sent in a picture of my third-hand jig that mounts in a PanaVise base. As nobody else entered in August, I won by default. I’m sure I would have won even if I had competition. No, I wouldn’t, I’ve won two things in my life, a pumpkin in 7th grade and two ugly centerpieces at a Eugene Chamber of Commerce dinner. Both prizes were underwhelming. But the third time is the charm and a box arrived from PanaVise today!

A box, the suspense is killing me.

Nick! Why are you teasing us? Move aside, foam peanuts.

Cool!

And there’s more…so what did I get?

A PV JR. which is really handy for electronics projects.

A nice weighted base that works with the vise or any of my other PanaVises.

A speeder handle and some non-marring neoprene jaws. Nice.

I stuck the rubber feet on the base…

This will be useful.


Rubber jaws will be good for when I take up quail egg engraving or toothpick carving.

Vee grooves in the jaws so I can hold round things.

Like this screwdriver. Not that I need to hold screwdrivers, it was the only round thing I had to hand besides a pen.

The Speed Control Handle. It works well.

Adjustability! Thanks so much, nice people at PanaVise!

Oh, might as well introduce it to the rest of my PanaVise herd.

I already had a worn PV JR. While it seems redundant, trust me, there are many situations where having two identical vises comes in really handy.

Since nobody has entered the contest this month, and they explicitly told me I could enter again, here’s my engraving vise mount. I used this until I bought a proper engraving vise. I hope I win again. I obviously need more vises.

Made from a cheap import jeweler's hand vise, bolt & nut and a piece of steel rod I drilled out for the bolt. Simple. I see Eurotool makes one that is way flimsier. PanaVise should die cast a head like this. They would probably sell dozens and curse my name for suggesting it.
Anyway, back to PanaVise.

My 309 base says “COLBERT DIE CAST CO.INC”

My 337 head “COLBERT INDUSTRIES”

“Pana Vise” or “PanaVise”?

Notice the old style of low profile vise.

Manufacturing was simplified. While I love the rounded guide rods and screw, there is absolutely no reason to add cost by making the parts that way.

There different bases and logos.

If only my only vice were vises.