Fractal vises have pivoting jaws and mini jaws that allow you to easily clamp onto all kinds of parts and materials of different shapes and sizes.
Shown above is the Metmo fractal vise, which is available for preorder starting at $229, plus $180 for the desktop ball mount. The stainless steel version is $359, not including any attachments. There are different jaws and add-ons you can buy.
There’s also a new fractal vise by a company called Spancal, and it seems they’ve been spending a ton of money on ads.
Advertisement
A month ago they said there were only 13 left in stock, and they made the same claim several days in a row.
It looks like a copycat of the Metmo fractal vise.
Spancal compares their Morphvise to the Metmo fractal vise, and also say it’s also immediately available and backed by a 5-year warranty.
According to an ICANN lookup, the Spancal website didn’t exist before May 2025.
Their website is a mess, referencing tools that don’t seem to exist, and return policies that seem to have been copied from a clothing store.
Now, there’s also the Titaner fractal vise, which will have its own Kickstarter campaign shortly.
Advertisement
Titaner is offering a VIP exclusive discount. Looking at the details, they want you to pay $10 now to get a $50 discount for when you pledge via Kickstarter.
A Kickstarter pledge is basically a fundraising contribution in exchange for the promise of a reward, in this case a titanium fractal vise. Kickstarter rewards often require a lower pledge amount than the eventual retail price.
Kickstarter pledges are not preorders. I don’t know what to call this – a placeholder fee for a discounted Kickstarter pledge?
Titaner says that theirs is the “world’s first fractal vise with an adjustable torque system.” It certainly looks unique.
The MakerPi vise was successfully backed via Kickstarter fundraising campaign over the summer, and should be shipping soon. It looks to have double the number of articulating faces as the Metmo.
A company called ShapeMaster is soon launching a Kickstarter campaign that features a new take on fractal vises.
Fractal vises are pretty cool, but they’re also not new; the concept goes back a full century.
Things get getting a bit out of control, and I have a feeling more fractal vises and preorders are on the way.
Numerous listings for the same simpler fractal vise have popped up on Amazon.
I also saw a sponsored post for the K-One mini electric vise.
It actually looks pretty neat, with different clamping options, including what looks to be variable-depth spring-loaded pins.
The same creator has 2 previous Kickstarter campaigns, and both were cancelled.
They also use their calipers as a ruler or straightedge to draw a pencil line. Am I wrong in finding this to be a shocking use of calipers?
At the time of this posting, the K-One vise requires a minimum pledge for $208.
I think we’re going to see a lot more fractal vise copycats, rather than projects like the K-One and ShapeMaster that attempt to change things up in different ways.
Are mini fractal vises highly functional, or mainly top dollar fidget-type fun?
Nathan
Why fractal? Mini vise or mini adjustable fixture or some combination of words I see no fractals.
Otherwise neat idea but why out of so much metal for so little. I would thing for those uses a plastic and some inserts would do the job. Also I see an expensive 3rd hand in that too
Rick
The term “fractal” is being used very loosely, but in the very first image of Stuart’s article above you can see that the four mini jaws look like the two larger jaws that hold them in position.
Of course there are no fractals involved in a mathematical sense, but I guess their marketing point is that the shape of those mini jaws closely resembles that of the larger jaws.
That said, in the image above for the K-One mini electric vise holding a glass, there is not the faintest hint of of the components having a fractal relationship; all of the “jaws” are all identical. And, quite appropriately, I could not find any reference to that specific vise being called a “fractal vise”.
The K-One vise actually has an alternative design to a fractal vise design for solving the same problem: firmly-but-gently gripping an object.
Fowler
These sort of exploded in the hobby scene 4 years ago when Hand Tool Rescue restored one from the 1920s, people started making 3d printed designs and restoring old vises. It looks like the “machined trinkets” industry has now caught on and made much smaller versions
fred
These all are made to look cool – and nicely machined – but there are lots of inexpensive hobby vises for sale that can hold some irregularly shaped objects. And they can be bought now – without resorting to preorders or kickstarter investments.
Here is one:
https://www.amazon.com/Swivel-Aluminum-Adjustable-Clamping-Jewelry/dp/B0DDQFF4Z8
Fowler
Yeah, I don’t think these are for actually filling a need in a shop, they seem to have the same appeal as fancy machined EDC tools that never get used
Wayne R.
I’d love to be able to pop out the normal jaws in my vise and replace them with a set of fractal jaws. That might even motivate me to wholly replace my vise with a better one to accommodate such alternative jaws.
I sure don’t intend on carving a peanut shell. Why are these so tiny? A $400 vise to paint an egg? Desktop electric pliers? At best, I’ll wait for these to show up on eBay.
Why’d the old bigger sizes disappear from the market?
I see there are 3D printed versions available that might make better sense for egg painting.
Bonnie
They disappeared from the market because they’re quite complex to make and cost an arm and a leg. There are use cases for them, but as another commenter mentioned they’re not better than proper fixturing if you are doing anything repetitious.
Jamie
Ukrainians have made painting eggs an artform and use any number of inexpensive/home-made devices to hold them.
Bob
Is the Spancal one actually endorsed by Adam Savage? I have a hard time believing that image, along with a lot of the other images in this post, is not just AI slop.
Aram
It’s a ripoff, because he HAS looked at the Metmo vise about a month ago, but not the Spancal.
…he looked at the Metmo because he owns a much larger fractal vise (and, if I recall correctly, did some tuneup machining on it).
Nathan
Jewelry vise that’s what I was thinking of. Thanks fred
fred
I have a really old Starrett 86A hand vise that was sold as a jeweler’s vise – but its steel jaws are flat and serrated and seem unsuited for irregular or soft (like gold) objects.
Amazon sells this hand vise:
https://www.amazon.com/TAURISH-Universal-Machine-Tools-Base-Jewelry/dp/B0DC67CSRH
Jared
I think fractal vises are wicked cool – but I don’t have any particular need for one. They’re way too expensive to own for the pure novelty of it.
It looks like the knockoffs are already hitting Amazon. E.g. https://www.amazon.ca/WhiteRhino-Professional-Aluminum-Precision-Manufacturing/dp/B0F98PNZG4/
Oleg K
They start at ~$400 and cost upwards of $5k, who needs them? They’re something I can literally replace with $10 worth of cheap hardware. This is idiotic.
Blocky
These are very high on ‘that’s neat’ and very low on ‘that solves a problem for me’.
But I also appreciate that the proliferation of fractal vises is itself a fractal of dissemination of an idea, manufacturing mobilization, and distribution.
fred
Stuart you say: “They also use their calipers as a ruler or straightedge to draw a pencil line. Am I wrong in finding this to be a shocking use of calipers? ”
You mean that you don’t use your micrometers as c-clamps? ☺
Brian
I have been tempted a couple of times to buy one of these when I’ve needed to cut or drill some irregularly shaped object; but then I just make a quick jig out of scrap and move on with my project.
Dave F
I recommend watching Hand Tool Rescue’s restoration of a fractal vise.
https://youtu.be/QBeOgGt_oWU?si=8PmshaO20sXF_RdJ
They are so cool!
Justin T
Or check out this Yasuhiro video making one from wood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKOFTcmA65s
STEVE T
Was coming to say the same thing…saw this several years ago and was awestruck.. absolutely incredible video and channel
Will Klusener
You might like MyMechanics’s videos as well. He’s a machinists and has restored some pretty nifty old German vises, among other things.
EBT
Same here! Watched HTR’s video on it and was like, WHAT IS THAT? Really cool antique but not practical for anything I do. Matter of fact, just got an old 10″ Craftsman wood benchvise (under mount) on ebay because I gave my last one away on a Covid Workbench Project I made as a gift.
Fractal vise is a cool thing … but not my thing
Yadda
High cool factor, no need factor. I don’t think most machinists would use a caliper as a straight edge, but his tools his rules. I wouldn’t do it.
MM
I’ve often used calipers as a straightedge or a square–never with a marking knife, but a pencil, marker, or round-bodied scribe? Sure. Calipers can also be used as an impromptu marking gauge, using the tips to scribe lines in soft material or dye.
Fractal vises are neat, but as you wrote there is nothing new about them. They can be handy if you need them but in my opinion they are in kind of an odd middle ground: they do hold parts better than simple padded or tilting jaws, clay, wax, and double-sided tape. But unless the part is shaped right they don’t always hold securely enough for machining operations….and that’s usually what I need. So, IMHO, they are overkill for simple jobs and they are often not good enough when serious stability is needed. They have another disadvantage in that they are not repeatable, so if you are doing any machining operations where you need to take parts in and out of the vise, or working with multiple parts, you will have to re-zero every time, which is just plain tedious. When i have to fixture odd parts I like to machine soft jaws (aluminum, plastic, MDF, plywood), embed parts into low-melting-point alloy (i.e. cerrosafe) or use epoxy to make custom-fitted jaw pads or fixtures. Epoxy putty makes quick and easy small vise pads or jaw inserts. Sawdust + epoxy mixed to a clay-like consistency is also great for holding parts or making custom vise jaws. It can be molded to whatever shape you want, is seriously strong once cured, is easily modified by drilling, tapping, sanding, etc. It’s also safer than metal if you accidentally cut into it.
Another way to make conformal vise jaws or clamping cauls very easily:
acquire some thin wood strips. apply glue between them, and push this up against your part like a contour gauge. Clamp in place and let the glue set. You will now have a block with two irregular edges–one will be exactly fit to your part, the other is waste. Cut the waste part off and you now have a wood block that’s straight on one side for the vise or clamps and is perfectly fitted to your part on the other.
MT_Noob
The recursive part of me wants to see a fractal vise held in a fractal vise held in… (you get the picture), Maybe that would be a good AI prompt.
Richard
Using calipers as a straightedge happens – sometimes the best tool is the one that’s already in your hand. The AI is holding the calipers backwards though – you want the weight of the slider in your hand, it’s too unwieldy otherwise.
I’m more intrigued by the pencil. I now want a holder for an old-school regular pencil like that. lol….
CMF
I have many vises and followed a lot of the stuff on GJ vise threads, but never heard of a fractal vise prior to this article by Stuart. I thought when I got to the comments there would be many that knew all the models Stuart spoke of and how great they are.
Instead most do not share Stuart’s love of these vises. The OG’s aren’t cheap, but some of the posted Amazon links show some affordable stuff. I need to watch some videos on them. Right now I am not sure I would have a need for something of this sort.
Stuart
It’s a neat concept, but I’ve never seen one in person. It’s a very expensive approach to non-parallel work holding.
STEVE T
That TiTaner kickstart just launched I got the invite it’s about $1200.00 USD to back it at the cheapest level
Aram
Wait, really? Wow.
My god, there is essentially NO way that can be more cost-effective than custom fixturing.
…I mean, unless you mainly want a fancy mechanical widget to look at. Which, as an orrery builder, is something I fully understand and I am not judging.
…but $1200 is bonkers unless you’re viewing it as some kind of art piece.
MM
This could just as easily be a reply to Rick below. I think “fancy mechanical widgets to look at” is exactly the point. I think they know what they are doing. I don’t think these are being marketed as useful tools. They’re bling. Notice how small most are. Vises that small do have their uses but the average work vise or machine vise (mill, drill press, etc.) is much bigger. But that small size of the MetMo, etc, is perfect for fidgeting with, and it also keeps the cost of manufacturing down.
Rick
I think the marketing departments for all these vises need to do a complete rethink.
Firstly, very few people have even heard of fractals, and fewer still know what they are, so using that term is unlikely to boost sales.
Secondly, promoting these vises as being good for irregularly shaped items is hardly a winner. A conventional vise could do a fine job of holding many irregularly shaped items such as (say) scissors, or a circular saw or a faucet.
Thirdly, items such as a glass and an egg are being used in the marketing photos, yet they not irregularly shaped at all.
Fourthly, there are vises (such as the K-One) which can directly compete with so-called fractal vises using a completely different design. And even the fractal devises are not really using fractal computation in their design. Some of their components are evocative of fractals, but that is all.
The real forte of all of these vises is that they can firmly grip frail and/or fragile items (regardless of whether they are irregularly shaped), through having multiple contact points. That’s why a glass and an egg are used in the marketing photos, but that reason is not being made clear. So the marketing departments should be pushing these vises as being “firm-but-gentle”, or something along those lines, and ditching meaningless pitches such as “fractal” and “irregular shape”.
mark w
These days if I see a ton of Instagram ads for a product, I assume that is the company with the worst version of the item because their sole focus is on creating sales from social media conversion rather from superior product design or manufacturing
Stuart_T
I think Rick, MM and Aram are all spot on. Looks like a piece of “cool concept bling” that will capture the imagination (and pocketbooks) of some people but which will end up in the back of a drawer when the novelty wears off. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are already a few *very* expensive devices like this available but known only to a few specialists in arcane areas of manufacturing.
But this did get me to reacquaint myself with “fractals” and “orrery” so all is not lost.
John
Everything I’ve read about this type of vise suggests they simply don’t work in practice. You need insane tolerances to get all those moving parts to move freely to work how you’d like it to. But in practice they bind up and you have to help them along to conform to your object. And the big question is, what do they do better? Irregular objects are typically held with something like a jewelry pin vise, I don’t see how this is any better.