A system and method for gripping a cylindrical object. The system including: a housing; a plurality of gripping arms in the housing, the gripping arms in pairs each on an opposite side of a centerline plane from another; and a driving wedge in the housing and configured such that movement of the driving wedge moves each pair of gripping arms towards or away from each other while remaining equidistant from the centerline plane. The method including: opening the plurality of gripping arms against a bias by sliding a wedge in a first direction to slide the plurality of gripping arms apart while maintaining an equal predetermined distance from a part alignment position; placing a cylindrical body between the plurality of gripping arms; and closing the plurality of gripping arms by sliding the wedge in an opposite direction to allow the biasing force to close the gripping arms.