Project Information
Since becoming aware of the increased working height provided by a Moxon vice I have realised it would benefit my woodworking significantly. I suffer from neck and shoulder pain, the result of an old injury, I am hoping this new addition to my shop will alleviate some of the discomfort. The chops, or jaws are simply 2 x laminated 25 mm sheets of exterior plywood I salvaged from a dumpster.
Clearly they had been in a wet environment at some point, most likely a tank room judging by the old water stains. Although the plys were sound some of the top veneer was brittle in places, therefore I was concerned with the durability and longevity of the ply. My solution was to glue hardwood lipping around the edges. I upcycled some oak flooring for this. I was also concerned with the damage the threaded rod would cause as I opened and closed the front chop, the threads would eventually tear the ply to shreds. My solution was to counter bore holes and install stainless steel closet rail hangers to act as bushings or sleeves, thus protecting the interior ply.
I wanted to have a little play between the rod and the walls of the bushings, this would ensure I had lateral movement to accommodate slanted or narrow stock. I failed to fully calculate the offset caused by the larger counter bore hole through the chop. I just meant I had to plane off the 1/8" or so to level the jaws when they are closed.
I bought some heavy gauge washers to protect the front and back of the chops around the threaded rod holes, again to protect the end grain veneer. I took the step to level them with the wood surface. I used a little laminating trim router for this part although by this time I had glued and fitted the rear stabilising bar which meant the base of my router limited me at this point. My cordless router finished off the job.
The next job was to make some handles. I used some better quality birch plywood scraps. Marking out the handle, I went for a 4" diameter. Drilled the knurled with a 10mm Forstner bit on the pillar drill then cut them out with an improvised circle cutting jig at the bandsaw. I counter bored a hole and sunk the nut locked it in with epoxy resin.
Once I test fitted the handle I became aware I had cut the threaded rod (M20 construction studding) too long. I immediately had premonitions of catching my self and clothing every time I walked past it. I marked it with tape and cut the excess off with a hand held grinder.
The rods are now 8" long providing me with a adequate 2 1/2" working space between the jaws, more than I will ever require.
I used the almost forgotten leather welders apron which came with my home welding kit. It was actually quite good quality leather and I had reservations about cutting it up for jaw linings but as I have never used it…..... I sized the interior of the jaws with thin wash coat of glue and water, let them dry overnight then glued the leather on using PVA glue.
To minimise the " made from scraps" appearance I applied some dark stain, unfortunately I didn't the reapplied stain on the top of the chops dry for long enough, so when I applied the oil/yacht varnish top coat some of the stain lifted. I now have a new vice which unintentionally looks 100 years old. Oh well, looks can be deceiving. I had read some vices are difficult to hold tight to the bench, so I applied some self adhesive stair tread grip tape to the base of the rear chop and stabilising bare. This I have found really helps to solve the problem.
I gave it a test run, it grips the work like a ship wrecked sailor to a life raft and the turn handles spin freely, not quite to the standard of a bench crafted kit but for around 20 quid all in I am happy with my lot. More importantly, the working height is a god send. It measures around 30" in length x 7 1/4" in height and allows for 18 1/2" between the screws. I look forward to using it. Thanks for looking and reading this far. David.
Clearly they had been in a wet environment at some point, most likely a tank room judging by the old water stains. Although the plys were sound some of the top veneer was brittle in places, therefore I was concerned with the durability and longevity of the ply. My solution was to glue hardwood lipping around the edges. I upcycled some oak flooring for this. I was also concerned with the damage the threaded rod would cause as I opened and closed the front chop, the threads would eventually tear the ply to shreds. My solution was to counter bore holes and install stainless steel closet rail hangers to act as bushings or sleeves, thus protecting the interior ply.
I wanted to have a little play between the rod and the walls of the bushings, this would ensure I had lateral movement to accommodate slanted or narrow stock. I failed to fully calculate the offset caused by the larger counter bore hole through the chop. I just meant I had to plane off the 1/8" or so to level the jaws when they are closed.
I bought some heavy gauge washers to protect the front and back of the chops around the threaded rod holes, again to protect the end grain veneer. I took the step to level them with the wood surface. I used a little laminating trim router for this part although by this time I had glued and fitted the rear stabilising bar which meant the base of my router limited me at this point. My cordless router finished off the job.
The next job was to make some handles. I used some better quality birch plywood scraps. Marking out the handle, I went for a 4" diameter. Drilled the knurled with a 10mm Forstner bit on the pillar drill then cut them out with an improvised circle cutting jig at the bandsaw. I counter bored a hole and sunk the nut locked it in with epoxy resin.
Once I test fitted the handle I became aware I had cut the threaded rod (M20 construction studding) too long. I immediately had premonitions of catching my self and clothing every time I walked past it. I marked it with tape and cut the excess off with a hand held grinder.
The rods are now 8" long providing me with a adequate 2 1/2" working space between the jaws, more than I will ever require.
I used the almost forgotten leather welders apron which came with my home welding kit. It was actually quite good quality leather and I had reservations about cutting it up for jaw linings but as I have never used it…..... I sized the interior of the jaws with thin wash coat of glue and water, let them dry overnight then glued the leather on using PVA glue.
To minimise the " made from scraps" appearance I applied some dark stain, unfortunately I didn't the reapplied stain on the top of the chops dry for long enough, so when I applied the oil/yacht varnish top coat some of the stain lifted. I now have a new vice which unintentionally looks 100 years old. Oh well, looks can be deceiving. I had read some vices are difficult to hold tight to the bench, so I applied some self adhesive stair tread grip tape to the base of the rear chop and stabilising bare. This I have found really helps to solve the problem.
I gave it a test run, it grips the work like a ship wrecked sailor to a life raft and the turn handles spin freely, not quite to the standard of a bench crafted kit but for around 20 quid all in I am happy with my lot. More importantly, the working height is a god send. It measures around 30" in length x 7 1/4" in height and allows for 18 1/2" between the screws. I look forward to using it. Thanks for looking and reading this far. David.