Vice jaws

[aarolar]

I just bought a shiny new 4" vice for my workbench and now I need to build some soft jaws for it. Anyone kind enough to share some pictures or plans of their setup?

[Beagle333]

I don't have a pic, but I just got some thick pieces of scrap leather from a leatherworking bud (or buy a belt from the Thrift store for a dollar) and cut some pads the same size/shape as the jaws. I ran a bead of epoxy down the back and pressed it to the jaws and it hasn't came loose in the two years that I've had it on there.

[JSnover]

I've made soft jaws out of brass. They work well but don't stand up to a lot of use.
I've also improvised jaw liners with a couple pieces of sheet metal. They're not exactly soft but they are smooth so they won't leave tooth marks on soft metal parts.
Beagle333 has the right idea.

[aarolar]

What about using wood jaws with a vee grove in them I think Im going to need such for drifting sights out and such

[JSnover]

Use a hard wood in good condition and make them fairly thick. The soft stuff might crack too easily.

[oldred]

I have a piece of Delrin 4 1/2" in diameter and several feet long if you can use jaws that soft I would gladly saw off as much of it as you might need for free. Delrin is what is used for the plastic jaws on vises but maybe you need something harder than that? If you would like the Delrin just let me know because I will never use that much of the stuff and I have been stumbling over it for a couple of years now.

[aarolar]

I have access to all that kinda stuff at work. Im mostly looking for designs like slip on vs bolt on grooved vs not Im really thinking I need more than one design for different purposes.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Aarolar: cut squares of Masonite the same width as your jaws. 4x4?

Cut a slot in one side to slide over whatever is in the center of the vise, screw, guide way, etc.

Glue some leather to one side of each one. Done.

The softeners simply sit on top of the screw or guide way of the vise and can be removed in a second.

Randy

[country gent]

We had a sheet metal template at work to cut out slip ons from brass copper or lead sheets. this was the shape for the vises jaws you scribed around it cut out in bandsaw or by hand. put in vise and bent to form with soft mallet. In some areas we made solid soft jaws that bolted on the vise. Another trick is use shallow head allen screws to hold steel jaws on and then fit magnets into 3/16 or 1/4" brass or copper on smae centerline the magnets hole the jaws to the screw heads and fit into existing counter bore provide alighnment also. Theres alot of ways to do soft jaws.

[w5pv]

We alway used copper or lead sheets,cut them to width and length with legs that can be bent back over the vice body to hold them in place/

[pietro]

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Over the past 50 years, I've found that there's times when I want my bench vise to hold something very tight in the issue jaws, and times when padded jaws are indicated.

So, I fashioned various jaw cover sets (one cover/hood for each jaw) of brass, thick leather, rubber, and soft wood (Pine), that simply drop over the jaws (with the material draping down over the jaw face) when each different type is called for.


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[John Taylor]

I have been using copper. split a piece of copper pipe, flatten it out, clamp it in the vise and peen it over on top. When they get damaged just make a new set.

[bangerjim]

I bought a set of "soft" plastic jaws for my 4 & 6" vises at Lowe's sometime back. Made by Besse I believe. Great.....held on with rare earth magnets.

But you can always cobble up something out of the junk bin.

banger-j

[gunshot98]

If you have a Atwoods near you, they have different sizes of aluminum angle in sticks. I just get the size that close fits my vise, cut to length, and glue on leather, wood, plastic, or copper. You can take them off and on easy that way. Just me.

[abunaitoo]

The copper pipe idea sounds good.
I use thick felt or leather from old gloves.

[Thin Man]

Same as Beagle, I bought a pair of 1.5 x 1.5 angle iron strips the same length as the vise jaws. Found some leather strips and cut them to match the face (one side of each iron) of these iron strips, attached them with 2-part epoxy, then gently closed the pads and irons in the vise. Once cured they have remained in place over 6 years. Delicate jobs get anchored between leather, no damage. Tough jobs, flip the irons over and anchor the job between iron. Inexpensive, and give excellent protection to the work.

[KCSO]

If you make soft jaws make them from copper instead of brass, Brass is slick and parts will slip copper is soft and sticky and things stay put better.

[aarolar]

So I haven't forgotten all this and I have been paying attention. This morning I finally had a little free time to work on this. I really wanted a vee set so thats what I set out to make.

First I cut some alum angle 4" long.


Then I started making the jaws I decided to use plywood simply because I didn't have any hardwood laying around. Started by cutting some blanks.


Then in an operation that will make some peoples hair stand on end I cut the vees in.


Finally I screwed the wood blocks onto the angle. On the other sides of the angles I'll do the leather and rubber and leave one plain alum.

[aarolar]

[country gent]

One draw back to leather flet and soft cloths and materials is they can hold debriss such as filings,chips and dirt which can scratch a surface easily. Even with soft jaws I put a layer of tape on the surface to be clamped.