how to make lead vise jaws?

[Andy]

Any ideas on how to make a set of lead vise jaws? I see these sold by brownells and used in gunsmithing videos and would like to have a nice thick set but can't stomach the idea of buying them when I have so much lead sitting around.

I have thought of pouring molten lead into a flat pan but can't see any way to get it to be truly flat (planar sides).

Is there a simple method out there I'm not thinking of? Something like a 4x6 rectangle maybe 1/8-1/4" thick is what I'm thinking of trying to make.

[Grmps]

do they have to be lead?

How to Make Soft Jaws for Your Vise (use 1/4 sheet lead) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-trYFL9Is

Make them out of nylon (cutting board) https://www.amazon.com/Soft-Vise-Groove-Gunsmithing-Tools/dp/B00EBN9TTA

soft-vise-jaws ebay

[BK7saum]

i just cut some lead pipe and flattened it out then bent it over the vise jaws and trimmed to fit. Obviously, mine is soft lead and takes the shape of whatever I am putting in the vise. I was not concerned with it being flat

[John Boy]

Two pieces of sheet lead - wrapped on vice ... never have to worry about aluminum scratches with the stock or forearm clamped in the vice

[merlin101]

Make a wooden mould the size of your vise jaws and what ever thickness you want then drill the 2 mounting holes, if not permeant then just hold them in place and tighten vise.

[Geezer in NH]

Roof flashing. Cut it 2 inches bigger than jaws. Clamp centered in jaws bend the excess around them and hammer them to fit the vice.

When they wear out peel off and repeat. I use the peals in my ML balls.

[Wolfer]

Roof flashing. Cut it 2 inches bigger than jaws. Clamp centered in jaws bend the excess around them and hammer them to fit the vice.

When they wear out peel off and repeat. I use the peals in my ML balls.

This is what I do also.

[leebuilder]

Them fexible composite soww make good vise jaw pads. They will form around threads. I just smash lead flashing around my vise jaws, cut off the ugly extra.
Be safe

[Drm50]

I pour mine between two pieces of alumilum flat stock clamped to 3rd section for bottom. Only
the poured edge is not flat. I use vise jaws to mark holes for countersunk screws holding to vise
body. I have Alumilum, Nylon and oak jaws made up for my vise as well as some made to hold
round stock. I do have sheet lead angles to just drop over the jaws for light work.

[Andy]

I should apoligize I think I phrased my initial question wrong in that I should have said "how do you make your own lead jaws by melting down your own ingots", I am trying to avoid buying/finding flashing etc. and want to find a good way to use my own stock of lead ingots that I keep on hand for bullet casting for this.

DRM50 thanks for the info that's just the sort of thing I was looking for, how much off of "flat" does the poured edge work out to be? does it work as-is or do you have to knock down the high spots before using?

Thanks to all for the ideas, sorry I didn't say my goal more clearly in the begininng.

[deltaenterprizes]

A small bread pan will make a good mold to make small amounts of sheet lead suitable for vise jaws.
To get them as parallel as possible check the top of the pan with a level in both directions.

[Grmps]

Why would you need it perfectly flat? Soft lead will contour.

using a level pan, pre-warm the pan and use hot lead so it will flow level (you could help level the poured lead using a torch)
soft thin lead can be cut with a knife and hammer then put in a vise and the edges filed square

[JimB..]

Seems like maybe you could make a mold from a few pieces of angle iron. Weld the corners from the outside and instead of welding for the bottom just drill and tap a few holes to bolt it down so you can disassemble to get the parallel-sided block out. It’ll probably take a little cleanup with a knife.

Sorry, no first hand experience, just an idea.

[leebuilder]

Reading all the posts, I make my ingots from 1 inch channel iron about 7 inches long. They weigh out at about a half pound and easily fit in my bottom pour melter . They would fit perfect on my vise, they are flat on the bottom and easily drilled.
Does this help?

[OldBearHair]

What Merlin said about wooden mould good and level when poured. Also drill the holes where needed in the mold and put two wood dowels the correct size and shape for screw heads then you don't need to drill the lead.

[Andy]

Lots of great ideas in here, thanks again everyone. The bread pan seems like it would be a perfect size for my vise, so I'm going to try that out first.

[OldBearHair]

Save the mold. You will probably need to melt the lead jaws again after a little rough use.

[KCSO]

Roofing lead is just the right thickness just cut with tin snips and bend. Surely someone here has some. I just melted down about 50 pounds of it I can post here when I get more.

[pietro]

I am trying to avoid buying/finding flashing etc. and want to find a good way to use my own stock of lead ingots that I keep on hand for bullet casting for this.

how much off of "flat" does the poured edge work out to be ?

does it work as-is or do you have to knock down the high spots before use ?




If your ingots are pure lead, it will be soft enough to slice off ingot length 1/4" thick slabs off the ingot(s), pound the slice a bit if it's too short to overlap one vise jaw by an inch or so, then just wrap the jaw as stated above.


"Flat" is contraindicated, as the reason for lead covered vise jaws is that the soft lead will slightly conform to whatever is being gripped to secure it w/o marring the finish/shape as can happed with the cast iron jaws.


FWIW, I use 6" x 3" x 1/2" scrap softwood slats mounted on both vice jaws with 2-sided tape for the same reason (YMMV).



.

[KCSO]

Then melt an ingot in a big dipper and pour it out on a sheet of tin in the driveway and viola! 1/8 inch thick will do for most work.

[Traffer]

I made mine by using bars that I got from a purchase here. The bars were about 3/8" to 1/2" thick and about 2 1/2" wide. I just made some wire hangers for them to hang in front of the vise jaws. Work like a charm! The lead (aboujt 16 to 18bhn) being nice and thick forms itself to what ever steel I put in the vise. It is especially nice for clamping round stock when I run dies over it to thread it. It will loosen a bit as the lead deforms ...just give it a snug and good again,

[mazo kid]

I was given a couple of phone company splice cases. Those are soft lead and easily cut with snips. Also, lead water pipe will work the same way.

[Willbird]

Thinking outside the box here :-).

What about just super gluing a layer of lead shot onto a set of Aluminum or Steel jaws :-).

Big shot like #2 might work pretty slick actually. Lead flashing would the the perfect thing I agree...it can be doubled over or even tripled.

That said in over 40 years in the shop I have never NEEDED a set of lead vise jaws :-).

[JSnover]

I guess it would depend on the size of your vise but a couple of 1lb ingots with one side trued up and two holes might fit right onto the vise. If it worked you could even mix in some of that worthless zinc for somewhat harder, more durable jaws.

[country gent]

I make my vise jaws with 2 legs that bend over the jaws to hold them on. A K shaped piece with the upright back about 1/2" wider than the jaws. the legs are 1/2" wide. a simple mould can be made with a router in wood. Or a end mill in steel. Mine are 1/4" thick. This is for a steel mould. Pre heat mould to temp of lead or very close to it in the pot. Fill and let cool remove jaws.

My mould has a jaw on each side of the center with a flat plate for cover it is filled thru the legs openings. Once hot and lead is to temp I sit it upright and fill both sides and let cool. I may pour 3-4 sets when I pour them.

Stick on wheel weights or pure lead work very well. Clip on wheel weights or actual harder bullet alloys may not conform to a surface as well. Zinc can be used but again the hardness makes it less than desirable. I also have hard wood jaws, nylon jaws, copper, brass and lead liners. Also handy is thick felt, rubber, or leather pads for your vises.

[pietro]

Thinking outside the box here :-).

What about just super gluing a layer of lead shot onto a set of Aluminum or Steel jaws :-).

Big shot like #2 might work pretty slick actually. Lead flashing would the the perfect thing I agree...it can be doubled over or even tripled.

That said in over 40 years in the shop I have never NEEDED a set of lead vise jaws :-).




Get back in the box ;) - lead shot isn't pure lead, it's a harder alloy. :D

.

[samari46]

Try out your local scrap yard and see if they have any lead roofing sheathing. Most likely pure and you wouldn't need all that much. Or get a section of 2x6" or 2x8" pine pr pressure treated wood cut in half and cut out the center section to fit over the saddle where the screw is that opens and closes the vise and some cheap rug material from wally world and some brass tacks. Either tack the rug material or glue it. Either way works. Frank

[Traffer]

There are a lot of options. As long as you get some lead between your work and the vise jaws. I use harder lead 16BHN. I have ingots that are flat that I drilled holes in. I just drape them over the jaws and wire them on through the holes.

[Andy]

Ok so I finally got around to doing this and just wanted to update the thread with my results. Didn't get too scientific with it just got a pot of pure lead going and poured it into a bread pan that I only leveled by eye.

Ended up trying a few times and the best results were when I went for 3/16-1/4" thick and had the lead really hot (800) and used a big dipper so that I could get a wet pool of the whole size of the bread pan before it hardened up on top. That let it level out the best.

Pan had a slight bow in the bottom so I didn't end up with very flat sheets of lead, but it still worked out fine on the vise jaws, just put them in place, cut to a bit oversize and hammered the excess around the vise jaws to let them be slid on/off but still stay in place in use.

If doing again I would find a flatter/sturdier bread pan and bother to level it out with a small level beforehand, maybe run the pan on a hot plate too to keep it up at a high temp before pouring in. If you did that I think you could get away with thinner sheets.

[Drm50]

When I pour the jaws, the bottom & both sides are smooth. The top (opening across the top you
pour into) will be fairly flat with rounded edges. I use this for the bottom of the jaws. So I have
The top edge and jaw, front and back perfectly flat. The poured edge is down and serves no function anyway. I pour several sets while I'm at it. When jaws get beat up just throw them in
scrap to be remelted. I make the jaws wider than vise and trim with hack saw.

[Andy]

Wanted to post an update now that I've been using these a while. I find these to be incredibly useful in fact they are on my vise more often than not, and I use them much more than the leather jaws I made. Very nice for holding a gun securely and they don't mar the finish even with an irregular lead surface. Very awesome for doing things like holding a screw by the threads to work on the top etc. They also "give" enough to where you get a feel for when you're about to clamp too much force onto something that could bend.

My main problem with them is that the out-of-flatness from my method of making them is fairly annoying. For example I go to clamp a flat receiver in them and instead of an even surface that holds it securely you have a hump that it rotates easily on when tapping etc.

I'm going to see how much of a pain it would be to flatten them on my mill, but looking back I would probably just go the flashing route as others suggested, to get a workably flat surface without a lot of fuss. That or make a jig up that would guarantee planar faces to the pour.

[Drm50]

I use lead flashing bent like angle iron and just hung over jaws for jobs that are going to imprint the
lead. Filing on screws is a good example of this.

[JimB..]

Wanted to post an update now that I've been using these a while. I find these to be incredibly useful in fact they are on my vise more often than not, and I use them much more than the leather jaws I made. Very nice for holding a gun securely and they don't mar the finish even with an irregular lead surface. Very awesome for doing things like holding a screw by the threads to work on the top etc. They also "give" enough to where you get a feel for when you're about to clamp too much force onto something that could bend.

My main problem with them is that the out-of-flatness from my method of making them is fairly annoying. For example I go to clamp a flat receiver in them and instead of an even surface that holds it securely you have a hump that it rotates easily on when tapping etc.

I'm going to see how much of a pain it would be to flatten them on my mill, but looking back I would probably just go the flashing route as others suggested, to get a workably flat surface without a lot of fuss. That or make a jig up that would guarantee planar faces to the pour.

If they are only a bit out of flat you could glue 40 grit sandpaper to both sides of a piece of flat stock and work it back and forth while snugging up the jaws. If more than a bit unflat first beat them into submission.