Yoga Mats

[GregLaROCHE]

I was looking for something to make soft jaws for my carpenter’s type vise, that I planned to use for clamping the stocks of rifles in when working on them. In a dollar kind of store, I came across yoga mats for sale. They were inexpensive. Less than ten bucks, maybe only six or seven. I forget. I cut out two small rectangles and contact cemented them in the vise. It worked great.

My new workbench is fur 2x10s bolted to a steel frame, that is bolted to the concrete slab. I put a couple of coats of sealer on it, but expected it to get worn with use. The other day I was taking apart a gun and wanted to keep it from getting scratched or marred. I was looking for a heavy cloth when I remembered about the leftover yoga mat. I cut myself a nice rectangle a little bigger than a place mat at a dinner table. It worked great protecting the gun as well as the bench top. It’s non slip and cushioning properties were a plus too.

I can take it off and shake it clean and don’t have to worry when using an Exacto knife, or excess glue etc. When it gets worn, I can replace it.

The other day I cut up the rest to use as liners in the bottom of a steel drawer tool box.
It’s great for a lot of stuff and the best part is it’s inexpensive, as long as it’s not coming from an expensive sporting goods store.

[HWooldridge]

My wife and I both practice yoga, and the mats wear out after about a year. I’ve used leftover pieces for foot mats in the shop and to line tool boxes, but never considered vise liners - good idea!

And I’m going to take this opportunity to plug yoga as exercise for everyone, especially older folks. It’s really helped my mobility in every day situations.

[uscra112]

Good find! Can think of lots more uses for that slab of foam.

[Shawlerbrook]

Another good fix is the foam garden kneeling pads from the dollar store.

[Milsurp Junkie]

I used my old yoga mat to cover the cement tables at my range. Just cut it in half.

[405grain]

I use rubber cement to glue pieces of carpet to inserts made from 3/8" plywood to make soft jaws for my bigger vise. I've used this to hold half a dozen stocks as I carve them. It's muy cheap, and works really good.

[45workhorse]

I make vise inserts from 3/4" plywood and glue 4" nylon webbing on the inside. I had 4" nylon but if you keep a eye along the highway you could find some laying along the road, or at a truck stop trash. Most flat bed straps are 4" wide. Just make sure nothing is embedded in the nylon to scratch the finish.

[uscra112]

Lots of good ideas here.

Long, long ago I bought a Black & Decker "Workmate" carpenters' vise. The kind that clamps to a bench-top. (They don't sell that version anymore.) This became my gun vise, for cleaning or what-have-you tasks. I fold a tag-end of indoor-outdoor carpet into it to protect the gun's finish, or a hand towel, or a couple of shop rags, anything handy. Haven't used foam, but I ordered a yoga mat off Amazon this afternoon, so that's next.

[ipopum]

If you are going to the range or shooting varmints take that workmate with you. Use a 2x6 or 2x8 between the jaws and long enough

to extend over on both ends. The best portable shooting bench I have used .

[deltaenterprizes]

I have a yoga mat or order from EBay for $7 delivered!