Leather ligning in a saw vise

[Rich Purdum]

Sorry if this has been asked and answered...the search tool discarded "saw" and used "vise", not very precise.

I'm building a saw vise out of ipe left over from a big deck project. I've formed the jaws but have not set the spacing between them. I've seen some posts elsewhere that mention a leather strip to "dampen" the vibration from sharpening. Is this a good idea and does anyone have a suggested gap between the jaws of the vise? If leather is a good idea, how to attach it.

I'm sort of following a design half way between a long version used by Chris G on FWW and a Sketchup model posted on Google.

Ipe is so hard that I'm thinking a strip of leather might soften the grip of the jaws and thus provide a better hold on the blade. All suggestions are very welcome.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Yes, leather is a good idea. I used an old leather belt for my saw vise and secured it with gorilla glue -- it seems to work fine. I don't think the type of glue is all that critical, nor the exact spacing, as long as it holds a saw securely. Test it -- with a saw. One thing I would have added and have since bought but not installed, is some cam-type securing bolts from Lee Valley, so you can sharpen one side, pop a couple of bolts, turn the saw around, pop the bolts again, and do the other side. In the plumbing section of the hardware store you can sometimes also find rubber sheets that look like gasket material. That might be suitable for dampening material.

[Andrew Gibson]

I made my saw vise out of ash and plained the jaws slightly concave.
I think that a strip of leather would be a good idea. I would use contact cement to adhere the lether to the jaws.