Dale Coons
02-23-2012, 7:04 PM
A while back I was looking for suggestions for a way to clamp boards in the absence of a bench--several suggested a moxon vise, and it turned out to be just the ticket for working on the end of my table saw in a crowded garage 'shop'.
I wound up using the kit from Benchcrated--a quality kit. It was a good solution for me, at a reasonable price. Here's a few pics along the way--apologies in advance--this isn't a completely neander build, but I don't have enough 'tail-free' tools yet. I started with about 9 feet of 8/4 maple, which I planed down to the suggested 7/4. I'll be making a little table to fit behind it that will be even with the top of the back chop with what I didn't use for the vise.
What's in the box: everything you need except for glue, including little 'Benchcrafted' buttons for the handles and a nice piece of suede. Just add wood!
224860
After planing the wood, lay out the lines for the holes. There's a nice set of directions with a little history of the vise included for download on the Benchcrafted site. After marking the centerlines on both chops, I laid out the holes--the front chop has elongated holes so the vise can rack a little to grip odd shaped items.
224861224862
I decided I wanted hexagonal holes instead square ones (although in hindsight, round holes would have been just fine!), so laid out the hexagons with a compass, and drilled the center hole.
224863224864224865224866224867
Continued in next post...
I wound up using the kit from Benchcrated--a quality kit. It was a good solution for me, at a reasonable price. Here's a few pics along the way--apologies in advance--this isn't a completely neander build, but I don't have enough 'tail-free' tools yet. I started with about 9 feet of 8/4 maple, which I planed down to the suggested 7/4. I'll be making a little table to fit behind it that will be even with the top of the back chop with what I didn't use for the vise.
What's in the box: everything you need except for glue, including little 'Benchcrafted' buttons for the handles and a nice piece of suede. Just add wood!
224860
After planing the wood, lay out the lines for the holes. There's a nice set of directions with a little history of the vise included for download on the Benchcrafted site. After marking the centerlines on both chops, I laid out the holes--the front chop has elongated holes so the vise can rack a little to grip odd shaped items.
224861224862
I decided I wanted hexagonal holes instead square ones (although in hindsight, round holes would have been just fine!), so laid out the hexagons with a compass, and drilled the center hole.
224863224864224865224866224867
Continued in next post...