Shop Made Saw Vise recommendations

[Seth Terndrup]

Anybody have any plans they recommend? I’ve seen plans by Texas Heritage, wood By Wright, Paul Sellers, and Lie Nielsen.

one of my requirements is being able to sharpen a 26” saw without having to reposition the saw.

i considered buying the grammercy saw vise but I don’t want to have to reposition long Saws.

Thanks

[Dan Hulbert]

I took a 26" piece of 1x6, ripped it in half at 45 degrees, put the saw between the boards with the points of the angles toward the plate and clamped it my vice. May have added a couple of c clamps at the ends to keep things tight.

But then again, my wife claims I suffer from male pattern cheapness.

[Seth Terndrup]

Haha good one. That is basically what the Paul sellers plan is. Two pieces of wood in the vise. I actually am considering it but don’t have a bench stool, but I do have a bad back.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I looked at a bunch of different plans, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. I kind of liked this one.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/newsletters/Woodworking/5/2/article2.htm

[Sanford Imhoff]

I went the Texas Heritage route and am satisfied

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[steven c newman]

Last year (I think) The Woodwright's Shop had an episode about a folding saw vise......might be worth a look?

[Seth Terndrup]

Ya I just watched that episode of the woodright folding saw vise. Actually I live close to the woodwright school and they have a class where you build one of those standing folding saw vises. I considered taking it but those classes fill up immediately and if you don’t watch for an opening you will never get in.

[Seth Terndrup]

Was it hard? I’m very new to woodworking. I read the instructions a few times and the only thing I didn’t understand was the compound spring joint. I understand the concept of hollowing the center on the horizontal axis but I didn’t understand what was meant by doing the same thing for the vertical axis of the jaws. Can you expound? Did you create the 18” jaws as per the instructions or did you make the longer to accommodate longer saws? Finally did you buy their hardware or just shop around for the parts at a hardware store? Sorry for all the questions.

this is in response to building the Texas heritage vise.

[Jim Koepke]

i considered buying the grammercy saw vise but I don’t want to have to reposition long Saws.

If my memory is working when the Gramercy saw vise first came out another SMC member felt the same way. They purchased two and set them on a piece side by side.

Heck, it has to be turned end for end so why not move it along?

An old post by Bob Smalser on saw sharpening has what looks like an easy saw vise to build:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?8198-Sharpening-Handsaws

jtk

[Kees Heiden]

Well, you don't need to turn the saw around when filing rip teeth. With a bit of inguinity you could even file a cross cut saw all from one side.

I also got tired from moving the saw along in one of these small metal vises, so I made a similar very ugly wooden saw vise. Two pieces of plywood. A 2 x 4 ripped at 45 degrees and attached to both sides at the top. Some hinges at the bottom and of we go.

[Sanford Imhoff]

Hi, Seth. I would put it at the low end of intermediate skills. The vertical concept of the spring joint is making a one degree bevel on the 1" clamping face of vise (zero at the top to one degree at the bottom) so that under compression, and, along with the horizontal spring you have narrowed the point of contact which gives it its clamping force. I bought the hardware kit from TH and made the jaws 18". The instructions do require some study and creative imagination at times. The end result is very pleasing and grips like a dog on a bone.

[Jim Koepke]

Well, you don't need to turn the saw around when filing rip teeth.

This has been debated and it seems to come down to the individual filing a saw. Some folks are able to keep their file at a perfect 90º to the saw plate. That is not one of my abilities. If one is off consistently by even as slight as one degree, the saw will likely pull to one side.

It can also put all the burr effect on one side which causes a similar problem.

jtk

[Brandon Speaks]

I saw a Rob Cossman video where he showed a shop made vice that looked pretty good.

Myself I have the gramercy and love it. Moving the saw only takes a second.

In theory I get why filing from both sides even on rip makes more sense for the reasons mentioned above. I had not done that myself and did not notice any pulling, but did change recently as I do see the potential for the problem and really it adds all of a couple minutes to the process.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Seth,

Where do you live (roughly speaking)? Any chance you are near the middle of Ohio? If so, then perhaps we can build a couple of saw vices together since it has been on my to-do list for a while now. Understand that I do own a nice metal saw vice and I gave my spare a friend. I have been wanting to make a longer one that can hold a larger saw....

As for what you use for hardware, much of that depends on your preferences towards throwing money at a problem versus living with the alternatives; for example, some people use clamps to hold the vice together, but that is more difficult than having something built on to the vice.

I have some PDFs that I downloaded from the internet, for example:

Saw vice by Robert Lang that requires no hardware and uses clamps.

Jasper's Wooden Saw Vise, this uses hardware that you could get from your local hardware store.

I have the Lee Valley version as an ODT file (Open Document Text Format)

I have a sketch-up file named: sawvise_from_woodworking_in_america_conference.skp


Happy to email any of these to you....

As with anything, you can change them for your own uses. Most of these show flat jaws and I am not sure how well those clamp unless the base is a wee bit wider at the bottom so that the saw is held well. I figured that I would simply glue leather to the jaws if they did not hold well.... I guess that if this is a serious problem, it would be mentioned.

[Seth Terndrup]

Seth,

Where do you live (roughly speaking)? Any chance you are near the middle of Ohio? If so, then perhaps we can build a couple of saw vices together since it has been on my to-do list for a while now.

thanks Andrew! Unfortunately I live in North Carolina.

[Seth Terndrup]

Heck, it has to be turned end for end so why not move it along?

jtk

Ya I can’t tell if I’m being lazy or obsessive. When I start researching this stuff I fixate on the “ideal” solution. Which of course rarely exists.

[Seth Terndrup]

Hi, Seth. I would put it at the low end of intermediate skills. The vertical concept of the spring joint is making a one degree bevel on the 1" clamping face of vise (zero at the top to one degree at the bottom) so that under compression, and, along with the horizontal spring you have narrowed the point of contact which gives it its clamping force. I bought the hardware kit from TH and made the jaws 18". The instructions do require some study and creative imagination at times. The end result is very pleasing and grips like a dog on a bone.

thanks Sanford I appreciate the info!!

[glenn bradley]

Mine is very basic.

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[Kees Heiden]

I was thinking a bit about this, the short metal vise versus the long wooden one. Mine is quite a bother to clamp the saw, I need a few extra clamps. So it is not great for "moving the saw along". In a metal vise with just a toggle clamp that works much better. When I have or want to turn the saw around i just take the whole sawvise, with clamps and saw and all and turn it around in my bench vise.

I have always wanted to make a nice wooden one. Sure need to move that up a few steps on my to do list.

[Brian Hale]

I made this a few years ago, 24" jaws made from a piece 8/4 cherry that had a bow in it. The bow worked out nicely.

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No idea why the pictures are rotated, sorry

[Pete Taran]

It's an iphone thing. You have to open them up in editing software and then save them before they will display as intended. Not sure why. Nice vice though!

[Brian Hale]

Good tip Pete, i seldom use my Samsung for pictures but i'll give it a go next time

Brian :)

[Jim Koepke]

It's an iphone thing. You have to open them up in editing software and then save them before they will display as intended. Not sure why. Nice vice though!


Good tip Pete, i seldom use my Samsung for pictures but i'll give it a go next time

Brian :)

Don't you just love it when our technology does something for us we don't want it to do without asking?

jtk

[Brian Hale]

LOL

I consider myself "Tech Savy" but i still get an education often


Don't you just love it when our technology does something for us we don't want it to do without asking?

jtk

[steven c newman]

Usually just holding the phone on it's side ( Landscape) taking a picture.....then it comes out right-side up here. might try that?

[steven c newman]

Those folding saw vises were more for the fellows that used to sit on the street corner..sharpening saws. Others had a push cart, and also sharpened knives and other such items..while you waited.

The folding saw vise also needed a stool for the operator to sit on....as his foot would keep the vise steady. Might have been how Pete Taran started out?