Where do you store a Moxon vise?

[Bob Jones 5443]

Well, I've made my handwheels and I have the hardware and the suede and a nice thick chunk of hard maple. Now that a three-month kitchen remodel is over I am ready to make my Moxon vise, to set me up to practice and master dovetailing.

Now I can't decide if I want to 1) mount the Moxon onto the side of my bench (2-1/4" thick beech), "Murphy-bedded" to the wall –– or 2) build the vise with side wings to clamp to the top of the bench edge.

Option 1 might crowd access to the surface of the bench, for example for planing. I can envision constantly bending around the wheels and the extension of the screws.

Option 2 avoids this problem, but where in the world can I store the beast? It will probably weigh 18 or 20 pounds. The shape will be unwieldy, with lead screws protruding off the rectangular wood like spikes. Still, this seems to be the prevailing option as I look around. I suppose I'll make a caddy for it to slide into under the bench.

What do some of you do with yours?

[Mark Rainey]

Always a problem, clamped to a steel I beam - a pain to get down. Under my bench top - screws jab into my hip. Got it lying on the floor under my bench...out of the way for now at least, just interfered with my sweeping up a bit.

[mike stenson]

I hang mine from a beam on a dowel, actually I hang a lot of things in my shop now

[Bob Jones 5443]

Yeah, Mark: all problems to consider.

I know guys like Bill Carey have theirs mounted on a dedicated Moxon bench, complete with a deep raised platform that functions as the rear chop. See, that's why I'd like to mount it to my bench, to have the flat area behind the vise for layout purposes.

But I have only the one bench, and can already only use one long side of it, as it's hinged to the wall. How would I use if for planing with the Moxon out front? So it just seems like I'd regret permanently mounting the vise to the bench.

If I make one like Bill Carey's, but also have everything removable, I'd need a full rear chop plus another largish, heavy thing behind that, that all has to be stored. I can almost see doing this, though. The portion behind the rear shop could be a hollow box. Hmmm.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I like that, Mike! That's my kind of storage. Great food for thought. How much does yours weigh?

[mike stenson]

I like that, Mike! That's my kind of storage. Great food for thought. How much does yours weigh?

To be honest Bob, I haven't weighed it.. but it feels like less than a bag of dog food, so I'd say around 20lbs? It works well, for me, because I can basically just hold it on my shoulder and hook it. It's also well out of the way, which was a serious concern with the screws

[Bob Jones 5443]

OK, I'll go with storage up instead of down. Thinking of it near the floor under the bench conjures up images of lots of dust and shavings on it all the time. Thanks for the ideas.

Also, I'm going to have maybe 16 or 18 max between the screws, so that will lighten it.

[David Eisenhauer]

Mine stores on a shelf under my TS catch table. It is of the type with wings for clamping down on my main bench when I want to use it. I recently cut my Acme thread lengths in half so that the protruding lengths of Acme thread did not interfere as much with the rest of the bench top activity as they previously did. My Acme threads were 18" long, now 9" long. I never did use it to more than the max opening it now has as I had originally planned for. I have other, handier ways to hold an assembled drawer for working on and can always go back to longer Acme threads if I change my mind again.

[Christopher Charles]

Congrats on finishing the kitchen remodel!

Mine's currently standing on the floor on one end because the ends ended up square enough to do that.
IMG_6804.jpg
Here's how it clamps to the benchtop. I may end up drilling a hole and finding a spot on the wall as well.

[steven c newman]

Where do I store mine? Simple...i do not have one. can't store what I don't have....

[Steve Kang]

Mine lives under my bench, where it's accumulating a layer of dust, shavings and offcuts. IMG_3325.jpg

[Don Dorn]

That is the exact reason I don't have one anymore. No shelf under the bench and don't want one due to an inability to easily sweep and sawdust and shavings get over everything on the bench. I came up with a new method for no more than I use it anymore that is very small and is used in conjunction with the vice for any size panel. Works well enough for the girls I date.

[Mike Brady]

I made one at a class, using Bencrafted screws and ash as the wood. This design is bench-on-bench and storage of it is a problem. I leave it on my bench quite a bit or set it out of the way, but it is heavy and has a large footprint that runs against my reason for having just a bench and tool chests, in my rather small shop.

On the plus side it is great for dovetailing.

[Jim Matthews]

Mine is permanent, as a face vise where most leg vises are mounted. Kept clean and lubricated, it's excellent.

[Derek Cohen]

Mine lives under the bench. You can see it here in the dark recesses ....



However ... there is a lot of other junk that accumulates there as well.

I plan to change this, so this topic is a reminder. I would like to add some a small, removable cabinet below the bench, with shall drawers for tools used at the bench. The problem then is where to store the Moxon vise. I already have other fixture piling up behind and nearby. Space is at a premium.

Regards from Perth

Derek