Moxon Style Vise


AtticusWW

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This is my first project post on this forum, and I hope that I am putting it in the right place. I got into woodworking a little over 2 years ago, and I think that my progression is very similar to that of most new woodworkers. One of my first big projects was a southern yellow pine workbench with a 4” thick laminated top. I love that bench. It isn’t pretty. The mortises are a little too big, and the half laps that I used to build the base are more like 2/3 laps in some cases. For all of its faults, it is as solid as can be, and will easily outlast me. 

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Fast forward to a couple of months ago, and I built another workbench. Again, I used pine, but I wanted this bench to be more aesthetically pleasing, so I stained the base and padded on many coats of shellac to give it a beautiful shine.

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I decided when I built that bench that I would use it for my growing interest in hand tools. I took my 12” quick release vise and put it on that bench. I had no intention of getting rid of my first bench, so I moved it to the opposite wall.

While I really like my new bench, I find myself using the old bench just as frequently, but as I have no vise on it, I sometimes find myself struggling from a work holding standpoint.  I decided to rectify that situation by building a Moxon Vise. 

I built a Moxon Vise early on using pipe clamps, but the pipe clamps never locked down very securely, so this time I decided that I would use 3/4” all thread.  While I was preparing to build the vise, I came a cross a post that mentioned that certain barbells were basically 1” acme threaded rod, and that the star knobs used to secure the plates on the bars made excellent knobs for the vise  I went to Walmart, and found these for just under $7 each  B825309D-EEAD-4CD1-991F-732F99BA5EC3.thumb.jpeg.9d87ea0992b725163ccfe3af95ecd319.jpeg2980574B-D6B5-4F76-AF4B-804246E97077.thumb.jpeg.7edd8358e4d77d4fc1cf477e8a5e2441.jpeg

After cutting off the grip, I had 12” of acme threaded rod!  I milled the jaws out of 6/4 ash.  As I intended for the vise to be clamped down to the bench when needed, I cut the rear jaw to 30” and the front jaw to 24”.  Both jaws are 6” tall.  That was when I had a revelation.  If I turned my bench with the short side butted up against the wall, then I could access both sides of the bench. Also, that would allow me to mount the vise permanently to the end.

I knew that I did not want 2 long screws sticking out into the walkway, but i did not want to give up a lot of capacity.  I decided to drill holes in the end of the bench that would allow me to recess some of the rod, letting keep capacity if needed. As this bench was built early on in my woodworking journey, the ends aren’t exactly flat and square, so I had to do some shimming to mount the rear jaw. 

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I used a hole saw and forstner bit to counterbore holes in the back of the rear jaw, and inserted one of the star knobs for each rod.0ADAA1B7-5E88-4882-867B-43C5798F4718.thumb.jpeg.8e01c3b6cc6f06e14c049372751dba73.jpeg

I finished both jaws with boiled linseed oil. After using the vise for the first time, I realized that I wanted a little more space between the knobs and the face of the vise. I cut out some wooden washers to add the desired space. 

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The holding power is impressive and I am very pleased with the acme threads. Thanks for looking!

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Thanks all for the replies. I recently went through a bit of a slump. I wasn’t building anything that was really getting me excited to be in the shop. I realized that I needed to challenge myself. 

I decided that I was going to start challenging myself in every project. Mortise and tenon, dovetails... I want to add something challenging to every project. 

My first project in my new challenge is a Morris Chair. Knowing that this project was going to require a LOT of mortise and tenon joinery, I knew I needed a great vise. 

Today, I milled all of the parts of the chair down to final dimensions and started cutting mortises. The vise worked beautifully. I couldn’t be more pleased. I am looking forward to many years of use. 

Also, adding new challenges seems to have worked. I can’t wait to get in the shop tomorrow!

Thanks!

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On 4/13/2018 at 8:11 PM, AtticusWW said:

Today, I milled all of the parts of the chair down to final dimensions and started cutting mortises. The vise worked beautifully. I couldn’t be more pleased. I am looking forward to many years of use. 

I look forward to seeing the build process of the chair.

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