Popular Post derekcohen Posted September 21, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Many of my projects involve bow fronts, which result in compound angle dovetails ... I do enjoy building furniture with dovetailing challenges. Between furniture pieces, I find time to build a new tool. This time it is the Moxon dovetail vise I have been promising myself for a while. My first and only one was built in early 2011, after Chris Schwarz helped put it on the map. I immediately modified this design, and have been making modifications since. (Link: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/MoxonDovetailVise.html). This new Moxon incorporates the best ideas. Ironically, this design is not geared for compound angles. I decided to heed my own advice and keep it as simple as possible, and cater for the 90% of the dovetailing that is likely to be done. The width of the vise is narrower than my previous one, but capable of 450mm (17 3/4")between the screws. Most cases I built are between 350 - 450mm deep. My previous Moxon could do 560mm (22") between the screws. This is unnecessary, and just makes for a very large fixture. Where the old Moxon used wooden screws, which I turned, this uses steel Acme screws and iron wheels ala BenchCrafted ... except that these came via Tom Bussey (thanks Tom), which amounted to a large savings. The wheels are 5" in diameter on a 3/4" screw. The front chop is 5 1/2" high, and the Moxon is built in Jarrah ... what else do you expect! I went a little OTT in this build, but it was fun, and I admit I did become a little carried away Brass inlay ... The chop runs on bronze bearings ... Lining the inside of the vise is rubberised cork. This makes a great non-slip (not my idea - this comes from BenchCrafted, who call it "crubber". Simply search eBay for "cork rubber"). This vise is a good height for sawing ... There are a few innovations. The rear of the vise ... This is a spacer, and it can be locked into the up position ... The spacer has two functions. The first is setting the pin board (10mm) above the chop to prevent scoring the chop when transferring tails to pins with a knife (this is more of a danger with through dovetails). Also, by lifting the work, there will be light behind the pin board, and this makes it easier to align the edges. The crubber makes a great non-slip. The spacer may be dropped out of the way, once the height is set ... The second use of the spacer is that it has a sliding dovetail at the top, and this allows for the use of MicroJig clamps. This would be especially useful for holding wide boards, or tail board which have developed a slight bow ... I have used this on other fixtures, such as a morticing jig. For aligning the tail- and pin boards, I prefer a simple wide square I made from wood ... The spacer needs to be dropped out of the way for this ... Once transfer is made, reverse the board and saw the pins. This is where you will recognise that the cove is not simply decoration, but allows the saw to angle and get closer to the work piece. The lower the work piece in the vise, the less vibration when sawing ... And thats it ... the last moxon dovetail vise ... Regards from Perth Derek 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Some great innovations there Derek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Thanks, Derek! Clever upgrades to such a simple devise. Dovetails are the only thing I use my Moxon vise for. Now you have me thinking of mods to make it more useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 The last... for now,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Looks fantastic, and more useful information worthy of copying! How are the Acme nuts, and rods secured to prevent rotation? The only thing I would like better is if the rods didn't stick out the front, but rather traveled through the back, and had wooden handles (could still be wheels) rather than metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Tom, I did consider building the rods through the vise. However I realised that the combination with the cast iron wheels is very heavy, and it would be more work to turn. What I did, instead, was to capture the rod at the rear, and I can extend it or shorten it, as needed. I have about 3" sticking out the front at the moment. It is all I need. I may even shorten it some more. Regards from Perth Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted October 27, 2019 Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 Derek, I will be building a moxon dovetail vise soon. I really like the flip up spacer that you added. Did you just use standard hinges for this? It looks like you have a magnet In the center to hold it up, and the single screw on the right side to lock it in place, correct? Have you been happy with this setup now that you’ve had it for a little while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Just decent brass butt hinges. One rare earth magnet is not enough to ensure the spacer remains in position when weight is on top. The screw holds it firmly. I've been using this design for several years. It's good. Regards from Perth Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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