Friday, October 26, 2007

Auxiliary Jaw Liners for a Wilson Bench Vice

I had installed a Wilson bench vise on a workbench about a year ago. It works beautifully - glides easily in and out to adjust the gross positions of the jaws. The outer jaw adjusts for odd-angled pieces, and the vise is sturdy when tightened down.
The only drawback was that the tightened cast iron jaws would imprint into wood and their surface was too slippery to hold some smaller items. I tried adding baltic birch jaw liners from an idea I had seen in an older wood working magazine.
The liners have 1/2" grooves routed vertically and laterally which help in holding odd-shaped items. The wood liners are less likely to imprint on any wood clamped in the vise and the surface of the unfinished plywood helps hold slippery items. I added two 3/4" rare earth magnets to the back of each liner to help hold it in place on the jaw face. So far I like the addition to the vise.



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