How To Make Soft Jaws For Your Vise
Classic Car Restoration Club EditorsDescription
The Bench Vise is an essential tool in any classic car garage, although the sharp teeth in the jaws can easily mar softer metals. Mark Simpson explains how to quickly build a set of soft jaws that can cover any vise.
Bench press is a very important tool for anybody working in the shop. Problem is, is they've got the serrated teeth that will grab into soft metals like aluminiums and brasses, so you wanna build yourself a set of soft jaws. Now, you could go out and buy a set, and the problem I have with the store bought ones is that guys tend to keep them too long. They figure they paid good money for them and they don't wanna part with them at that point, but it really doesn't take much to just fabricate yourself a set of soft jaws for your vice, and then you'll be able to hold fittings like aluminum and brass parts without scarring them up. And I've built a paper template that kinda shows that, what we're going to do here is we're going to take a piece of aluminum, we're gonna bend it, and then we're gonna form cut two tabs and those will be bent around the vice.
And those will hold the soft jaw in place while we're using the vice, and then it's just a matter of pulling up the tabs and you can take them off if you need the vice to hold something like some metal parts that won't be marred up. So, I've already started by, I take this piece of aluminum after making my template, pick this piece of aluminum and I've built my template. Using our aviation snips we'll cut these out. Cut this beefier area, we'll make a rough cut first. Now with that cut out, we move forward to actually installing a set of these.
As you can see, it's relatively easy to build a set, plant them in your vice. Okay, let me grab a hammer and then it's just a matter of forming these tabs. Over the jaws of your vice. Now you have a set of jaws that you can plant stuff in and when you're done with them, it's just a matter of pulling up the tabs. And you're back to your regular vice.
What gauge (thickness) range of aluminum do you recommend for fabricating these soft jaws?
Mark, Excellent, Thank you for showing how to make the soft jaws!!! Will be making a set very soon!!! Also Sir, I would be honored to have you change the oil in my car, anyday!!!
.what BS Won't play been looking at blank screen for 5 minutes
That was painful to watch. I don't think I'd let him change the oil in my car.