Saw sharpening vices

[woden]

Yet another prospective purchase I'm considering. Can you buy these new anywhere or do you have to/are advised to go for an old second hand one? I've seen a few with the name Paramo come up on ebay every so often. In my naivety I avoided these as the name gave me a feeling of something dodgy but I've just done a search here and apparently the make's on a par with Record. So I take it these are worth bidding on - provided everything works. Aside from Record and Paramo what other decent old makes are out there?

Away from the issue of branding what other things should you look out for when buying one of these vices? All the ones I've come across seem to clamp unto a table top or bench but is this arrangement secure or can you get ones that can be screwed/bolted in place?

As for the jaws, what sort of length is best? The longer the better or do you ideally need one with short jaws for backsaws and another with longer jaws for panel saws, etc.? I've seen one saw vice with rubber lining the jaws and am wondering if this provides a superior hold than the more common unlined metal jaws?

Finally, the mechanism for closing the jaws, this usually seems to be a lever but is this good at applying pressure or would a screw type set up be preferable?

 

[Paul Chapman]

The options are to buy one or make one yourself. These two links might help http://www.vintagesaws.com/cgi-bin/fram ... /vise.html

http://www.norsewoodsmith.com/index.html

Alf will no doubt be along with more information - she made a very nice one :wink:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[MikeW]

Old saw vises are better if only because they are less expensive--but only if they are in good condition and close well along their length. If they don't close fully, one can recondition it. Best to buy one from someone who you trust, or being able to check it yourself. eBay is a crapshoot on saw vises. If you go the eBay route, make sure to ask the seller if it closes tightly along its length and if it has been repaired.

Even if repaired (I have one I brazed and bought one which had been), they can still work fine. How well it closes is the bigger issue.

ECE still makes a metal one I believe. Or maybe it is Kunz. The one brought to a class I taught worked fine.

Take care, Mike

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Dieter Schmid have one here - but at 104 euros (can't remember if that's including German VAT or not) certainly worth looking for S/H[/url]

 

[Alf]

I dunno; every time I've set to to reply to this I've been called away for something. Fourth time lucky...

In my limited experience saw vices of the old, commercial metal variety aren't that common this side of the 'Lantic, and assuming I'd never see one I had no hesitation in building my own. Took a couple of revisions to get it working okay (and probably a couple more if I wanted to be more efficient, to be honest) but as it is it does a good job. Ideally, for large saws, I think the long jawed saw chop variety (there's another one here) are probably better, but I simply don't have the room to store one.



Changes made: more cut away to allow for back saws with less meat under the handle and softwood jaws angled to toe-in at the top. The softwood seems to give a better grip even than leather, which is what I tried first - but then B&Q's famous spongy softwood is probably just a bit soggier than leather... :wink:

Things I'd change: a quick release clamping mechanism instead of the bolt (too slow) and a means of holding it on the bench other than the front vice. At the moment the bolt just holds it while I level it up in the vice; with the vice tightened up it bears on the uprights and tightens the grip beyond that of the bolt (and beyond what's necessary) so loosening the blade to move it means removing the whole shebang from the front vice every time. #-o

Quite by chance I happened upon a Disston D3 last year and now use and prefer that instead, but then it does have the desirable longer jaw so perhaps more common, less desirable designs may not be such an improvement, I don't know.



Heck, I'd gloat but I didn't even know it was gloat-worthy (beyond just being "wow, a saw vice!") until I got home and looked it up. The wooden one is still a more than adequate alternative to buying though, fwiw.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Mirboo]

Wow, a Disston No. 3. I'm not envious at all.

 

[kees]

Old saw vises are better if only because they are less expensive--but only if they are in good condition and close well along their length. If they don't close fully, one can recondition it. Best to buy one from someone who you trust, or being able to check it yourself. eBay is a crapshoot on saw vises. If you go the eBay route, make sure to ask the seller if it closes tightly along its length and if it has been repaired.

Even if repaired (I have one I brazed and bought one which had been), they can still work fine. How well it closes is the bigger issue.

ECE still makes a metal one I believe. Or maybe it is Kunz. The one brought to a class I taught worked fine.

Take care, Mike

what about the vise Leevalley is/was selling, a japanese brand?

btw: I missed the instruction-dvd in in my "connoisseur's set"

 

[JesseM]

Alf or any others,

Does the wooden vise dampen down vibrations? It seems that my current metal vise makes a lot of vibrational noise, and am not sure what to do to tune it up. Its a noname ebay brand with fairly wide jaws :lol:

 

[bugbear]

In my limited experience saw vices of the old, commercial metal variety aren't that common this side of the 'Lantic,

Agreed. Mine came from A Tony Murland auction at a non gloatable price.

Things I'd change: a quick release clamping mechanism instead of the bolt (too slow)

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... 3455,52799

and a means of holding it on the bench other than the front vice.

If the rear jaw were made longer, and extended below the hinge, the bench vice could hold the rear jaw permanently, while the cam was used to hold/release the saw.

BugBear

 

[Alf]

Jesse, sounds like possibly the jaws aren't bearing on the blade properly? Are they lined with anything? That can make a big difference. Someone like Mike who's seen 3000% more metal vices than I is better qualified I think; between the Disston and the wooden version the Disston definitely has the dampening edge fwiw.

BB, yeah, that cam clamp would be just the ticket - somewhere or other I have a plan for another alternative. Trouble is the incentive has rather disappeared now. #-o Same reason I haven't modified the holding method. Oh well, it took me ages to get round to modifying the jaws so it's always been something of a slow evolution...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Jake]

Things I'd change: a quick release clamping mechanism instead of the bolt (too slow)

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... 3455,52799

More evidence that someone at Veritas is a cyclist, first a stem clamp, now a QR wheel/seat post clamp.

 

[JesseM]

Jesse, sounds like possibly the jaws aren't bearing on the blade properly? Are they lined with anything? That can make a big difference. Someone like Mike who's seen 3000% more metal vices than I is better qualified I think; between the Disston and the wooden version the Disston definitely has the dampening edge fwiw.
Cheers, Alf

The jaws seem lined up. It seems like the whole assembly above the pivot vibrates. I've got a couple of other vices I haven't tried yet. I may give those a go and see if they're any different.

 

[woden]

Some great info on this thread, thanks. That wooden effort looks good Alf even though as you explain it must be a bit slow to clamp without a lever mechanism.

MikeW, I'll remember that advice about checking if the thing clamps all the way along it's length next time I go to bid on one.

As for dampening vibrations, it's suprising that the manufacturers in days gone by didn't line the jaws with leather or something.


Ps. What makes the Diston D3 saw vice superior to other oldies on offer? Is it that the casting is heavier or some other feature?

 

[Joel Moskowitz]

As for dampening vibrations, it's suprising that the manufacturers in days gone by didn't line the jaws with leather or something.

Ps. What makes the Diston D3 saw vice superior to other oldies on offer? Is it that the casting is heavier or some other feature?

the best saw vises clamp down solid on the blade. having a lining would give the blade a little flex. The only saw vise I used with a line - the Somax with a rubber lining - sucked. I can say the bigger and heavier the saw vise the better it seems to be - If the jaws line up. proper saw vises have slightly concave jaws that when you tighten up bend and tighten up against the saw. but on alot of old vises the jaws are just in crappy shape and need a little work.

 

[Harbo]

For those desperate to own a metal saw vice there is a couple on Ebay at the moment incl. a Disston 4 - the down side is that the shipping cost to the UK would be $140!!

Rod

 

[Harbo]

I see one of our members bought the Disston 4 saw vice on the Bay.

Will say nothing about the price. :roll:

Rod

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Ah, well. A fool and his money...
Shipping wasn't too bad, though
Now I just need to try and get my bidding finger to bed before it see the Paul Hamler.