VICE JAWS

[Bob1]

My new very old Record vice is now fitted to my work bench but I need to fit some wood over the jaws.
Why does everybody seem to fit hard wood? Surely soft wood is better so as not to damage any work held between the jaws.

 

[RogerP]

I assume we're talking of mechanic's or engineer's vices which have serrated faced jaws. It's normal to fit fibre, hard rubber or hardwood jaws when it's important not to mark the metal being held. I don't think softwood would have any advantage except perhaps if you're thinking of using it to hold wood, but then you'd be much better off using a woodworker's vice.

 

[bugbear]

I assume we're talking of mechanic's or engineer's vices which have serrated faced jaws. It's normal to fit fibre, hard rubber or hardwood jaws when it's important not to mark the metal being held. I don't think softwood would have any advantage except perhaps if you're thinking of using it to hold wood, but then you'd be much better off using a woodworker's vice.

I suspect it's this Record 52E woodworking vice.

screws-for-record-vice-t92353.html

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I presumed he meant a woodworker's one.

 

[RogerP]

Ah right! My mistook Which vice is it Bob?

I use beech faces on my 52 !/2, doesn't seem to mark the wood being held.

 

[AndyT]

I used oak on my ww vice - for strength - and I think that is the reason why hardwood is generally recommended. If I had used ordinary softwood, it would be likely to split if I clamped something small which put pressure at one point, or pull off the screws, if you use screws.

I can see that in theory something soft on the surface would look sensible (and some people glue a layer of leather onto the wood) but there is some risk of bits of grit sticking into a soft surface and making things worse.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Oak and Leather for me. It feels.....very British!!

And it works well.

I take the point about grit getting embedded but if I'm putting anything that shouldn't be marked in the vice I give it a quick wipe with my hand to check.

 

[Bob1]

I assume we're talking of mechanic's or engineer's vices which have serrated faced jaws. It's normal to fit fibre, hard rubber or hardwood jaws when it's important not to mark the metal being held. I don't think softwood would have any advantage except perhaps if you're thinking of using it to hold wood, but then you'd be much better off using a woodworker's vice.

I suspect it's this Record 52E woodworking vice.

screws-for-record-vice-t92353.html

BugBear

Correct it is a 52E woodworking vice!

Bob

 

[Wizard9999]

Oak and Leather for me. It feels.....very British!!

like it!

 

[Mike-W]

I have a Veritas twin screw vice with the jaws made from wood, i sometimes need to adjust each side of the jaw separately as the vice can rack, i.e. it dose not grip with even pressure across the full width of the vice.
I visited Workshop Heaven last week and while there tried a couple of planes Matthew is marketing, he had a sheet of 'Workshop leather' draped across the back jaw which griped the piece of wood in the vice was tightened up.
When planing i normally put the piece on the bench top with a stop at the far end of the bench, planing deep narrow boards is more of a problem as the piece will not stand up on a bench top when planing, so I tried the idea of clamping the board against a piece of leather in my vice at home, it worked really well, a very useful tip! (look at his website - he lists this as one of its many uses).

BW
Mike

 

[condeesteso]

Ah, the 52E - a classic, excellent vices (I find the 9" too clunky). I use hardwood probably because it may last longer, and I always have plenty of scrap around. Given the areas in contact provided the faces are clean then it shouldn't mar the workpiece, but putting leather on one face is a popular add-on - the combo of wood one side, leather the other works very nicely.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I use 3/4" birch ply on mine. It wears well and I don't have any marring problems.

 

[dickm]

+1 for ply, especially if taken beyond the steel part of the jaw. "Normal" timber tends to split along the grain adjoining the metal edge. But 1/2" probably plenty thick enough.

 

[ColeyS1]

I used oak on mine and wish I'd chosen something softer. It's fairly worn in now so doesnt seem to the mark the stuff I'm holding

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Mike,

I have a Veritas twin screw vice with the jaws made from wood, i sometimes need to adjust each side of the jaw separately as the vice can rack, i.e. it does not grip with even pressure across the full width of the vice.

Is this a known problem?

Neil

 

[Mike-W]

I don't consider this a fault, the reality is that in my case with twin screws set 17" apart if i tighten the vice up hard, particularly if i have a short board that i need to plane (say 10" long) the "pinching" on one end of the vice is likely to be more than the other end, it is posable to disengage the chain drive between the two screws and nip up each side independently, tightening up one side tends to loosen up the other so its a bit of fiddle to get the grip right, hence i think a 3mm thick piece of leather between one of the jaws and the work-piece is a very good solution, the suede at 20" long is about the right length to span the full width of the inside jaw on my vice.
Much quicker than adjusting both screws on the vice .

BW
Mike