Vise With Adjustable Angle Jaws

[samhay]

Ok, fair point about positioning above the bench. But the parrot vice can easy be made to have tapered jaws - see my post earlier. It may not be as versatile as a pattern maker's vice, but it does do a pretty good job as a luther's vice.

 

[JohnPW]

At work, we have a green version of the Axminster vice mentioned in the second post, like this vice from Dictum:
https://www.dictum.com/en/vices/patternmaker-s-vice-705755
except the black thingy part that goes under the vice and on top of the bench looks much thinner than our version.

Works well enough for holding string instrument necks. The advantage of the design is the clamping force goes through the centre of the jaws at the vice screw (centre across the jaw width) whereas with convex loose jaws on a normal vice, the clamping force is at one end and not in line with the screw.

The jaws are lined with firm rubber which plays a big part in holding the workpiece without excessive force.

The vice also brings the workpiece up to a much more comfortable working height.

For us, it's pretty much an essential piece of workshop equipment.

 

[JohnPW]

I'd love a pattern maker's vice, but the one you linked to cost 10x a parrot vice. Also, for many operations it's helpful to have the vice above the bench so the guitar body can rest on the bench while you hold the neck in the vice, or more generally so you can hold stuff a bit higher for fiddly work.

I don't think the Emmert type of vice is of much use for instruments because, as you said, the vice needs to be on top of the bench so you can clamp the neck with the body or the other end of the neck supported on the bench.

 

[Orraloon]

OK last one I put up was not tapered although it was holding a guitar by the neck. This one is about as simple as it gets.
Make an Auxiliary Vise Jaw to Hold Awkward Pieces | Popular Woodworking Magazine
Regards
John

 

[PeteCo]

I have the Axminster pattern vise and it’s a great bit of kit for working on guitar necks - worth the money.