I had a nice little project to do over the weekend. To build a Moxon vice from a kit that I'd had for a little while. The kit was bought from
WDS Components - Moxon vice hardware kit with ball handles (WDS 3600). They also do a more expensive
kit with wheels.
The kit comprise:
- 2 x M20 Cast Iron Double Ball Handles
- 2 x M20 Mild Steel Threaded Bar cut to length (L)
- 4 x M20 Mild Steel Nuts Blackodised
- 4 x M20 Mild Steel Washers Blackodised surface hardened
All of decent quality IMO.
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Yesterday I cut two boards I had into the rough shapes I needed and was able to do a test fit.
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Today I've finished off the two pieces and finished the vice.
The two boards were already milled to roughly the right size. I just needed to shorten them all. The main tasks were:
- Cut the boards to rough length. This was straightforward with a crosscut handsaw. I then reduced the width of one of the boards so that it matched the other. I did this with a scrub plane followed by a Record number 6 plane.
- Dill out the holes. I found I had an auger bit that roughly matched the diameter of the threaded bar. I drilled through the first board just far enough for the spur on the bit to pierce a small hole on the far side. I did this for both screw holes. I then used the small holes to mark up the position for the holes in the other board. I find cutting hole like this with a brace and auger very controllable and I can stop before exiting the far side and reverse the wood to cut the last part from the other side thereby avoiding tear-out.
- I drilled two larger holes outboard of the first two in the board that was to form the back board. I did them such that the bottom of the holes would be roughly one third of the board width. I then cut out the corner to leave a shoulder about one third the thickness of the board. I trimmed and cleaned up the shoulder and remaining quarter of the hole with a wide chisel, gouge and file.
- Keeping on the back board, I then marked out the shape of the nut around the screw holes on what would become the inner side. I found the best was to do this was to put the screw through the hole and then affix nuts either side. The nuts could then be tightened and would stay in place as I marked around then with a marking knife. I then removed the screw and nuts. I could then deepen the marked lines with a 1/2" chisel. I then cut a hexagonal hole. I knocked out the first centimetre or so with the chisel below. I sank the hexagonal section to the depth of the width of a nut, so that the nut would sit flush in the hole. I found a small router plane I'd bought recently perfect for getting a nice flat bottom of the hexagonal section of the hole
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- I got out my jack plane to cut a large chamfer along the upper outer edge of the outer board and tidied up with a smoothing plane.
- I then used a couple of gouges and a rat tail file to open up the holes in the outer board. I opened them out laterally and avoiding opening the holes vertically.
- I was then able to assemble the vice and check that the two boards came together nicely.
- Last task was to tidy up the boards with planes and scrappers and apply a finish (couple of coats of shellac, some boiled linseed oil and wax to finish.
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I'm really pleased with the results. It was all very straight forward. The WDS Components parts were easy to use and I'd recommend them to anyone wanting to build a Moxon vice without breaking the bank.
Of course the real test will come when I start using the vice in anger. I'll post again with notes about how I get along with it.
