# Shop Made Bench Vice



## slickSqueegie

Hello all Im new here and wanted to say hello first..

I have been needing a bench vice for some time now. I have this 3'stick of 1" Acme threaded rod.
I did several searches and found no designs for a shop made vice so I made one. here it is.

I started by looking at store bought vices they seem straight forward enough.










I needed some way to enclose the nut solidly and stout! so I cut4 small blocks with the 30 degree angle and a top and bottom plate to glue the blocks to and enclose the setup.



























after that was glued up in (in two pieces top and bottom) I needed to cut the jaws for the vice. and drill holes to allow the rod and support dowels to attach to the front jaw only. on the inside jaw all three are slightly oversized to allow the sliding movement.
I also cut the back plate for the nut holding setup and the rear dowel attachment and drilled holes. the back plate does not get glued yet. but you can go ahead and attach the dowel rod to the rear support dowel attachment. 
I simply cut (with my bandsaw) 1 groove at the end of each dowel rod and used a wedge to secure it to the rear support with glue.









































































on to the handel.
I wasnt sure how to go about this one . I found one other person longknife on woodworking talk that did something similar (with excellent results) It seems he tapered the handel end of the rod and then cut crooves (like a tap) and tapped it in along with some epoxy. Its a great idea, luckily I had the acme tap as well so I turned a 3" cylinder about 4" long and drilled and tapped one end of it and then drilled for the sliding handel.




































While the handel is setting I glued the inside jaw to the nut holding assembly and the rear plate and attached the dowel to the front jaw. I wanted to be able to take it apart if need be so I did not glue it. I just used a small strip of stickey 340 grit sand paper on the end of each dowel. after tapping them into the hole I used the wedges again to hold it tight.
I also punched a 1" hole in 2 pieces of leather to make a washer to prevent the handel assembly doing damage to the front jaw.





































I will attach it to the bench today and take a few more pics.
Thanks for looking.


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## BarbS

Pretty nice little home-made vise. Did you get it attached it and actually use it yet? Great step-by-step photos, too.


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## a1Jim

Looks like that will get er done. good photo layout and details.


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## BrandonW

Nicely done! I'd love to know how well it works after you've used it for a few days, because this seems to be a very affordable option.


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## woodzy

Great work. I've been waiting for someone to do this. 
Excellent. Thanks for sharing your work.


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## olddutchman1

Very nice job, so far! My guess is that It works very well. The vice is something that I would like to build. I am just getting back to thinking about it, tho saddly, I may not be able to. I am disabled, and My condition does not improve. I did enjoy seeing some that are being built Thankyou for taking the pictures and have fun! that is the greatest pleasure You will get through Your lifetine. Remembering the build every thime You use it, or Your Children using it. Cherish that. Howard


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## Dakkar

Admirable work, Slick. I'm impressed with your method of holding the nuts. Please let us know how it works out. If it were me, I'd probably try to drill a couple of holes in the nut and pin it, but that might not be necessary the way you're doing it.


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