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Thread: Soft Jaws.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,436

    Thumbs up Soft Jaws.

    Hi Guys,

    I cut up a piece of aluminium plate the other day and was left with a 72 mm long by 40 mm wide off cut of 10 mm thick plate. I don't like just throwing material in the scrap bin, so I looked around for a use for it. Then it occurred to me that I'm always putting soft jaw covers on the 3" Parmo vise ! Why not make a set of replacement jaws out of this piece of aluminium. Ok they would be about three or four mm short, but that wont make a lot of difference.

    So I cut the piece in half length ways on the bandsaw, clamped them in the mill vise and cleaned the two pieces up. I used one of the existing vise jaws as a template, by gluing all three pieces together with superglue and drilling both pieces of aluminium together with a 5.5 mm drill. After cracking them apart, actually I just banged them down hard on the top of the vise, I countersunk all the holes on one side to suit the screws. After fitting them to the vise this is the result. They are a bit taller than the original hard jaws but no matter.

    13-01-2020=001.jpg 13-01-2020=002.jpg 13-01-2020=003.jpg
    Before and after. My new vise soft jaws. You can see one of the old bits of aluminium angle that I was using before at the very top of the last picture.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Geelong, Australia
    Age
    57
    Posts
    2,651

    Default

    Good stuff. And plenty of thickness to be able to dress them up when they get a bit tired.

    Steve

  3. #3
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,182

    Default

    Nice Job BJ.

    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    Hi Guys,
    I cut up a piece of aluminium plate the other day and was left with a 72 mm long by 40 mm wide off cut of 10 mm thick plate. I don't like just throwing material in the scrap bin. . . .
    Something like that would never get thrown out by me, . . . . well not immediately anyway.

    I have a number of boxes for scrap pieces, 1 for longish pieces of regular steel and 2 for short (round and non-round), one for SS, one for Al and one for other non ferrous (Cu, brass, lead etc) Every now and then when they get too full I do a cull and dispose of pieces I reckon I am most unlikely to use in the foreseeable future. Of course occasionally I have disposed of a piece that I could have used not long after they have been thrown out.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    NSW
    Posts
    586

    Default

    Good hustle- I built a pair of soft jaws for the record#3 i refurbished last year.
    Unfortunately I had to use a file and a flap disc to get the final finish, not having a mill...

    Have not used them in anger just yet, as I am modifying the bench it sits on to allow independently adjustable legs. The joys of a dodgy 1960's vintage home built tin shed.

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