making soft vise jaws

[0.511MeV]

I'm looking for some ideas on making a set of soft vise jaws. I bought a Ridgid F50 vise and it has some hardened jaws with really aggressive teeth that will ruin just about anything.

I tried using some scrap Al angle, but I need some method of keeping it in place.

Ideas?

 

[thinmac]

Same way the others stay in place. Drill holes, countersink them, and bolt them into the existing holes.

I've made a bunch of specialty jaws this way. My girlfriend just made a set to hold spheres for drilling them on the drill press with a couple of slices of pipe.

 

[RV77]

go to any hardware store and get the plastic/rubber jaw inserts.I found a pair at lowes that have little magnets in them to hold them in the vice.

very handy for the soft jobs.

 

[0.511MeV]

Same way the others stay in place. Drill holes, countersink them, and bolt them into the existing holes.

I've made a bunch of specialty jaws this way. My girlfriend just made a set to hold spheres for drilling them on the drill press with a couple of slices of pipe.

I should have explained better. The Ridgid vise is steel, not cast iron. The jaws are simply a hardened then machined area of the vise, not separate pieces. So there are no existing holes to use, and I'd rather not drill holes and run the risk of voiding the warranty.

 

[Stooge]

I had to make a set for a cam action vice in my last dept to fixture up powder coated housings for assembly. Ended up just buying some sections of 3/4" thick nylon strips, drilling some holes in the backside, threaded a helicoil into them as not to strip out the nylon as quickly and just bolted them in from the back so there is a completely smooth face. That was about 2yrs ago and has been used thousands of times, (was adopted into an assembly line) and is still using the original nylon "plates" without any issues. If you just want some quick change faces, I had some thin copper pieces I bent at 90* and and left the top piece long enough to give it some leverage to stay in place over the serrated faces. Was soft enough to keep from damaging anything and could be removed to expose the face underneath.

 

[Davefr]

I'm looking for some ideas on making a set of soft vise jaws. I bought a Ridgid F50 vise and it has some hardened jaws with really aggressive teeth that will ruin just about anything.

I tried using some scrap Al angle, but I need some method of keeping it in place.

Ideas?

Either buy some Wilton Jaw Caps or make your own by embedding strong magnets in the aluminum.

 

[sawbuck]

I used a chunk of brass ...1 in.x 1/2 in. drilled and counter sunk the screws ...did the same on another vise ..with a copper bar 1x 1/4 ...works and looks good too.

 

[JJThrasher]

At school we'd take some aluminum flat bar stock, cut them to length and hammer to fit. Nothing really held them in place, they'd just hang there after you hammered them to fit.

 

[larry_g]

there are also copper jaws that slip over your existing jaws, copper jaws You bend the fingers around the vise jaw to hold them on place. Google copper vise jaw

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Aura]

I brought home some shower enclosure trimmings about 6" X 6" and held them in the vice one at a time. with one in the vice, gripped by the jaws, hanging past the bottom of the jaw about a half inch I took my heat gun, warmed up the plastic and formed it around the top of the jaw and vice & around the sides. the plastic is like 1/8" PVC. They work OK for me but if your not cutting shower enclosures you may have to source your stuff somewhere else. Hobby store? (Do they still have those)?

 

[JeremyManning]

I made some out of magnet tape and red gasket material that we had at work, they stick well and were cheap

 

[PCO6]

... Ideas?

I saved this picture thinking that I may want to make a pair one day.

 

[KMScott]

If you have a drill press then making soft jaws are not that difficult, but you would need a few tools to make the job easier. Tonight I found a bar of aluminum, cut out a pair and marked a set for my old 4-1/2 Wilton. The tools needed is a set of Transfer screws, 1/64 over size drill bit, a counter bore tool or a counter sink bit and a drill press. you can find the transfer screws on e-bay, the counter bore tool is for the socket head cap screws or fillister head screws, or you can use a counter sink (82 degree) for flat head screws, but keep in mind you will have to be more accurate drilling the holes if you use flat head screws.

First step after cutting the stock to length is sanding or filing the bar stock smooth to get rid of the burrs. Add the transfer screws to your vise and leave the point out enough to mark your stock but in far enough to not bottom out material to the transfer screws. Align the jaws evenly left to right and close the vise jaws to mark the screw holes. On your drill press use a small to medium size center drill (#1 or #2) to really mark the location, remember the center drill will find the punch mark from the center screws if your drill press vise will slide easy, I do not use a vise for spotting the punch marks with the center drill. Your drill will locate in the center drill marks and your counter bore or counter sink cutter will follow the drilled hole. The aluminum I used is not the same height and should be 3/4 high in stead of 1 inch. I have a 4 1/2 disk sander that would rip the aluminum down pretty quick.

I wrote a article on a vise site I built if you are interested in building quality jaws, but you would need a Bridgeport type machine to do it right. here is the link. Kevin

http://wiltonbenchvise.com/vise-jaws/building-wilton-vise-jaws

 

[k-os]

If you have a drill press then making soft jaws are not that difficult, but you would need a few tools to make the job easier. Tonight I found a bar of aluminum, cut out a pair and marked a set for my old 4-1/2 Wilton. The tools needed is a set of Transfer screws, 1/64 over size drill bit, a counter bore tool or a counter sink bit and a drill press. you can find the transfer screws on e-bay, the counter bore tool is for the socket head cap screws or fillister head screws, or you can use a counter sink (82 degree) for flat head screws, but keep in mind you will have to be more accurate drilling the holes if you use flat head screws.

First step after cutting the stock to length is sanding or filing the bar stock smooth to get rid of the burrs. Add the transfer screws to your vise and leave the point out enough to mark your stock but in far enough to not bottom out material to the transfer screws. Align the jaws evenly left to right and close the vise jaws to mark the screw holes. On your drill press use a small to medium size center drill (#1 or #2) to really mark the location, remember the center drill will find the punch mark from the center screws if your drill press vise will slide easy, I do not use a vise for spotting the punch marks with the center drill. Your drill will locate in the center drill marks and your counter bore or counter sink cutter will follow the drilled hole. The aluminum I used is not the same height and should be 3/4 high in stead of 1 inch. I have a 4 1/2 disk sander that would rip the aluminum down pretty quick.

I wrote a article on a vise site I built if you are interested in building quality jaws, but you would need a Bridgeport type machine to do it right. here is the link. Kevin

http://wiltonbenchvise.com/vise-jaws/building-wilton-vise-jaws

Definitely an informative post, but as the OP mentioned his jaws are steel and part of the main body of the vise. No bolted and removable jaws on his.

 

[nanofrog]

Strip magnet (flexible stuff used inside refrigerator door seals & can be had in rolls) epoxied to the aluminum angle you have might do what you need (or insert brass, copper, even leather for the aluminum as needed, depending on what you're working with).

 

[Outlawmws]

If it is soft (not hardened ) Aluminum, make the angles longer than needed, notch the ends and bend each side over to keep it from sliding sideways.

If they still want to fall off, some mounting clay will do the job as well to temp hold them during setup.

 

[0.511MeV]

This appears to be one of those times when the solution was incredibly obvious and waving wildly at me, but I just looked right past it.

The magnets are such an easy idea, and I just wasn't thinking of them. Thanks for the help.

 

[Plump]

Stolen.

I made some out of magnet tape and red gasket material that we had at work, they stick well and were cheap

 

[helm]

How soft do you want? Back in the day, we had a steel vise we used for wood working. We used jaws made from plywood (similar to those shown in PCO6's post) and glued old inner tube on the faces so they didn't damage pieces of wood. For metal working we just lifted them off.

 

[Brad54]

I used a piece of 2-inch angle, 1/4-inch thick.
With the flanges 2-inches long, it lays back over the top of the vise jaws a good long way.
I closed the vise with both of them in it to hold them in place. Then I took a 5-pound hammer and tamped the corners down to the contour of the top of the jaws.
Then I took my letter punch set and marked them "Front" and "Rear"

Open the jaws, drop the covers in place, and they stay because they're fitted to the top of the casting.

-Brad

 

[Outlawmws]

Lead soft jaws:

Wood Soft jaws:

 

[91bronc300]

To each their own but I don't like jaw covers that are molded over like that. I would use the Ridgid for things you really need to smash down on and that leaving teeth marks on doesn't matter and then get a second vise with removable jaws and make a set out of something softer. I prefer copper.

 

[0.511MeV]

To each their own but I don't like jaw covers that are molded over like that. I would use the Ridgid for things you really need to smash down on and that leaving teeth marks on doesn't matter and then get a second vise with removable jaws and make a set out of something softer. I prefer copper.

This seems like reasonable advice, but I am struggling to come up with situations where it doesn't matter if I damage the part. I use my vise primarily for holding things while I file, sand, grind, shape, etc or occasionally for holding work while I tap a hole, or if I'm making something less precise, if I need to hand drill a hole.