Daswulf Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Thought this might be worth sharing. Made this one many years ago. Took a bigger chunk of I-beam, drilled a hole off one side, threaded it for a bolt, and drilled an upper plate as a hold down. Basically a vise but can be used to hold stock in a flat plane. I've used this one to rough out or file blades. Even holds on the diamond profile. Upper plate is beveled on one edge to allow the grinding or filing of an angle. Top plate can be replaced or remade as needed. Just thought this might be useful to some to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Thats a pretty good idea. I don't have an actual vise so I can appreciate your ingenuity. I wish I would have taken a picture before it got destroyed by my neighbours but I didn't think about it. I don't have a lot of tools so I made a "vise" by screwing a piece of angle iron on each side of the top of a stump to capture the work and the base of a scissor jack. It worked surprisingly well. If it was pre set to the size of the stock I didn't lose too much heat fiddling around tightening it up. I don't know how long it would have held up but for the three or so months I had it it worked. Pnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerHeart Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 That's pretty slick man. I love looking back at my past creations. Sometimes it's nice to just step back and pay attention to how many unique tools for unique projects. Iv definitely done some make shift tools for certain jobs, and pnut I really like that vise you made, by the sound of it I believe it would have been a good one for a while. I wish I could have seen a picture or two before people had to come along and strip your work area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Yeah me too. I wish they would have just left well enough alone. It worked better than trying to use two crescent wrenches or pliers to make twists. Even good and hot twisting metal with two pairs of pliers is not fun. Pnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I remember seeing that in your shop a couple of years ago and thinking it was a cool idea, but it had slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 Sounds like a cool idea Pnut. I'm sure it would have held up, or just keep modifying. no problem John. Just remembered it last night and pulled it out. on a smaller piece of I-beam, you could cut off the bottom webbing so it mounts in a vise. Also could drill for mount plates in different areas for the job at hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I was just thinking about that vise-mounting idea myself, as well as the multiple mounting holes. Great minds think alike -- and so do ours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Thats a great idea. Lately I've been wondering how to hold a blade in a bench vise for draw filing..... having a jig like this would be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 For draw filing I like to have the blade supported along the entire length to avoid any flex while filing. I generally put a 1x4 on edge in the vise and then use 2 C clamps on the tang to that with the board and blade sticking out to the side---allows you to angle the file a lot too for bevels. The neotribal metalsmiths had some neat drawfiling clamps too. With the common and cheap nuts and bolts we are rather spoiled for easily made clamping jigs. I've tried using some of the old wedge clamp designs and really really like my vises! (Which is why my work benches have a 6" post vise on one corner and a 4" on another---and a separate 6" connected to the telephone pole that holds up the structure for heavy work.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 I could definitely see where something like what you mentioned would be better for drawfiling Thomas. You wouldnt want anything in the way and wouldn't have to reclamp 4 times, just flip when needed. With that I can imagine a few different jigs that would work well for that. There are some blade clamps out there people are making and selling that clamp the handle and can rotate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I have another trick up my sleeve too: I have a large floor standing drill press with a crank table on it and I have a large old machinist vise that will fasten to it. Using them I can position the item to be filed at the best height to work at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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