Shop Tips
Workshop Tip: Improvised vise uses common clamps
Mar 14, 2019
When I’m away from my workshop with a minimal tool kit, I use this improvised vise to hold workpieces tightly for joinery and other tasks. The wide rear jaw can be clamped to a tabletop or screwed to a workbench, and the front jaw is kept in alignment by two F-style clamps, which also provide the clamping pressure.
—Donald Miner, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Drawings: Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking #274
Fine Woodworking Recommended Products
Glue Bottle
My favorite glue bottle is a ketchup dispenser. Inexpensive and you can cut the tip to customize glue distribution. If you always put the cap back on, it never clogs.
Rockler Deluxe Panel Clamp
These clamps can handle glue-ups between 10 in. and 36 in. wide, and boards up to 3 in. thick. Sliding feet attach to the lower bars with magnets, letting you position them quickly for stability on any surface. The spring-loaded jaws adjust easily, dropping into notches along the bars. And the powerful clamp handles clear the benchtop.
Bessey K-Body Parallel-Jaw Clamp
The 3 3/4" deep parallel jaws allow for all types of clamping, from thin panels to joinery.
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Comments
One idea can lead to another, Put two boards together and made this tip part of my woodbench tools.
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