[Q] Woden saw vice

[Fromey]

I saw a Woden saw vice on Friday and noticed something curious about it. When the jaws are closed and one looks down onto the top of the vice, the jaws are designed to have about a 1mm gap between them for most of the length. The jaws only touch each other at each end of the vice. This was clearly cast like this so is obviously the proper approach, but it made me wonder why. It means that when a saw is clamped into the vice, it will only be held at the ends of the vice and will be unsupported through the middle. Can anyone assure me that this is the way it should be? If so, I may well buy the vice, it was a reasonable price.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Ideally the blade should be supported along the whole length of the vice to as to prevent vibration of the blade as you file it.

Easy enough to make one - there's a good one in this LN video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F72FBPfr ... 64&index=6

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Fromey]

Thanks Paul. that's what I would have expected, but when I saw Woden had specifically designed it this way, I wondered why. Surely they should have known what they were doing. I looked at this vice carefully and it certainly didn't seem to be someone's modification of it, but was properly cast in the original. I wondered if it was supposed to have wooden cheeks fitted but there appeared to be no way to fix them on. Curious.

 

[Paul Chapman]

The only commercially available one I've read good reports about is the Gramercy from Tools for Working Wood http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/stor ... 2_Saw_Vise

But they are so easy to make that there seems little point in buying one.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[SurreyHills]

Fromey

Most of the older saw vices seem to have been designed with a slight concave curve to them.

The clamping mechanism is in the centre of the vice and this area therefore gets pulled in before the ends do. With the slight gap in the middle it should mean when tightened up the blade will be gripped along it's whole length.
Andy

 

[AndyT]

I've got an old cast iron one - no name on it - which is shaped the same, with a slight concavity along the length. I'm sure it's by design, in the same sort of way that a woodwork vice has a few degrees of camber on it. It tightens up just fine.

Your local junk shop is sounding rather good - I have a faint memory of driving through Frome about 20 years ago and seeing some old tools in a shop window - perhaps I should visit again!

 

[toolsntat]

Yes all the ones I have have a gap :wink:
Go for it 8) 8)

Andy