Knife Vise

[JawJacker]

Semi Based on Mr Wheeler's design.


I happen to see Nicks video on his vise, what a great simple idea. I looked around my shop for odds and ends to make something similar.


3''x3''x 3/8 plate
5'' long x 2'' in ID 1/4 thick tube steel ( good for 99.9% of the blades I make)
1'' thick rod dont remember how long.
2- 3/8 nuts and bolts, could have used one.


O'yeah, I'm no welder, just got a mig for Xmas.
I drilled a 3/8's hole in the center of the 3''X3'' plate tacked the rod, that looked good and held up to the bang-it test, but I decided to weld the outside around the rod to make sure. Welded the nuts on, this happen twice, I melted the first ones.


The jaw material is marine board with leather glued to it. Little paint, DONE. Thanks for sharing an idea of being able to rotate your work at any angle with ease.

 

[KenH]

You did good - and will find many uses for that vise.

 

[Eddie Mullins]

That is a very simple design, one of those duh why I didn't I think of that designs, its obvious after you see one. I think a couple short piece of scraps welded to those bolt heads to they could be tightened by hand would be about the only change I'd make. You may have given me a project for this weekend : ) .

 

[BonhamBlades]

awesome, thanks for sharing.

 

[wall e]

Looks good for not a welder beads. I
Another idea is tack some 3/8 wing nuts to the head of the bolt. Great idea thanks for sharing.

 

[JawJacker]

Thanks all, I don't see me needing another one but, I have the material. The next one will have the tube 1'' longer and recess the back plate into the tube, It'll look a lot cleaner.
Yup, might need bar stock on the bolt heads and go to a single 5/8 or 3/4 bolt. I dont know why I waited so long to buy a mig, now I got the welding bug.

 

[J. Doyle]

The only issue I see is for when you need to work on the fittings or handle of really long blades.

Oh, and I agree about welding some kind of 'T' handle on the bolts for quick and easy hand tightening.

Other than that, nice simplified creativity and workmanship.

 

[Self Made Knives]

I've watched Nick's videos on handle shaping (awesome) and looked real hard at his vise. Yours looks great! If you're open to suggestions and make another one like you mentioned, I'd probably change it up a little. As is, this looks to be a handle shaping vise only to me, at least the way I work. And, only really good for short blades. On the next one, instead of plugging the tube, weld your round rod on the bottom so any blade length can be pushed through to the hilt. I also really like a long bottom jaw that extends out 6" or so for support while hand sanding. Might make a second table for hand sanding that's interchangeable.

A long bottom table is also a safety feature. If you have a near finished blade sticking out of a vise, pointy end out, think about how easy it would be to forget about it for a second and back into it or a shop visitor not see it. If you've got the material and the time, I think we could all probably use two or three knife making vises of various designs to fit every situation. If you make another one, post pics, I'm always looking for new ideas!:1:

 

[JawJacker]

Anthony, Yes mostly handle work for this model. Nick also shows a shelf, made from angle with threaded bolts to support the blade. I made one works great.

John, I may keep the tube same length and weld flat stock on edge to the side of the square tube to accommodate long blades, and clamp the flat stock in the vise. (pics next week)
Thank you guys for the ideas.