Thread: Making a simple wooden flat vise using butterfly screws

Its pretty simple, but its not much of a vise, more just a 'STEADY'.

The bit with the butterfly nuts showing is the moving jaw, the nuts & bolts tighten it against the biggest board so that friction holds it in place. The other, narrower jaw is glued and screwed or nailed to the biggest board - it also looks to have a length of some sort of foam glued to it - possibly 'blown aluminium silicate' or other asbestos sheet substitute - it really should be on both jaws to stop then from charring from heat transmitted by the job being soldered - or a wavering torch.

You probably should look at making it out of plywood, although you can probably get away with just about any 'real' timber - MDF or chip board is cheap, heavy and may not last too long before needing to be remade.

Buy a packet of 'carriage bolts' ( 1/4", 6mm or larger) that are 2.5 to 3 times longer than the thickness of your boards, plus a packet of butterfly nuts and a packet of washers. (You may be lucky & find an old fashioned hardware store that sells individually ) Carriage bolts have domed heads with a short square bit under the dome to stop them rotating - just bang them into place with a hammer. If you can't get carriage bolts (not carriage screws aka lag bolts which are coarse wood screws with a hex head) you can use regular bolts but you will have to made a shallow matching hole in the timber to stop the head rotating using a chisel.

You need one length that is 2 x 'y' wide and two lengths that are only 'y' wide, all about the same length. Glue and clamp one narrow bit to the big bit so that one edge of each is level - You will probably need to drill a couple of narrow starter holes for the screws (or nails). Let the glue dry, preferably over night.

Place the moveable narrow piece with one edge against the fixed narrow bit & clamp it in place. Drill right through the moving jaw and the backing board, then move the narrow bit to make the biggest gap you are going to need (allow for the insulating strip too) then drill through the same holes in the back board into the front board, then join up the holes in the front board with a chisel, jig saw, coping saw or whatever - if you are using hand tools you might want to make a few extra holes.

Paint is very optional - it smells worse than scorching timber. You may also want to glue a strip of sandpaper to the back of the moving board to increase the friction when its tightened.

Thank you!! I understood almost everything you said...lol but not all of it ..I'm quoting the hardest bit..

Place the moveable narrow piece with one edge against the fixed narrow bit & clamp it in place. Drill right through the moving jaw and the backing board, then move the narrow bit to make the biggest gap you are going to need (allow for the insulating strip too) then drill through the same holes in the back board into the front board

you say drill thru both of the boards right? I don't understand why, I thought the bolts should just scrape against the lower wood. Pls bear with me and explain again if you have the patience.

thanks again!