Thread: Saw Vise

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Hi all. A while ago, I made a fairly basic saw vise and based it on the biggest saws I had. It has, and will continue to, serve me well. But as my collection of backsaws grows (and my creative juices are stirred up), I have been slowly putting together the pieces for the saw vise as you see below. Today, I got the chance to finally asemble it. One blog suggested using screws so that things can easily be replaced and I followed that "advice." I still have things to refine further, but I am chuffed at progress so far. It is not even ready for my "studio" shot on the white background [emoji12].



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Well,done MA.

I’m going too assume(I actually hate that word) but will the locking thread bar thingy get a cut eventually,

Also looks like you made your own wooden hinge, I’m awarding extra points for that.

How’s it work, any feed back from sharpening a saw,

An when will the Studio shots be ready [emoji6].

Cheers Matt.

Hi Matt. Cut the thread shorter straight after I took the photo . Yes, also made my first wooden hinge but really just a pivot point. All I did on the saw in the photo was set the teeth, I had sharpened it a little while ago (after fixing it up) but it was binding. The handle is a bit long but it does make it easy to turn. I need to finish it and then "finish" it before getting swarf all over it.

I guess it's co-evolution and the job it has to do, MA, but we came up with remarkably similar products:

backsaw vise.jpg

Mine is version # 3, I think, and has one refinement prompted by earlier experiences, and that is a couple of wooden jaw inserts like the inserts on metal vises:

SV1.jpg

I found with earlier versions that if you use a single screw in the centre like this, the jaws needed to be slightly "sprung" so that they clamp evenly along the saw when tightened. Wood being wood, the stuff moves & I had to adjust the jaws several times on earlier versions to maintain the right amount of pressure. I decided a couple of inserts would be easier to maintain than a full jaw widths. So far that seems to work and I have only had to adjust the thing once since I made it (at least 10 years ago).

The problem we all have with wooden jaws is getting the ends fine enough to fit over handles - it's a compromise between getting them to clamp as much of the blade as you can without making them too flimsy. With my very small saws there just isn't enough blade clear of handle so I can't grip the last 25-30mm. It's a case of taking the handle off or clamping some bits of wood on the 'free' part from below, or put up with some file screeching & not very satisfactory teeth at that part (which get little or no use anyway). The choice is made depending on how I feel on the day or how much of a hurry I'm in....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

I found with earlier versions that if you use a single screw in the centre like this, the jaws needed to be slightly "sprung" so that they clamp evenly along the saw when tightened. Wood being wood, the stuff moves & I had to adjust the jaws several times on earlier versions to maintain the right amount of pressure. I decided a couple of inserts would be easier to maintain than a full jaw widths. So far that seems to work and I have only had to adjust the thing once since I made it (at least 10 years ago).


Cheers,

Ian

That is a good fix. I think we have discussed before that with a single tightening point (centre screw) the jaws need to be concave on the inside and that is easier to achieve with your removable jaws. If a fixing point is at either end, a convex jaw is needed to apply pressure in the centre.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

[emoji12].



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MA

That looks good and is fine for setting the saw where it may need to be high, particularly if you are using a pistol grip set (I see an eclipse type on the bench which does not neethe saw to be quite as high

Ian has mentioned that you may need to refine the cutout at the handle end so you can slide the plate further into the vice. The alternative is to live with a little bit of "chatter" as you file.

Regards
Paul

Thanks Ian and Paul. I did plane a hollow along the jaws and am very happy with the grip. It is amazing how much pressure can be applied with the wooden screw (which is made from my namesake or at least a like species). The colour variation between the nut and the screw comes from using mineral oil when cutting the thread but it was still a little "chippy". The rest is made from Oregon (I should probably switch to calling it Douglas Fir), most of which is run with a "vertical grain" - a term I see cropping up now and then, almost exclusively used for DF, but I'm sure is only quarter sawn wood?

Setting the teeth using the #77 meant I had to have the saw sitting that high and with one more sharpen I don't think I will be able to reset the teeth under the handle anymore. I will play around with the ends of the jaws a little more. I also realised how ratty the split nuts look.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

....The rest is made from Oregon (I should probably switch to calling it Douglas Fir).....

"Oregon pine" seems to have been an exclusively Australian moniker for Pseudotsuga menziesi. When I called it "Oregon" in Canada, the locals were mystified. Oregon is just one of many states the tree grows in, it ranges from British Columbia to Arizona so why we opted to name it for that state, goodness knows! It's not a pine, & in fact it's not even a fir botanically speaking, it sits in its own little niche in the conifer families, a relict of evolution & past climatic events.

I used to note some grand examples along the road from Vancouver to Calgary - I wonder if they are still there?

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

....Setting the teeth using the #77 meant I had to have the saw sitting that high and with one more sharpen I don't think I will be able to reset the teeth under the handle anymore. I will play around with the ends of the jaws a little more. I also realised how ratty the split nuts look.

I thought you just had the saw sitting there for the picture! Yes, it would be way too high for me, I have the saw sitting with the teeth barely above the jaws, which is why you'll see a lot of file strikes on the jaws of my saw vises. At least I can replace the inserts if they get too ratty ....(maybe).

I did notice the nuts were sitting a bit proud on your handle. Have you run out of thread on the bolts? It can happen easily, the thread on those bolts is barely enough when new so you can easily run out if you need to set the nuts in further. It's also some orphan thread they typically used, so good luck finding a die that would cut more thread if you needed to!

It's a pain having to remove handles to sharpen small saws. One of the advantages of the later sleeve nuts is they are so much easier to remove without risk of damage to the slots...

PS. Meant to say, I'm sure an 'Eclipse' style set would manage to set teeth much closer to the handle than on that saw, but if it's a 77 you shouldn't be setting the teeth in any case???

Cheers,