vice jaw pads

Hi everyone, does anyone have any advice on the wisdom of purchasing magnetic vice pads?

I've just taken delivery of a 9" woodworking vice which I'll be installing this weekend and I'm turning my mind to fitting pads to the jaws.

I'm playing around with the idea of magnetic pads, but Amazon product reviews tend to complain about them being irritatingly fiddly due to not being sufficiently magnetic.

There's not much choice in Australia (as usual), though I did find some at Hare & Forbes who stock a 150mm magnetic pad . I'm tempted to buy two sets and cut one down to make a total run length that matches the jaw width.

Any other pad preferences or lessons learnt? Is it better to stay with plain old wooden pads instead of spending the cash on magnetic?

Regards, Stephen.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stephen H

Hi everyone, does anyone have any advice on the wisdom of purchasing magnetic vice pads?
I've just taken delivery of a 9" woodworking vice which I'll be installing this weekend and I'm turning my mind to fitting pads to the jaws.
I'm playing around with the idea of magnetic pads, but Amazon product reviews tend to complain about them being irritatingly fiddly due to not being sufficiently magnetic.
There's not much choice in Australia (as usual), though I did find some at Hare & Forbes who stock a 150mm magnetic pad . I'm tempted to buy two sets and cut one down to make a total run length that matches the jaw width.
Any other pad preferences or lessons learnt? Is it better to stay with plain old wooden pads instead of spending the cash on magnetic?
Regards, Stephen.

---

Better than either are rawhide leather jaws, They grip wood tightly with very little pressure and won't dent the surfaces of even soft woods. I just stuck mine on with a bit of contact. I'd say they are one of the best things I did on the woody side of my shed.

By the way this guy mounts his vice (a model that is very similar to mine) with the inside jaw slotted inside a cavity hollowed out of the bench apron. In effect the bench apron becomes the inside jaw of the vice.

Anyone tried that? I kinda like the look of it, but aside from that I'm not sure it provides any practical benefit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BobL

Better than either are rawhide leather jaws, They grip wood tightly with very little pressure and won't dent the surfaces of even soft woods. I just stuck mine on with a bit of contact. I'd say they are one of the best things I did on the woody side of my shed.

---

What kind of shop sells leather?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stephen H

What kind of shop sells leather?

---

(obviously aside from the shop that sells the leather g-strings I wear on weekends)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stephen H

What kind of shop sells leather?

---

This kind: http://www.leffler.com.au/ (First I could think of, but they're in Melbourne - you might be able to find someone closer.)

Just did a quick Google - here's one in Tas: http://leatherworker.net/pmd/categor...alia/tasmania/

Another option is balsa - when needed I just tape a couple of pieces of 10mm balsa onto my plywood vice jaw pads with masking tape. Like leather, it leaves no marks.

Just use timber my vice has tassie oak that my granfather fitted over 100 years ago

my wife went to look at some old horse riding gear, i asked her to look for something i could use as a strop and came back with a leather girth strap about 4ft long and 4" wide in good nick for $5, part of is now a strop, used it to face one side of my mallet and some will go on the vise with some left over:2tsup:

An old belt? I use wood that I cut to fit, on my vise. I may add a strip of leather to the wood. See how that works.

RE: Shop that sells leather.

I found a shop that makes motor cycle leathers and bought some offcuts for about about $20.
With this I lined 3 vices including this big one - you can also see the rear jaw on this one is slotted into the bench apron and my anti racking apparatus - the white thing.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...1&d=1196332470
plus I made liners for my lathe chucks, and still have stuff left over from it.

That anti racking device of Bobl's is a clever idea.
Consider it pinched, do I need to email royalties to anyone?:D

Alan...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stephen H

By the way this guy mounts his vice (a model that is very similar to mine) with the inside jaw slotted inside a cavity hollowed out of the bench apron. In effect the bench apron becomes the inside jaw of the vice.

Anyone tried that? I kinda like the look of it, but aside from that I'm not sure it provides any practical benefit.

---

That's basically how mine is done.

The vice rear jaw is recessed into the top then a side apron is attached to the top.

Can't find any photos of it just now.

Stephen,

Check this thread... last page there are a couple of photos on how it looks.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f213/bench-155985

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Uncle Al

That anti racking device of Bobl's is a clever idea.
Consider it pinched, do I need to email royalties to anyone?:D

Alan...

---

I can't remember where I saw this idea but I probably owe them royalties.
BTW The strips of wood are the leftovers from a set of wooden blinds that had to be cut to length.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stephen H

(obviously aside from the shop that sells the leather g-strings I wear on weekends)

---

I am not going to give details but was in a conversation with some people and one guy mention that he could wear his g-string when he takes the rubbish out? :o So I came back with a comment in reverse. :)(


It was a while before he got what I was talking about. :dunno: