I
am about to begin my next build, and it has 8 drawers. As many of you
know, I like making drawers ... complex drawers. And these ones are
no exception.[
It got me thinking about the improvements I'd
like to make to my Moxon vise. I have plans to make a new Moxon vise,
using steel screws and iron wheels ala BenchCrafted, and all the
parts are waiting in my workshop. But they will wait until this build
is completed. And so I decided to modify the Moxon vise I have been
using for the past 8 years.
The Moxon vise is not simply
about holding a board to saw dovetails. It is also about holding two
boards together to transfer the tails to the pin board.
In
regard to the holding-to-transfer, David Barron designed a useful
jig, a dovetail alignment board ...
The
issue I have with this is that I do not want another appliance to add
to the ones I already have. But I like the idea, and wanted to
incorporate it.
To cut to the chase, here is my modified Moxon
vise ....
The
first item is the ledge at the rear, which is covered in non-slip.
The non-slip is for stair treads. The ledge is an idea taken from
Joel Moskowitz (Tools for Working Wood), and is intended to use with
a clamp when the tail board may need to be clamped. I have used
clamps in the past, and so I know it is a good idea.
Where
this ledge differs is that it has a raised, hinged section, that
places the tail board 16mm above the chop. This was also present on
my previous
version ...
This
allows the higher section to be folded out of the way when sawing
...
The
reason for this is that a coplanar top surface will lead to the chop
being marked up by the knife when transferring the tails. This is the
reason I recommend that the Moxon vise does not receive a table at
the rear. It is why I prefer instead to raise the work piece up
higher than the chop, out of harms way. The rear of the board is
supported by the "I-beam" (which can be seen in the
photos.
The
inside of the chop and the vise face are now covered by a material
made from a composite of cork and rubber. BenchCrafted sell this as
"crubber". I researched it on the 'Net and purchased a
large piece on eBay.
Note
above that there are dados in the chop and the face. The dado in the
face has a recessed rare earth magnet.
I had an idea to
make an integral, but removable alignment fence. This is a steel
angle faced with hardwood ...
It
slots into the dado, and is held firmly ...
And
then is used in the same manner as an alignment board ...
I
hope this can be used by others.
Regards from Perth
Derek
May 2019