# Moxon vise



## Zircon (Aug 1, 2009)

Here is my take on a Moxon vise I just made. The hardware is from a repurposed tool to compress the spring in a MacPherson strut. It consists of two heavy acme screws, nuts, washers and various castings. I recommend if anyone wants to build a vise that they pick up this tool to use for parts. It's available in the twenty dollar range at auto parts stores and HF has it for $15. the alternative is vise hardware from a Rockler or Woodcraft which is in the $100 to $200 range.

I included a photo of the back of the vise which shows how the nut is held in place. Instead of sinking it into the wood, an angle bracket is held tight against the flat of the nut and the front of the bracket is cut and bent down to hold the nut against the wood.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Nice!*

There you go, thinking outside the box, and saving big $$$. Some welding required on the nuts? Does it slide or do you have to tighten the nuts to change the position?


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## mengtian (Nov 8, 2012)

Good idea. It looks nice and functional. 
My next Moxon vise I am going to use the ends of an old barbell (they have acme threads!). The one I did used standard threads and it works fine..

We need to have a "Homemade Vise Thread".


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## Zircon (Aug 1, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> There you go, thinking outside the box, and saving big $$$. Some welding required on the nuts? Does it slide or do you have to tighten the nuts to change the position?


Thanks for the compliment. No welding. The nut in the front of the vise that sets into the casting comes drilled and pinned to the threaded rod so when you turn the casting the rod turns. It doesn't slide but you just spin up each casting with one finger each. It's surprising how much pressure it exerts on the workpiece compared to the small Columbian woodworking vise on the other end of the workbench.


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## Zircon (Aug 1, 2009)

mengtian said:


> Good idea. It looks nice and functional.
> My next Moxon vise I am going to use the ends of an old barbell (they have acme threads!). The one I did used standard threads and it works fine..
> 
> We need to have a "Homemade Vise Thread".


Thanks. Your work inspired me to make my vise.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Very nice,great project.

Tangent alert,sensitive types should stop reading now!

A,potentially cheap,as it depends on your locale....source for big honkin Acme threaded pcs is at your local rental place.They're adj legs for "safeway" masonry scaffolds.I think they're 2' long x1-1/4" D.?Buy them used....they come with an equally big "wingnut" of sorts.


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## kwolfe (Jan 9, 2014)

mengtian said:


> Good idea. It looks nice and functional.
> My next Moxon vise I am going to use the ends of an old barbell (they have acme threads!). The one I did used standard threads and it works fine..
> 
> We need to have a "Homemade Vise Thread".


Just wanted to say thanks. I swear I have a set of those barbells in my basement but have never used them because they only came with a couple of small plates. That's a great idea. Can't to get home and try tonight!


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