The U-shaped clamp is short-lived. Most often, it functions until the rotating head begins to dangle and fall out of the movable jaw of the tool. The clamp can still be used, but it can be annoying that you have to hold the swivel joint while installing the clamp. But such a clamp may well come in handy.

I was looking for a wooden vice for my small workbench, and their price quite surprised me. Even kits that you have to assemble yourself, wasting time and wood, can cost you hundreds of dollars. Using parts from an old clamp, I was able to construct a vise for working with wood, and using old wood, I could do this without spending a penny.

More importantly, the vice can be constructed using only hand tools, requiring minimal resources, meaning this vise can be assembled by anyone, regardless of the size of the workshop.

Tools:

• bow saw or angle grinder
• circular saw or hacksaw
• drill with chisel bit
• chisel and hammer

Consumables:

• Broken U-shaped clamp
• 8 cm self-tapping screws
• wood glue
• 15 cm bolt with washers and additional nut
• 2.5 cm dowel

Step 2: Constructing a vice from an old clamp

First of all, you need to unscrew the movable jaw from the clamp. Without the hinge, it will come off easily. But if you are using a working clamp, you may need to cut it off.

Then take a metal saw or miter saw grinding machine with a rapidly rotating disc and cut the coupling from the clamp just before turning, leaving enough body. Most clamps are molded and can be easily cut with a hacksaw. They are often molded in a 'T' or 'I' shape, so you will have to cut away some of the material, leaving a space where you must drill two holes for mounting screws. When cutting off excess material, leave a small metal wedge next to the coupling. This will help squeeze it in drilled hole and prevent free rotation.

Step 3: Cutting the boards and drilling the holes

You will need a block measuring 5x15 cm, which will exactly match the height of your table. It will become the mounting base. Our design will be attached to the table leg. You will also need a second block measuring 5x15 cm, the length of which is about 60 cm. We use it as a board directly for the clamp. Place it 10 cm above the surface of your table. You will also need two 5x15x9cm pieces of wood for the face of the new clamp.

Now you need to decide where you want to place the screw. I set mine 30cm from the top of the clamp board. The general idea is that the higher the screw, the more pressure the clamp has, while the lower it is, the wider the range. I would recommend laying the pieces next to each other so that the clamp board is 10cm apart and drilling a small 0.5cm hole where the screw will be located. This will indicate its future location and make sure that the holes match.

Once you're sure the holes line up, take your mount base and drill a hole for the coupler on the side that will mount to the table. Now you can drill further, taking into account the diameter of your screw. Then take the coupler and drive it into the hole. Thanks to the wedge you left, it should fit very well. And thanks to the tongue, the coupling will be well secured.

You will need some sort of channel for the screw to go through the clamp board. You can drill several holes one after another (starting with the first 0.5cm hole and working your way up) and then cut out the excess material using a hammer and chisel. The channel should be 4 cm long and the width of your screw.

Now you can glue the face piece to the clamp and secure them 1.27 cm above the table top and the top of the circuit board.

Step 4: Create a Hinge Mount

Cut two blocks from the base of your clamp board, each measuring 4cm wide by 9cm long. Drill through the remaining part horizontal hole 2.5 cm from the end the size of your 15 cm bolt. This is the hinge attachment point.

Next, you need to create and add support blocks. Cut them to 10cm and then drill a 15cm hole like your bolt, 5cm from the top. Use a round file to lengthen the holes to an inch. The extra clearance in the hinge hole will help relieve the clamping pressure, thus preventing cracks in the blocks.

Now, having cut out two channels, insert the blocks into the mounting base. Use wood glue to secure them.

Finally, install the bolt, but do not tighten it tightly. The entire mechanism must move freely in the grooves of the blocks. A lock nut works well. To prevent the nut from unscrewing, use a second nut and screw them together.

Step 5: Clamp Assembly

You will have to build a spacer for your screw. I used hole saw and using it I cut a 5cm disc from a 5x10cm block, then drilled a hole in the center to match the diameter of my screw. You can make as many spacers as you like depending on the space you need for your propeller handle. Ideal option will cut two such disks. The space between the two spacers can then be coated with a little oil, allowing you to tighten the clamp more smoothly.

You'll notice from the pictures that I started with one spacer, then added a second one and found that it was much better.

Once you've built the clamping system, you'll need to attach it to the workbench leg. I used simple 7cm self-tapping screws, spaced 15cm apart. I attached the structure through the base of the mount directly to the table leg. Now you can install the spacers on the screw and secure it.

Once the clamp is ready, you will need to install supports.

Step 6: Cutting and Drilling the Pegs

Graceful and practical idea known device for clamping parts in carpentry will be useful to anyone home handyman. This video tutorial shows a simple method on how to make your own wooden vice. They can be used, if necessary, as a press.

A wooden vice is needed to securely hold the workpiece for processing and sawing. It is not necessary to do this on a steel vice. Sometimes you just don't need it overpressure, sometimes it’s just inconvenient to constantly put something under the steel jaws so that they don’t spoil the material. If such disks are made of the appropriate size, they can be used as a device for gluing the knife handle during installation.

Materials and parts for vices

To make a vice with your own hands, we will need a fairly thick wooden plank as a base and three cuts of timber the width of the base. Certainly the best material there would be plywood of the same dimensions, but as they say, what is rich. We will also need an anchor bolt with a ring as the main screw for the lever. Ten is enough for the vice shown in the video. We also need 4 dozen bolts, seven nuts and 8 washers.

You will also need a mounting plate as a backstop for the movable jaw.

Making a vice is easy

We make markings. Three through holes in the stop, two in the fixed jaw and one in the movable one. We drill a hole on both sides so as not to tear the wood.

Stop with an anchor bolt and two screwed nuts. Now we need to embed and glue these nuts inside the block. It would be advisable to use one long one here, but I didn’t have it on hand.

It is necessary to place emphasis on the moving jaws. Take a cut piece mounting plate, into which the anchor bolt fits freely, screw on a round nut, which locks the bolt in the plate and holds the jaw itself. Insert the sponge. The round nut should rotate freely in the block.

Now you need to tighten the round nut tightly so that it cannot get out. Glue the nuts onto the stop and wait a little. The stop with a movable jaw is ready. Let's check the mobility of the threads.

Let's mark where the stationary sponge will be. We unscrew the anchor bolt to the end of the thread, make a couple of turns back in reserve. Now, having tightened the clamps, we drill a hole in the base through the fixed jaw as a guide. The second position of the fixed jaw is on the edge of the base. There we simply focus on the edge.

All that remains is to cut in the bottom and glue in 6 nuts, put everything together and use it.

How the finished tool works

Subsequently, the master slightly widened the hole and placed a washer on the glue, now the bolt rubs and rests on the metal.

Hi all! Every carpenter should have on hand the means to firmly secure his workpiece or piece. A wooden bench vise is perfect for this purpose. Look at my version of this vise that I made with your own hands made of plywood and metal.

For this project, I used every tool I had (from a nailer to a welder). That's why I don't bring full list tools used. Use the tools you have. Be creative!

Step 1: Materials Used

First I cut the plywood to the required size. One piece was 2 cm thick, and the second 3 cm.
After this, I cut two strips of oak 1 cm thick. These should be glued and nailed to the top edge of the jaws, ensuring them stability and better appearance. Then cut flush and sand.

I attached a 2 cm piece of plywood to the table using a pair of furniture bolts.

Step 2: Device Mechanism

Let's move on to the mechanism itself.

From a local metal shop I purchased a 2cm diameter metal rod and an M 27 threaded rod and a couple of washers and nuts. In addition, I purchased a flat piece 4 mm thick and 6 cm wide. These are all the metal components that we will need.

Take wooden oak blocks and use them as guides. For the threaded rod, I welded two nuts to a flat piece and secured it under the table with screws (see photo).

On the outer jaw I decided to add the flat piece I mentioned earlier. This will provide additional stability to the entire structure.

It is very important that all elements are located on the same line, otherwise the vice will not work.

I also welded the washer to the threaded rod. This is necessary so that the outer jaw also moves when the rod is turned. Without this, the sponge will remain in place and can only be moved manually.

Step 3: Lathe processing

For the rotating head, I glued together several cherry and oak blanks. Then on lathe gave the required shape. The result obtained was quite acceptable. Next, using a chisel, I made a recess for the nut. On drilling machine I drilled a 2cm diameter hole through for the handle. The hole turned out to be a little angled...

The handle is a spruce pin with cherry end caps that prevent the handle from falling out. Treat the handle with drying oil.

Also on the outer jaw I drilled holes 3 cm deep for stops on carpentry workbench. That's why I used 3cm plywood for the outer jaw. But a single row of stops on a woodworking bench won't do any good, so we still need to add other holes on this table. I'll do it when I get to final stage. I just have to consider the mechanical part underneath.

Step 4: Finish

Bench vices are necessary equipment in the workshop of any man, without whom it is difficult to do in one form or another of work.

It is not at all necessary to place them in the garage; you can set up a corner for a vice at home, for example, using a table or an ordinary stool.

Why do you need a bench vise?

When processing or sharpening any part, it is necessary to fix it firmly and reliably, that is, to hold it in a certain position. The photo of the vice shows the operating principle of this equipment.

The parameters and dimensions of the vice are determined depending on what type of tool needs to be firmly held.

The design of a carpenter's vice includes:

• chassis screw;
• handle;
• movable and fixed sponge;
• base plate.

Main types of bench vices

Before making a vice with your own hands, you need to decide on the choice of work associated with it.

All types of vices are divided into two types:

• non-rotary have more simple design and they are easiest to make yourself. The part is fixed strictly in one position.
• Rotary vices are most often adapted for drilling on a machine. During operation, it is possible to rotate the workpiece without unclenching it.

The material of the vice body is most often made of durable cast iron. It is important to know that cast iron is not intended to be exposed to high temperatures, steel metal is suitable for these purposes.

If the work will be carried out with small-sized parts, you should not increase financial costs and make compact small vices.

A small vice with a ball joint base is useful on the farm for processing very small parts that can be secured individually. These are mini-vises with suction cups, mounted on a glass or well-polished surface. But they are suitable for rare non-serious work.

Please note that it is wise to install soft attachments on the fastening part for working with soft parts, so as not to cause damage to them. A vice with the least amount of play when the jaws are fully extended is the ideal option.

A vice without rotary mechanism, unless, of course, it is useful in work.

Work on making a bench vice at home

Carpenter's vices, made independently at home, will save significantly family budget than their store-bought ready-made “brothers”. And a huge plus is that the product can be made according to personal preferences and for certain individual species works

It is absolutely easy to find material for the structure, it could be: a part technical pipe, used jack, old lathes, presses, etc.

And if you go to a metal collection point, there will undoubtedly be a suitable part for a vice that will cost you a penny.

Classic homemade vice

There are many types of vices, but the most popular and traditional is the type with steel material. Such a vice will be much more reliable than a factory-made one.

The structure consists of:

Note!

• a steel plate of at least 3 mm, but it can be much thicker;
• external and internal channel (120 and 100 mm);
• steel lugs;
• turning cutters 2 pieces;
• a small piece of reinforcement (rod for a gate);
• a nut (2 pieces), a pin or a screw of a certain diameter that corresponds to the rod;
• washer (2 pieces) of the same diameter with the lead screw;
• screw pair 335 mm;
• To secure the propeller chassis, a thick plate is needed.

It is necessary to separate the lead screw with washers on both sides of the plate. One of the two washers must be secured with a cotter pin or a locking ring, so that the part is completely removable; you must first weld the screw thread to it.

The handle should also be collapsible on one side, and reverse side It is worth welding it with a nut. It is necessary to weld a nut with a channel from the screws flush to the plate. To make the channel inside with the screw move easier while moving, it is recommended to lightly process it with a file.

Sponges are welded to the so-called ears, made from turning cutters. They are placed in the right place when the lead screw is screwed in, so the ears stand at the ideal distance from each other.

But you can also connect them with wire for greater convenience, so in the future it will be more convenient to fix uneven parts, the shape of which is expanded towards the bottom.

Such homemade vice Allows you to process larger parts.

Note!

To perform work in a home workshop, it is recommended to choose the simplest fixed vice for the machine.

It’s not at all difficult to make them yourself, you just have to watch the videos and recommendations, which can be found without much difficulty on the Internet and first draw up the drawings correctly.

DIY vise photo

Note!

It’s hard to imagine the workshop of a home craftsman who often works with wood products without this useful device like a carpenter's vice. Using this clamping device, which is easy to make with your own hands, you can perform various technological operations with wooden details.

The design of a carpenter's vice is not so complicated as to give up the idea of ​​making one yourself

Many people, driven by the desire to save money on purchasing a carpenter's vice, use improvised devices (for example, clamps) to secure wooden parts. However, such universal devices do not allow you to effectively perform many technological operations on wood, and their metal clamping elements are left on soft wooden surfaces unsightly dents.

If the processed wooden parts must differ not only in quality, but also aesthetically pleasing, then you can’t do without a vice specially designed for carpentry work. You can seriously save on purchasing serial models and more in the best possible way– make a carpenter’s vice with your own hands.

How a vice works for carpentry work

The design of a vice for carpentry work consists of the following elements:

• a support, which is also a stationary clamping jaw;
• movable clamping jaw;
• two metal guides along which the movable jaw moves;
• a lead screw that ensures movement of the movable jaw;
• a crank through which rotation is imparted to the lead screw.

The fixed support of the carpenter's vice is securely fixed to the surface of the workbench, for which long screws or bolted fasteners are used. Many serial models provide the possibility of using replaceable pads on movable and fixed jaws. Such overlays, which increase the versatility of carpentry vices, can be made of metal and polymer materials.

Since bench vices are often used for machining large wooden products, the design of many models includes a spring mechanism that facilitates manipulations. Such a mechanism, which can also be installed on a homemade carpentry vice, provides preliminary clamping of the part (it is finally fixed using a lead screw). If this mechanism is not included in the design of the bench vise, then the carpenter will have to hold it suspended for a long time wooden blank, before the movable clamping jaw is brought to it.

To make a wooden vice intended for carpentry work with your own hands, you need to make a drawing and select the appropriate components. Wooden blocks are used as clamping jaws of such a vice. One of them, serving as a fixed jaw, is fixed on the surface of the workbench and will act as a load-bearing support for the device.

You will also need a threaded screw with a diameter of at least 20mm. The permissible dimensions of the workpiece, which can be fixed in a homemade carpentry vice, depend on the length of this element, which is responsible for moving the movable jaw and, accordingly, for clamping the workpiece. To make a carpenter's vice, you will also need two metal guides, for which you can use any metal pins (the main thing is that they are smooth and their diameter is at least 10 mm).

The guide parts can be made on metalworking machines or you can use struts from the front shock absorbers of a passenger car for them.

Any wooden vice, including homemade ones, is controlled using a crank, the rotation from which is transmitted to the lead screw. As a driver, you can use a long metal strip, which will be inserted into the slot in the head of the lead screw. Such a slot must first be machined to match the thickness of the existing rail. Some home craftsmen use a regular wrench as a lead screw driver. wrench, into which its head is pressed.

To make a homemade bench vise more convenient to use, it is better to mount a full-fledged crank on them. For this you will need welding machine. Welding is necessary in order to weld a nut or washer to the end of the lead screw, into the holes of which the handle-collar will be inserted. By making such a knob, you will greatly simplify the process of controlling a carpenter's vice, and it will be much more convenient to work with them.

As mentioned above, to make the movable and fixed jaws of a carpenter's vice you will need two wooden bars. It is best to choose pine as the material for making such bars: its wood is quite soft and at the same time durable. It is necessary to drill holes of the appropriate diameter in both jaws: two for the guides, one for the lead screw. In order for such holes on the movable and fixed jaws to be positioned exactly relative to each other, it is necessary to drill them simultaneously in two bars. To perform this procedure, the bars can be connected using nails, and after making the holes, separate them again.

After all the preparatory activities have been completed, you can begin assembling a homemade carpentry vice. The first thing you need to do is to securely fasten the fixed jaw support to the surface of the workbench. After this, guides and a lead screw are inserted into the holes of the support.

The ends of the guides protruding from the rear side of the support must be fixed, for which you can cut threads on them and screw on the nuts. A nut is also screwed onto the protruding end of the screw. In order to ensure that such a nut does not move during operation, it can be placed in a previously prepared recess on the surface of the support, into which it must fit very tightly.

When the fixed support of the carpenter's vice, the screw and the guides are mounted, you can install a movable jaw on them, for which there are already prepared holes in it. On the end of the lead screw protruding above the front surface of the movable jaw, it is necessary to put a washer with a large outer diameter and screw on two nuts, which will act as a locking element.

After fastening all the elements, you can connect the end of the screw to the knob and start using a carpenter's vice. After you start turning the knob, the screw will screw into the nut of the fixed support, thereby attracting the movable clamping jaw to it.