This is a quick project that gives me a spare vise that I needed to hold small parts while I solder them. I already have a panavise, and it does quite well for holding boards while they are being debugged. However, I needed some thing to hold the small objects that always need soldering. I found a piece of aluminum I had been saving that belonged to someone else’s project. It was about 9 inches by 12 inches and 1/2 inch thick. I cleaned it up, and used it to mount a panavise equivalent that Harbor Freight sold for about $20.00 US.
First, the problem was that the vise was designed to mount only on a table edge. I particularly like the kind of vise that has a table plate, so I can put it down on the workbench, move it anywhere, and go work.
I had to adapt the mount for the vise by faking the bench top it was supposed to mount to. Here’s a view of the whole project.
As you can see, the base is a block of 1 inch aluminum that has four bolts through each corner. The table top bracket was cut off, then milled flat. A bolt through it into the base holds the bracket in place. The rubber shock bumper allows some bending, and if that’s a problem, I’ll machine a plate that simulates the bumper.
An interesting note is that the rubber feet that support the plate were supplied by the lathe. I bolted the lathe to the workbench, and was left with four perfectly good rubber feet.
They found a home here. The aluminum plate is not only heat resistant, but a wonderful place to absorb the solder splashes without any sort of damage.
As a side note, the finish on the base plate is made by using an 80 grit disk on an orbital router. The finish on the base block is made by using a belt sander.