Something I have needed for years

[Brass Rat]

I finally broke down and bought a vice at Lowe's today. I can't tell you how many times in the past years I have tried to make due without one of these. When you need a bench vice there really isn't anything else that will do.

Since my bench is Formica covered particle board I sandwiched it between 2 sheets of plywood just as I did when I mounted my loading presses. Once the sandwich is bolted together in 5 or 6 places there is absolutely no give at all.

[Niner]

I put off buying one for years too. I got one like yours two or three years ago, only I got it at Home Depot, and it is blue instead of black. I use it all the time. Don't know how I got along all the years before when I was without one. Amazing how often it has come in handy to hold things steady while I work on them and to bend things that need bending and .........sometimes....... to help me, unintentionally, destroy things that I wouldn't have had a strong enough grip on to turn into scrap before.

[Brass Rat]

The first victims of the new vice. A Lange Vazier rear sight base and 5 1/2" of nearly smoothe bore spanish barrel. I have actually ordered a commercial short chambered 7x57 barrel for this build but in the mean time I am going to see what I can do with the original.

I will be sending this action along with the new barrel and the front ramp sight and the express 3 leaf rear to Randy Kline down in texas to have it barreled, finish reamed, sights and Scope bases installed.


Still a lot of work to be done on the barrel. I am going to work it with Emory cloth strips but some of the deeper pitting will need to be filed.


The original stock is being striped to bare wood and reformed to very light full Manlittcher stock. This is going to be a stalking rifle and I am determined to keep it under 6 pounds.


I have a strait handle Spanish 93 bolt that will be here first of the week. Once I check it out and lap the lugs the bolt is going to the Boltman for a new handle.


Identical Cavim rounds in the old and new muzzle. The new muzzle is quite an improvement but the barrel still doesn't have enough rifling left to spin a bore brush when it is pushed through from either end.


Oh, by the way, the barrel is now 16 1/4"

I'm not sure I have seen a strait stocked Mannlicher style rifle so this may be the first.

[DuncaninFrance]

My philosophy has always been 'Buy The Tool' and then do the job. The wife complains about all the tools I have and don't use but I like to point out that WHEN she wants a job doing I do it properly

My bench vice was part of a junior carpenters kit when I was about 7 or 8 years old and I have had at least one ever since.
I have a couple of things that I have made and used over the years that you might consider.

When using the vice to hold delicate things I have made a pair of Aluminium inserts that fit into the jaws for use on metals and also I have cut a couple of jaw covers from some carpet squares and use them with the pile side in and the backing towards the vice jaws, excellent on wood. I also 'liberated' a small anvil that clamps into the jaws instead of one on the vice frame - I always feel I can hit things harder on this one

[Niner]

Bench vices come with "hard" jaws or "soft" jaws. There are several different profiles and various added features...like leveling bubbles and other such things. As Duncan says, something has to be done to soften the jaws up on a standard vise when working with something easily marked up, even when taking care how much pressure you apply. Mine, like the one Brass Rat has, has the teeth on the face of the grip arms which may leave marks you would prefer to avoid. What I do is just to layer thick plastic duck tape on the face of each grip until I have a slightly spongy surface. Since you keep the silver side out the surface doesn't adhere to whatever you are gripping. When the work is over just peal off the tape and toss it. What Brass Rat is doing in the photos is using cardboard...which does the same kind of thing that both Duncan and I are talking about, only the benefit of the tape is that it doesn't move when you open or close the vise jaws.

[Brass Rat]

The cardboard works fairly well but the jaws are drilled and tapped for inserts. There are also quite a number of magnetic jaw inserts of differing styles. I plan on doing more AR work so an armorer's block is also on the list.

I am thinking that a small bench grinder/buffer is next on the list.

I have a number of these projects laying around that I have accumulated over the years, some are no more than receivers with trashed barrels. I bought 2 '98 and 1 Spanish '93 bolt this week and I am going to start doing something with many of them.

I even have some totally trashed out stocks and stock pieces that I am going to try my hand at checkering on.

I have a love for working with wood that I inherited from my late Dad. While I was visiting Mom last week I brought back as many of his hand tools that I could find. The carpenter that Dad apprentice under in the late 40's didn't believe in using power tools so Dad learned to build houses the old fashion way. I remember many of the tools I now have from when I was a kid. Things like 2 large Stanley planes that are older than I am and a bit brace that I remember using to drill holes in several places that I shouldn't have.

One thing I am particularly happy to own is my Dad's oil stone. He chiseled out a base for it from a piece of 2x4 and both the base and the stone leave no doubt to the use they have gotten over the past 60 or so years.

[DuncaninFrance]

Bench vices come with "hard" jaws or "soft" jaws. There are several different profiles and various added features...like leveling bubbles and other such things. As Duncan says, something has to be done to soften the jaws up on a standard vise when working with something easily marked up, even when taking care how much pressure you apply. Mine, like the one Brass Rat has, has the teeth on the face of the grip arms which may leave marks you would prefer to avoid. What I do is just to layer thick plastic duck tape on the face of each grip until I have a slightly spongy surface. Since you keep the silver side out the surface doesn't adhere to whatever you are gripping. When the work is over just peal off the tape and toss it. What Brass Rat is doing in the photos is using cardboard...which does the same kind of thing that both Duncan and I are talking about, only the benefit of the tape is that it doesn't move when you open or close the vise jaws.

Good one Robert, must remember Tape..................it holds the world together