Vise soft jaws

Aukai

Aukai

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Oct 4, 2016
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I'm getting tire of my aluminum soft jaws with the magnet getting knocked off, and bouncing under the shop bench. The Wilton copper wrap on jaws are 92 bucks :oops: Are there any alternatives, or just bight the bullet?
 
Why not just make some direct replacement aluminum jaws with through holes so they can be bolted to the main body of the vise. In the past I also tried the temporary "soft jaw" covers. My experience was similar to yours in that they were hard to keep in place, and often fell off and ended up behind or under something. I solved the problem with my own bolt on replacements. I've made them for the bench vises and several sets for the machine vises to hold special profiles.

The ones on the bench vises are "semi permanent" in that they remain in place for almost all operations. I got tired of putting on covers or shimming with soft stock to eliminate marks on finished parts. Occasionally I run a stone or file across them to remove any burrs.
 
I'm embarrassed to say, but I was in a pinch and had some leftover 1" copper pipe. I cut to size, split it, opened it up, and then hammered it around my steel jaws. It got me where I needed to be, but it's not a good permanent solution.
 
I think I may have that set, the magnet is not too strong any more.
 
My magnets went "south" after I used the Propane torch to heat something I was holding. I have the copper Wilton wrap jaws on my "big vise" aluminum jaws in an other and shop made copper replacement jaws in my "vomit vise". ;)

I like smooth hardened steel jaws too.
 
A few years back I got some 20-gauge copper and made jaw caps for the vise (and then the chuck jaws).
At some point I ended up with a box of copper bar stock off-cuts. One of the pieces is the perfect size for the jaws of my main filing vise. Surely didn't cost 92 dollars :)
 
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