Homemade cleaning and gunsmithing rest/vice.

[TexasSeaRay]

I'd been looking for a new vice to hold my rifles while cleaning/working on them. I'm not a particular fan of plastic, and especially not plastic made in China--which was about all I could find until I got up into the higher dollar vices. They had a lot of stuff I not only didn't need, but didn't want. Stuff like sliding drawers to store cleaning supplies, cut-outs to hold bottles of solution, etc.

All I wanted was a sturdy vice to rest a rifle in while cleaning it, and maybe doing a bit of light smithing work. So I decided to build my own.

Four hours and forty dollars later, here's what I ended up with.



I used a 3/4" 2' x 4' piece of birch from Lowe's and for the vice itself, I bought a carpenter's wood vice. Five bucks worth of press-on felt padding and strips lined the v-notch at the front, a drop pad under the vice jaws, and the inside of the vice jaws. Four large brass wood screws hold the vice securely in place. Some stain and polyurethane finish it out.

Got exactly what I wanted and it was made in the USA.

Jeff

 

[Tikirocker]

Excellent stuff mate ... that's a beauty. I aim to build myself one soon too along the exact same lines - at the moment I'm just using a milk crate with a couple of V notches cut in the ends and it's been A1 for my temporary needs.

 

[sholling]

Very nice!

 

[Doyle]

Nice job. Here is mine:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums...54&highlight=cleaning+vise+woodworker's+clamp

 

[scrat]

Very Very nice i like it. now i think i have my project for next weekend

 

[scrat]

Doyle the pics are not that great but that thing looks really heavy duty.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I need to make one for myself now, lol. I take my rifles apart and strip them down bi-weekly, lol.

 

[scrat]

its not a bad idea. im thinking of using something with hinges on it. So that when your not using it you can fold it all down. then when you go to use it you can open it up and put maybe two bolts together. cut a slot in it for a handle and you may have something to take to the range.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

that and have a sliding panel that hinges up and 90 degrees then slides so it hangs off the bench then you can do front sight and crown work, and for those of you who do this, put the brushes and jags in muzzle-first.

 

[Doyle]

Doyle the pics are not that great but that thing looks really heavy duty.

Thanks. It is seriously heavy duty. The wood I happened to have laying around was 3/4" multi-ply plywood (the stuff you make drawers out of). I could have easily used 1/2 inch, but I didn't want to go cutting into a perfectly good sheet of plywood. By using the 3/4", I could use scraps.

 

[TexasSeaRay]

Nice job. Here is mine:

Yep, I know.

Seeing yours is what inspired me to take on the project.

This was kind of a quickie job as I wanted something to hold/rest my rifles in for cleaning. I built it so that I could run the cleaning rods in from either direction.

Like you, I used 3/4" wood for the stoutness. For the block that holds the vice, I just screwed together multiple layers of my scrap pieces until I got the height I wanted, then ran it through the table saw to even it up, then a quick run on the belt sander.

I'm thinking of making a modified one solely for holding my wheelguns during cleaning.

May have sniffed too many stain and polyurethane fumes . . .

Jeff