Day 10, My Moxon vise
Today's garage gem is something that I made myself: a Moxon vise. This type of vise owes its name to Joseph Moxon, whi was an English printer, hydrographer and author from the 17th century. He did not invent this kind of vise, but it was described in his book The Art of Joinery, which you can get a PDF of courtesy of Lost Art Press. In modern parlance, a Moxon vise is simply one that uses a dual screw design to hold the work.
I built this one as part of an (as yet) unrealized project to make a traditional Dutch style toolbox, which requires that you cut a series of dovetails in pieces of pine to serve as the sides of a box. I don't have a "traditional" woodworking bench, so I decided that the most expedient way to hold the work would be to make one of these vises. As you can see, this vice is simply two pieces of think white oak, which have two large screws going through a back plate and a front plate. The back plate has a pair of tongues which protrude, which allow it to be held down with a pair of clamps. The gap hangs over the edge of the workbench, which allows you to firmly hold longer workpieces in a stable way. The hardware was a Christmas gift from the missus, and the jaws are lined with some pieces of cork. While I have not yet used it to construct the Dutch toolchest of my dreams, it is a handy addition to my workshop, and it has the benefit of being able to be put away when not in use.
Aside: another of my hobbies, amateur radio has a device called a Moxon antenna. This was named after Les Moxon, who held the callsign G6XN. You can read about him via this link on the Soldersmoke Blog or find more antenna information on The Moxon Antenna Project website.
Happy Thursday, all.