Trad Gang

Main Boards => Hunting Knives and Crafters => Topic started by: Nala on April 17, 2010, 11:08:00 PM

Title: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: Nala on April 17, 2010, 11:08:00 PM: Hey all,

I am wanting to try and make a knife and have been looking around and making sure I have the needed stuff to do it. I was looking at my bench vice the other day and something came to me. How can I hold my knife blank FLAT in that vice? Sure I can turn it on its edge and secure it very well, but I wouldn't be able to work on it very well. I have a standard vice that is mounted on my bench. The vice doesn't tilt UPWARD where it would be easy to hold the knife blank FLAT and work on it. The jaws stay in one position and you just can't hold a piece of material 1/8th inch thick FLAT very securely to allow you to grind material off and put pressure on it. It would simply fall out with not very much force at all.

So I am wondering if there is a fixture or a jig of some sorts that is available that would allow me to bolt my knife blank into it and then clamp that into the vice and it would hold very securely and allow me to work on it without worrying that if I put too much pressure on the blank that the whole thing is going to end up in the floor.

Anyone know of such a thing?

Thanks for the time.

Nalajr
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: Wampus on April 17, 2010, 11:29:00 PM: I made a "Moran" style vise out some stainless pipe I had and shaped some half round wood blocks to hold the blade. You can buy them from Uncle Al: http://www.riversidemachine.net/item15834.ctlg

There are a couple other styles of knife vise around too.

Sometimes I just clamp a length of 2x4 in my bench vise with the narrow edge up and lay the blade on it and use a ratchet bar clamp to hold the blade snug against the 2x4. Works great for hand sanding.
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: Jeremy on April 18, 2010, 02:20:00 PM: Usually I just have a piece of wood in the vise and clamp the tang to it with a c-clamp. Simple, fool-proof and most everyone has a c-clamp or two.
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: DANA HOLMAN on April 18, 2010, 06:24:00 PM: Here is one i made about 6-7 months ago. you can put the knife in blade first or tang first, it has leather on the inside, it rotates 360 degrees. hopes it helps.
(http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu351/danafoursuns/100_0243.jpg)
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: robtattoo on April 20, 2010, 11:37:00 AM: Drill 2 holed in the tang & drop in a couple of 3/16" x 3" bolts. Clamp the bolts in your vice & you're good to go!
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: WestTexan on April 21, 2010, 11:04:00 PM: I built this one a couple months ago...it clamps in my vice. (http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r268/Flinthunter_bucket/IMG_1522Medium.jpg)
(http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r268/Flinthunter_bucket/IMG_1521Medium.jpg)
Title: Re: Is There a Fixture to Hold Your Blade FLAT in a VICE??
Post by: osageo on April 24, 2010, 08:04:00 AM: i use a wooden two hand clamp , has two screw handles , you can adjust the angle to fit a blade or run it out a little and fit a finished handle.