New Jaws for Bench Vise Made From an Old File

[Eugene's DIY Den]

This is a record No. 6 vice, an heirloom from my grandfather. The jaws had become cracked over years of use. I have a collection of lots of old files and reckoned they would be ideal for making replacement jaws. Files are made from hardened and tempered steel, and have slanted, ridged teeth which I reckoned would be excellent for gripping stuff in a vice. I cut out rectangular sections of the correct dimensions using an angle grinder. The steel was too hard to drill, so I had to anneal it by heating to a red heat with a blow torch in the vicinity of the mounting holes and allowed it to cool slowly. Once the holes were drilled, they were countersinked.

[Jerrdan john]

I reckon that's neater then dang it!! When I seen the post my first thought was how did he get the holes it it??? I like it!!! I like vice's and just picked up a Yost. I bet your granddad would be impressed and proud.. Jonathan

[Eugene's DIY Den]

Thanks Jonathan! I saw a tip somewhere about using a metal rod in a pillar drill to press against a workpiece and heat it from friction. This is supposed to do local annealing so holes can be drilled. Haven't tried it though.

[Jerrdan john]

I use band saw blades for my power hacksaw. I use a punch and a hole in an anvil to put them in. Wouldn't want to try that with an file.. Jonathan

P.S. My family came from Ireland (Mcclung) on my mom's side.

[Eugene's DIY Den]

If you're interested in genealogy, checkout my guide to tracing ancestry on HubPages. Follow the link on my profile

[jere]

I was thinking about how the holes would be made as well. Annealing the whole jaws seems better than just the needed area. Files in normal conditions are fairly brittle, annealed i bet they should work much better. Good work and nice source for the jaws.

[Eugene's DIY Den]

It probably would be a better idea, especially if the "rebates" which the jaw inserts sit into aren't perfectly flat. With a couple of tons of pressure, maybe the flexing could lead to a crack. I was more concerned though that if I totally annealed the inserts, the teeth would wear over time or not bite into what they were gripping. Anyway this vise is retired so I don't need to worry about it

[kbalch]

Thanks Eugene's DIY Den! I've added your Bench Vise Jaws to our Vises category, as well as to your builder page: Eugene's DIY Den's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Bench Vise Jaws by Eugenes DIY Den

tags: vise, file, jaw

[PJs]

Great idea to use old files for this. I see them at the Restore all the time and pick up a few in not too bad shape once in a while for beaters. I kind of agree with Jere about the annealing the whole thing for stress relief and it would allow easier removal of the edge serrations at the top...looks to be a knuckle scrubber. ~¿@ Nice old vice you have there...Gpa would be happy I think! Thanks for sharing your excellent re-purposing idea. ~PJ

[Altair]

Clever idea using old rough files. They are perfect replacement for the jaws. Grip is probably greater than the stock jaws.

Al