Moxon Vise – The Leather

2013.05.11

I still had some thick leather left over from the workbench vises.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t a piece large enough to cover the entire chop.  So I went back to Oregon Leather and bought a scrap of upholstery leather, about 1/16″ thick, and cut out an oversized piece.  On the workbench vises, I used contact cement to attach the leather.  This time I decided to use yellow PVA glue.

Cutting out upholstery leather for moxon vise
Spreading glue on moxon vise to attach leather

I put down some wax paper to protect the back of the vise as I used it for a clamping pad.  All my bar clamps were pressed into service.  I used my holdfasts on the opposite side, but really should have had more clamping pressure along there as well.  I put the eventual top of the vise towards the clamps, figuring that would be the most important edge.

Leather laid down on glue for moxon vise chop
Clamping moxon vise to attach leather to front chop

2013.05.26

I trimmed the leather to the size of the chop.  In a few sections along the edges, the leather had not glued down to the wood.  I used some superglue to fix these spots.

Leather on moxon vise chop, some curling along edge
Leather on moxon vise chop