Sliding Vise Guides
Lower Guide Rail
2010.01.12
Today I worked on making the sliding vise lower guide rail. Back when I went to Frank’s shop and we used his jointer and planer, he used a table saw to rip the vise chop board to width. There was a fairly narrow length left over, which I figured would be more than enough to make this triangular-section rail.
Because of the dust collection add-ons, my Hitachi circular saw is essentially a permanent 90° setup. I needed to make a 45° rip, so I brought out the big Milwaukee. I still used one of the Eurekazone guides as a straightedge, but without the sliding carriage of course. It took me a while to figure out a way to set everything up to make this beveled rip in a secure and repeatable manner. Finally I decided I had it worked out.
I started with a shallow pass, then kept going deeper. Learning from previous experiences with the white oak, I pushed the saw through fairly quickly, and finally managed to rip without burning.
I beveled the narrow ends as well, and used the block plane with chamfer guide to make a small chamfer along the sharp peak, essentially creating a narrow flat top.
2010.01.13
I predrilled pilot holes and countersinks for screws along the back side and attached the rail to the front stretcher.
V-shaped Channel in Sliding Vise Base
Then I laid out a v-shaped channel on the bottom of the sliding vise base. This will ride on the rail. I sawed it out with my crosscut tenon saw.
Upper Guide Rail
Next I adjusted the upper guide and secured it with clamps to the sliding vise base. Then I drilled the bolt holes through and installed the 3/8″ bolts, nuts, and washers.
With that bolted in place, I used a hole saw to complete the hole for the vise screw. If you’re wondering why I used a hand brace, it’s because my cordless drill doesn’t have enough torque to handle the 2″ hole saw. I could have used the corded drill, but the brace was nearby.
Flattening Top