My version of the Pen Vise

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Skordog

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Feb 25, 2005
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Location
Wixom, MI, USA.
Hi All,

I am pretty new to this forum but thought I would add my 2 cents worth and show you what I came up with for a pen vise. I started out using a hinged block like I had seen in Bill Baumbeck's video but it just didn't work for me. And I couldn't see spending $50 - $100 for a commercial pen vise. So being an amateur woodworker with some decent equipment I set about building my own version out of things I had in the shop.



20053235359_Pen%20vise%201.jpg


Basically it is a piece of plywood with two T-Tracks glued down inside of it. Then there is a large solid block of wood glued to the back end and another block that slides along the tracks using T-Bolts and some knobs. The familiar triangle cuts hold the pen blank as shown in the next picture.



20053235610_Pen%20vise%206.jpg


It is very quick to tighten and untighten and works well for me.

The final problem I had to overcome was how to prevent blowout along the bottom of the blank. To take care of this I simply cut scrap hardboard into small squares which I place under the blank before tightening down the vise. I keep a stock of them in a cup on the drill press. I cut a small rabbet along the bottom edge of the movable block so the hardboard pieces would not interfere with clamping.


20053235931_Pen%20vise%205.jpg


After drilling it's a simple matter of tipping the vise over into the trash to get rid of the shavings and drilled out hardboard piece. And it's ready for the next blank.
 
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Very clever setup. I can't imagine how you can go wrong with that...and you have more than a few bucks left over for more pen kits!
 
Nice set up,very elaborate.
BeaustifuL workmanship.
As far as blowing out the bottoms,I've found I don't have a problem with it.I never use anything for backing up the exit hole.
 
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