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I've needed a bench vise for a long time. I was inspired by what I've seen lately on the forum, so I bought a medium 9x7" Pony, which is large and deep enough to clamp guitars, from Amazon for $35. I resawed a leftover piece of cherry, and rounded each side and corner. Then I used pure silicone to "glue" it to each side of the vise, creating a safe clamping surface. I will add high density, firm foam, on top of the cherry. I've put in a link to the vise, if anyone is interested.

Pony 27091 9-Inch by 7-Inch Medium Duty ... IEbE86M0T5

That's a great $35 vice! You could put a length of foam pipe insulation over the screws and bars

Ed

Very nice! And was thinking about how to pad the bottom when Ed posted, so that solves that :-)

I already have rubatex for the bars, but I'll have to make sure they dont interfere with the mechanism. If it's a problem, I'll just lay a small towel over them, as I do when I use my black and decker worktable as a vise.

All of your guitars will be in a small range of vice-opening, so one length should do for all of them, then remove them for normal use.

Ed

great! I use mine every which way. Take Ed's suggestion from my thread and put in the two strips of wood to allow the padded plywood to mold to the arch and it really socks it in. It is best on the rim but I've found I can rotate the guitar any which way and also swap out one side's strip of wood for a thicker piece when the guitar is sideways. I also use it to hold the guitar in place laying flat bench top though haven't perfected where to anchor the other side yet.

Your guitar is beautiful, btw. Such a nice top and super cool inlay work.

ps. my pad is always falling on the floor. A towel would be better or maybe make a pad w/ sides that hang down so to hold it in place.

Looks good j

Everyone should have a can of 3M #77 spray adhesive in the shop. It is a flexible contact cement and sticks all sorts of things together. A quick spray and it holds leather on your primary metal vice jaws and towel material on your secondary wooden vice jaws. Be sure to hold the can upside down and spray a second or two til the glue is cleared from the nozzle before you put it away. I do this with spray paint or shellac too.

I find that when the guitar is laying on its side, that it is held quite firmly at just one location - the thicker part. Also, my screw threads are about 22" apart so the body fits down as low as I want it to on its side or with either end upright. Works great for getting the work area at the right height for standing or sitting on a stool. My stool just happens to be in this shot

Ed

Good idea Ed. I have the stuff made by Titebond. I'm going to glue high density foam to the wood, which will conform to any guitar body and any radius.

Good set up, might try it if I already didn't have made this. Not my idea picked it somewhere,used pipe flanges to attach to workbench, easy to put on and take off, pics...

Nice vice with the pipe clamps. I tried that but it was wobbly. Yours looks great. Doing without was difficult in retrospect. I trust my cabinet vice now to hold the body so i can't move it at all. It is a big improvement for me