The Last Moxon Dovetail Vise
Many
of my projects involve bow fronts, which result in compound angle
dovetails ...
I
do enjoy building furniture with dovetailing challenges.
Between
furniture pieces, I find time to build a new tool. This time it is
the Moxon dovetail vise I have been promising myself for a while. My
first and only one was built in early 2011, after Chris Schwarz
helped put it on the map. I immediately modified this design, and
have been making modifications since.
(Link: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...etailVise.html).
This new Moxon incorporates the best ideas.
Ironically,
this design is not geared for compound angles. I decided to heed my
own advice and keep it as simple as possible, and cater for the 90%
of the dovetailing that is likely to be done.
The width of
the vise is narrower than my previous one, but capable of 450mm (17
3/4") between the screws and 585mm (23”) in width altogether.
Most cases I built are between 350 - 450mm deep. My previous Moxon
could do 560mm (22") between the screws. This is unnecessary,
and just makes for a very large fixture.
Where the old
Moxon used wooden screws, which I turned, this uses steel Acme screws
and iron wheels ala BenchCrafted ... except that these came via Tom
Bussey (thanks Tom), which amounted to a large savings. The wheels
are 5" in diameter on a 3/4" Acme screw.
The
front chop is 5 1/2" high, and the Moxon is built in Jarrah, the
strength and stiffness of which allows for the wood to be a little
thinner. I went a little OTT in this build, but it was fun, and
I admit I did become a little carried away
Brass
inlay ...
The
chop runs on bronze bushings ...
Bushings need to be a little wider than the screws. A slip fit will lock the chop, which needs to be capable of racking owing to the screws being locked down independently.
Lining
the inside of the vise is rubberised cork. This makes a great
non-slip (not my idea - this comes from BenchCrafted, who call it
"crubber". Simply search eBay for "cork
rubber").
This
vise is a good height for sawing ...
There
are a few innovations. The rear of the vise ...
This
is a spacer, and it can be locked into the up position ...
The
spacer has the principal function of lifting the pin board (10mm)
above the chop to prevent scoring the chop when transferring tails to
pins with a knife (this is more of a danger with through dovetails).
One of the concerns I have for Moxon vises with attached rear tables
is that the workpiece is coplanar with the chop. These Moxon designs
are also essentially small workbenches, and require more space. The
design offered here is hefty, but it is as compact as can be made
with all the accessories which are built in.
The
crubber also makes a great non-slip.
The second use of the
spacer is that it has a sliding dovetail at the top, and this allows
for the use of MicroJig clamps. This would be especially useful for
holding wide boards, or tail board which have developed a slight bow
...
Note
that the rear support is not needed for the average drawer-sized
board, but becomes useful for wide and heavy case panels.
For narrow case sides, the clamps are all that is needed …
Aiding the travel of the chop is a conical spring …
The idea for these came from David Baron, however he used straight springs, and these required the chop being morticed to allow space for the spring to collapse, and the chop to close. The conical springs collapse onto themselves, and a mortice is not required.
Closed up …
Loosening the wheels unlocks the springs, which force the front chop away from the rear …
Using the Moxon vise
Transferring marks
Alignment is extremely important, and can make-or-break whether a drawer rides smoothly in a drawer case, or whether it will rack.
Joining drawer sides to a half-blind drawer front requires that the lower, reference edges are square before transferring markings…
When
joining a drawer side (pin board) with a drawer back (tail board), it
is typical that the drawer back lies above the groove.
In this situation, the alignment is made by both the back of the parts, as well as the lower reference sides …
Sawing
Thick
case sides resist vibration and may be raised an inch or more above
the chop for sawing. However, thin boards, such this more typical of
drawer sides, which may average ¼” thick, need to be held as low
in the chop as possible.
The spacer needs to be dropped
out of the way for this.
The
front cove allows the saw to be angle upwards for half-blind
dovetails ...
And
that’s it ... my last moxon dovetail vise ...
Regards
from Perth
Derek
September 2019