If you are looking to take classes in western washington, you have many options along all the major population centers.

If you are looking to take classes in central washington, I’m afraid there are not too many options, and your best bet will be to go east to Spokane, or west to whichever class is nearest you.

If you do have to travel to see one of these educators, it may be worth mentioning that fact to them, as many are accommodating to traveling smiths.

I have tried to select classes from people who make good art themselves, or are exceptional in some other capacity. I did this by examining the galleries and portfolios of the instructors who work in smaller shops, and by looking at reviews for the businesses that do blacksmithing classes as their primary source of revenue. 

These lists of classes are hard to maintain, as when people close up shop they don’t exactly reach out to random bloggers to let them know that they no longer teach classes. If you find that one of the classes below are no longer being taught, reach out and let me know at GallivantingCraftsman@instructor.net

Whether you are looking for “blacksmithing as an experience”, or for hands-on instruction from a skilled craftsman, you will find what you are looking for below.

List of Blacksmithing & Bladesmithing Classes in Washington State 2022 [Current]

1) Lawless Forge

• Classes: Classes focusing on creating a specific finished product, public, private, and corporate
• Price: $40 for kids, $80-$240 for adults
• Website: https://lawlessforge.com/
• Telephone: (206) 552-8341
• Email: info@lawlessforge.com
• Location: 3600 Marginal Way S Seattle, WA 98134
• Hours: 9am-9pm

Lawless forge stands out from other blacksmithing classes due to its organizational ability and variety of offerings. They offer everything from 1 on 1 private classes, professionally done corporate outings, and everything in between. Their group rates are cheaper the more people you bring, making it a great group activity for co-workers or family. They also offer public classes, which allow you to show up solo for a cheaper rate than you would otherwise get.

They have incredible online reviews. As of the time of this writing, they have a 5 star rating, and over 500 reviews on google reviews. They have a 5 star rating on yelp, with over 150 reviews, and have a 5 star rating on facebook with thousands of check ins and followers.

Most of their classes are focused on helping you walk out of the class with a unique hand crafted item such as damascus steel ring, bottle opener, or knife. This allows you to learn new skills and walk away with a one of a kind item in a short 3 hour class.

As  I alluded to earlier, these folks run a more organized and professional outfit than you will find in most places, they are worth checking out if you are in the Seattle area!

2) Red Troll Forge

• Type: Blacksmithing, Bladesmithing
• Classes: Private classes arranged on an individual basis
• Price: $250 for individuals, $400 for 2-4 students
• Website: http://www.redtrollforge.com/
• Telephone: (360) 921-3804
• Location: PO Box 87313 Vancouver, WA 98687

Classes are taught by Nick Marcelija, a champion of History Channels Forged In fire. He is an expert blacksmith and bladesmith, and will provide some of the best lessons in blacksmithing available in the southwest region of Washington.

He offers a number of classes such as: a class on blacksmithing basics, an axe class, a knife blade class, a class on knife handles, and finally a class all about damascus.

He covers a number of techniques such as punching, drifting, bar folding, flattening, tapering, drawing out, upsetting, bending, splitting, twisting, riveting, and punching.

He also covers forge construction, anvil selection, and hammers. To find out which techniques are taught in which class, check out his website!

3) Fire Horse Forge

• Type: Bladesmithing, Blacksmithing
• Classes: public, private classes available for beginner through advanced students. Classes take place over 2-3 days.
• Price: $535-$975
• Website: https://www.firehorseforge.co/
• Telephone: (206) 229-6008
• Email: firehorseforge@gmail.com
• Location: 1415 NW 49th St Ballard, WA 98107

Fire Horse Forge is the brainchild of a fellow named David. Growing up, David’s parents once told him that he was “from a different time”, so it only seems natural that he would one day stumble into the art of hand forging works of art.

It was a gradual process, he began working with jewelry and metal at the age of 15. He transitioned to forging gradually after taking a sculpture course in college in 1982. He began forging full time in 1992, roughly 4 years later, and has never looked back.

David is a skilled craftsman, and has done many ornate and beautiful private commissions over the years, to get an idea what he is about, check out the pictures at the bottom of his about page: https://www.firehorseforge.co/about-david

David offers a number of classes on knifemaking. These classes include making a “brut de forge” style blade, a chef’s knife, and a damascus chef knife.

These classes run 2-3 days, 9am-5pm. They are very in-depth, and done in small groups, making them great for people with investigative personalities who want to understand everything that they are making in detail. 

In these classes he goes over: ergonomics and stance, efficiency at the anvil, forging, heat treating, handle preparation, grinding, final assembly, design and layout, differential heat treating, grinding, handle selection, profiling, and edge geometry.

4) Thorne Metals Studio

• Type: Blacksmithing
• Classes: Individual and group classes available
• Price: $200 for groups, $400 for individual students
• Website: https://www.thornemetals.com/#home-section
• Telephone: (360) 293-8257
• Location: 13751 Daybreak Ln Anacortes, WA 98221

Thorne metals sudio is owned and operated by Paul Thorne, a blacksmith with a truly BEAUTIFUL portfolio of work. I highly recommend you go to his website and check out his “portfolio tab” as it will not only bolster his credibility as a craftsman and teacher, but will also provide inspiration as to what is possible with your own future projects.

Paul teaches 3 different classes. Those classes are “introduction to blacksmithing”, “blacksmith tong making”, and a catchall “Specialty Classes”.

In “introduction to blacksmithing”, he focuses on how to make your own custom tools. He places special emphasis on the fundamentals of tool design, function, heat, force, tooling, and the iron itself. Using this knowledge, you will forge your own shepherd’s knife along with other basic tools. This class provides a solid foundation and is required for follow on group and private classes.

The next class is called “Blacksmith tong making”. In this class you will go into great detail on all things tongs. You will learn how to improve the tong jaws, joint and reins design, forging, assembly and fit, flat jaw, box jat, flat bar, pick-up, and other tong types will be addressed. Other topics include tong handling, size, material, forging style, and history.

Finally he teaches specialty classes. These can vary and depend on his availability and a supply of willing students.

5) The Old West Forge School of Blacksmithing

• Type: Blacksmithing
• Classes: Small group classes
• Price: $415 per class
• Website: http://www.oldwestforge.com/
• Telephone: (509) 493-4418
• Email: Tim@OldWestForge.com   
• Location: White Salmon, WA

Old West forge is located on Tim and Holly Middaugh’s farm in Klickitat County north of White Salmon Washington. It is here at the base of Mt. adams that you will learn forgecraft in classes that last for 3 days from 8am-4:30pm.

They offer a number of different classes aiming to instruct smiths of all skill levels. Their “beginning blacksmithing I & II” classes will you teach you the fundamentals of heat-treating, punching,drifting,tapering,drawing out, mortis and tenon joints, collars, scrolls, project layouts, and tongs. These courses are sequential, and completion of the first class is required for the second class.

They also offer “Intermediate blacksmithing I, II, and III. These classes build on the techniques taught in the first two classes, and will have you making freestanding lamps, fireplace sets, more complex tongs, garden gate components, in addition to studying mortise and tenon joints, slitting, and drifting to a further degree of detail.

Finally they offer the class “ Wizards, Cowboys, and Dragon heads”, this in my view is the coolest classes, as it focuses on forging heads out of steel. This is very difficult to do well, and it’s worthwhile learning the techniques taught in this class.

6) Kempf Forge

• Type: Blacksmithing, Bladesmithing 
• Classes: small group, private, full day, half day 
• Price: $60-$100 per hour 
• Website: https://kempfforge.com 
• Telephone: (360) 957-8087
• Location: Shelton, WA

These classes are taught by Ethan Kempf, a bladesmith who has been forging professionally since 2015. He is self taught, has a very successful online store selling knives, and is a Forged in Fire champion.

He teaches a number of classes in his forge, which is located in Shelton Washington roughly 30 minutes northwest of Olympia, Washington.

He has two primary classes.

The first is a “basic forging” class which lasts about 4 hours. During those 4 hours you will go over tapering, rounding, points, upsetting, hooks, loops, triangles, brackets, wands ,punching and drifting holes, making spatulas and BBQ forks, and much more.

His second kind of class focuses solely on blades. He leaves it up to you to decide what you want to work on. In the past he has helped people make axes, battle knives, chef’s knives, hunting knives, and even everyday carry knives. He generally tries to get the project done in one day.

Classes are by arrangement only, and he expects payment after the course is over, preferably in cash.

Ethan is an incredibly skilled bladesmith, I recommend everyone check out his instagram as he has some truly spectacular blades. He makes everything from practical everyday blades, to blades that look like they belong in a fantasy RPG or a Cthulhu sacrificial ritual. I’m a fan, seriously.-

7) Morgan Jade Ironworks and Forge (Eastern Washington)

• Classes: small group, full day, two days 
• Price: $400-$9,900
• Website: http://www.morganjadeironworks.com/
• Telephone: (509) 413-9727
• Email: david@morganjadeironworks.com
• Location: 2403 E Euclid, Spokane WA 99207

These classes are taught by a fellow named David Kaily, who makes some absolutely breathtaking railings and gates – take a minute to check out his gallery if you can. 

Having been exposed to smithing at a young age, David felt drawn to smith work, and took a class in 2011 to expand his abilities. Having fully caught the smithing bug, he has spent his time since then making commission art projects, railings, and gates.

David, through his company Morganjadeironworks – which I will shorten to MJI from now on – offers both an 8 hr day class for $400, and a 2-4 week blacksmithing school.

The 8 hour classes are customized to your needs, so if you have a special area of interest, they will tailor your day to fit your needs!

The blacksmithing classes last between 2-4 weeks. They are quite spendy, but you get some high quality equipment including a forge, an anvil, a post vise, and a bunch of other blacksmithing tools to go with your education.

If you already have some tooling of your own, you may deduct their expenses from your class tuition.

Are there any blacksmithing classes in the Tri-Cities area of Washington?

I couldn’t find any, your best bet is to go to Spokane and work with the folks at morganjadeironworks. If you know of any classes in the Tri-Cities area, email me GallivantingCraftsman@instructor.net

8) Alderleaf Wilderness College

• Type: Blacksmithing, Bladesmithing 
• Classes: small group, full day, two days 
• Price: $450 
• Website: https://www.wildernesscollege.com 
• Telephone: (360) 793-8709
• Location: College: 18715 299th Ave SE, Monroe, WA 98272  Specific Class: Nordland, WA 

These guys don’t host classes very often, but when they do it’s from the interesting perspective of wilderness survival. They made a knife tailored for bushcraft out of recycled car springs. Students learn all the fundamentals of forging such as heat treatment and tempering their blades. The class was previously taught by Erik Newquist, an expert in tool making.

They may be worth checking out, but I don’t think they are a reliable source of classes.

title image source

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Luckily, swapping out your old jaws with new ones is super simple. Most metalworking vises (like my yost 750-DI) have jaws that are held on by two little screws.

Turn those screws counter clockwise until they come out. Pull the jaws off your vise. Put your new jaw pads on, and re-screw the two screws by turning them clockwise.

Viola, that’s it! Just make sure to choose jaws that are the appropriate jaw width for your vise.

How to make your vise jaws last longer

As I said earlier, hard scratches soft. Having jaws that are made of a harder material than your work projects will help your jaws last longer. The downside is that having harder jaws increases your chances of marring your work project.

Another thing you can do is avoid clamping with excessive force. This will make every part of your vise last longer, not just your jaws.

When to replace your vise jaws

Replace your jaws when they become uneven, or the serrated edges become smooth. If it feels like it’s getting harder to clamp objects down, it’s time to replace them.

The post How to replace the jaws on a metalworking vise appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

The first step to mounting a metalworking vise (sometimes spelled vice) is to pick the right table to mount it on. A good mid range vise will weigh up to 50 or 60 pounds, with more expensive models weighing even more. You will want a heavy table with a wide sturdy base. You also want table legs that end in wide feet. Avoid narrow and light tables; these tables run the risk of tipping over or breaking under heavy workloads.

Position of vise on shop table

Once you have selected the proper shop table, it’s time to to pick the spot where you will place your vise. Conventional wisdom dictates that right handed people should place their vise on the left corner of your shop table. Left handed people should do the opposite, and place their vise on the right hand side of the table. Make sure to place your vise close enough to the edge that all handles, rotating jaws/heads, and swivel bases are free to move without impediment. It’s very easy to test this before bolting your vise by actually moving the different vise pieces around and ensuring that no piece bonks into the table. I also recommend placing a LONG piece of stock into the vise jaws to make sure that it can clear the table when placed vertically.

People with multiple vises in their shop will sometimes place the extra vise in the middle of their table along the edge. This is fine if you have vises to spare, but I wouldn’t recommend doing this for your first vise. A vise that is not placed on the corner will have limited mobility if it has rotating heads and swivel bases. It will also be more awkward placing some work pieces in a vise that is not on the corner.

Some people will install an additional piece of wood or metal underneath the table to beef up flimsier tables. My yost 750-di instruction manual recommends a 18″x18″x2″ piece of wood or 18″x18″x1/4″ metal plate for this task.

Once you have the vise in a working position, mark your table through the vise boltholes for drilling.

Drill Bolt Holes

Drill the bolt holes where you marked them. Place your vise over the drilled holes and put your bolt through the vise bolt holes. Lock the bolts by placing a lock washer on the underside of the bolt and sealing it into place with a fastening nut. U

And viola, you are done. The actual installing of the bolts isn’t too bad, but it is important to get the placement correct so that you are not drilling holes all over your table.

Another recommendation I have is to use the bolts recommended by the manufacturer. For example: my yost 750-di is supposed to use grade 5 hex bolts that are at least 2″ longer than the table thickness.

Mounting a Portable Vise

There are different types of mounts on portable vises. The most common is basically just a C clamp. To use it, turn the clamp handle counter clockwise to open the clamp. Place the clamp on a smooth flat part of your workbench, and the turn the handle clockwise to tighten the clamp. The only real gotcha here is that many work surfaces will have ridges on the underside of the table, these can compromise the clamping ability of your vise if you do not account for them.

It’s not a bad idea to test the sturdiness of your clamp job with a little shake. You don’t want the vise falling off the table when it is burdened with your work piece.

Smaller vises will sometimes have a vacuum clamp. These are generally not intended for metalworking, and I don’t recommend using them.

The post How to mount a metalworking vise appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

Clamp the vise to the Table

Most models of table vise will have a c clamp on the underside of the vise. Turn the clamp screw counter clockwise until the clamp opening is slightly larger than the surface you will clamp it to. Take this time to make sure there is no debris or dirt on either end of the clamp pad as this may affect how well your vise clamps to the table. Once the clamp is open and free of debris, clamp it to the work table by turning the screw counterclockwise. C clamps work best on a surface that is flat and smooth. A surprising number of tables have ridges on the underside of the table or awkwardly placed brackets, so make sure to check where these are before clamping.

Open Vise Jaws

Once your table vise is properly clamped to the table, check the vise leadscrew and make sure there is no debris stuck in the screw. Dirt,grime, and shavings of any kind will greatly increase the wear and tear of your vise screw. This is less of an issue on vise models where the leadscrew is hidden inside a slide or a case.

Once you have determined your vise is clean, open the jaws by turning the handle counter clockwise.

Close Vise Jaws

Once the vise jaws are open, place your work piece inside the vise jaws and turn the lead screw clockwise. Turn the vise handle until the jaws are clamping your work piece firmly enough that it won’t move around, but don’t overdo it. If you clamp your vise too tightly, you run the risk of ruining either your work piece or your vise.

Ball Joint Vises

Many table vises have a ball join at the base of the vise that allows you to swivel the vise in nearly any direction. Locking and unlocking this vise is as simple as turning the handle attached near the ball joint. Most vises will come with a set of instruction that will clearly indicate which handle to turn.

The post How to use a table vise appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

Weight

Table vises are small tools, they must be in order to be portable. It’s not good having to lug around a 50lb vise. As such, most table vises weight between 2lb and 8lb. That’s roughly 1kg to 4kg in the metric system.

In contrast, most metal working vises are between 20lb and 50lb (9kg to 23kg), with some going up to 200lbs!

Jaw Width

The jaw width is a measure of how wide the jaws are along the horizontal axis. It measured by taking the length between the top of one side of the jaw, to the otherside of the same jaw.

Again, table vises come in smaller sizes than other vise varieties, with sizes ranging between 1.5″ and 3″ (roughly 40mm to 75mm).

Jaw Opening

The jaw opening measurement measures how wide a pair of jaws can be opened.

The smallest table vises will have jaw opening of around 1″, with larger vises having 4″. That’s roughly 30mm to 100m in the metric system.

Throat Depth

The throat depth measures how much space is between the top of the jaw pad and the top of the screw/slide. It is a good measure to see how big of a work pieces you can fit in between the jaw pads. Most table vises come within 1 inch of 1 inch (roughly 30mm).

Clamp Opening

This measures how big the c clamp screw is, and determines what surfaces you can attach your table vise to.

The clamp opening can vary from 1″ to 3″ (roughly 20-30mm).

How To Choose A Table Vise

Without knowing your intended purpose, it’s hard for me to give a specific and helpful answer to this question. But I will try anyways.

The number one mistake I see new vise owners make is they don’t pay enough attention to throat depth when buying a vise. Vise sellers love to promote the jaw width of a vise (which is important), but they tend to undersell the throat depth for whatever reason and bury it in the middle of their sales copy. Throat depth can be a huge limiter in what size of work pieces you can clamp in your vise, make sure to pay close attention to it.

Another mistake I see is people make is that they over-optimize on price and buy a vise just big enough for their intended purpose. What ends up happening is they eventually go on to buy 5 vises over time, as they always bought the smallest vise possible and kept having to buy bigger vises as their needs grew.

It’s generally a good idea to buy a vise 1.5x bigger than your current intended use. It’s much easier to put a small work piece in a bigger vise than it is to put a big work piece in a small vise.

But I understand no one has unlimited funds, and smaller vises are generally cheaper.

Another thing to consider is whether you should buy a table vise at all. If you don’t need the portability that the c clamp of a table vise provides, you may be better off just buying a bigger stationary engineers vise or metalworking vise. I have a guide where I go into details into what you should look for when purchasing one of the larger vises.

The post What table vice sizes are available? appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

As such, it’s not possible for me to give super definitive answers as to what the different types of table vise are, I will instead do my best to generalize the vise market as I personally see it. You will find exceptions to all the rules I write below.

That may seem a bit pedantic, but I think it’s important to remember this lack of centralized standards. A quick look at vises being sold on amazon will show you just how much variation there is in the naming of vises.

With that vise naming got’cha out of the way, let’s take a quick peek at some of the different types of table vises.

Hobby Vise

A hobby vise is an ideal vise for small arts and crafts. You will commonly find hobby vises used in:

• Jewelry making
• Model making
• Sculpting
• Gluing operations
• Soldering
• Electronics

A hobby vise will be lighter and smaller than an engineers vise. A hobby vise will usually be made out of aluminum and will have a soft material for the vise jaws – at least compared to the serrated hardened steel jaws you will find on a lot of metal working vises.

Smaller and softer? That doesn’t sound like a good thing! Well these design choices make a hobby vise A LOT cheaper than a solid metal working vise. If you know you will only ever work with small arts and crafts, a hobby vise will get the job done and save you a lot of money.

Jeweler’s Vise

As the name suggests, a jeweler’s vise is specifically aimed at the making of jewelry. There is a lot of overlap between a jeweler’s vise and a hobby vise. Most jeweler’s vises are small and made of aluminum – although I do occasionally see cast iron jeweler’s vises that are selling well. Most jeweler’s vises on the market at the time of writing have a C-clamp for table attachment, and quite a few models have a swivel ball joint at the base.

Multi-Angled Vise

A multi angled vise is usually just a vise with a ball joint. As I mentioned earlier in the article, both hobby vises and jewelers vises can have a ball joint as well. A vise labeled as a multi-angled vise is just making this feature it’s primary selling point.

Because remember, there are no standards for vise naming.

This ball joint make it easy to move the vise to accommodating positions for unusually shaped work pieces. It’s also useful for making angled cuts and detail work, as you can position the vise in such a way as to maximize your own comfort.

All of these table vises are on the smaller side, and are not meant for heavy work such as working with steel. If you are looking for something a bit beefier, check out my guide to the 3 best bench vises.

The post What are the different types of table vise? appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

With that being said, I will try and generalize what I NORMALLY see, but you will find exceptions to all the generalizations I write below.

That may seem a bit nit-picky, but a quick glance at table vises on amazon will illustrate just how much variation in naming there is.

With that necessary pedantry about naming out of the way, let’s get down to it : ).

What is a table vise? A table vise is generally a small portable device that fits neatly onto a table. These vises usually have a c clamp underneath them that allows you to quickly attach and detach the vise to the table. This stands in contrast to mounted or bolted vises, which need to be permanently bolted onto a work station. Bolted vises tend to be larger than vises with c clamps. There is also a third base type, known as a vacuum base. These act like a giant suction cup that sticks your vise to the table. You engage the suction action through a handle. In my personal experience, these vacuum vises are unreliable, but I’m sure there are high quality vacuum base vises out there.

Like all vises, a table vise will have a movable jaw and a stationary jaw. The movable jaw is moved towards and away from the stationary jaw via a lead screw. The lead screw is turned by a handle.

Attached to the two vise jaws will be serrated jaw pads made out of hardened steel. These are the vise jaws you most commonly see on metalworking vises. I occasionally find vises labeled as “table vises” with the broad woodworking jaw pad, but this is less common.

The problem with serrated pads made out of steel is that they will often scratch or mar the work pieces placed within them, especially if you clamp the jaws too tightly. This is because hard materials tend to scratch soft materials. To get around this you can purchase jaw covers made out of rubber,plastic,leather, aluminum, and other softer materials that won’t scratch your work as badly. These jaw covers are also easy to replace as they wear out.

What is the body of a table vise made out of?

Most heavier vises are made out of cast ductile iron or cast gray iron. You will occasionally find smaller vises made out of aluminum, and larger vises made out of forged steel, but the vast majority of vises are ductile or gray iron. Ductile iron is usually the best material for the price (in my opinion), but if you want more details, I wrote a whole article on the different materials a vise body can be made out of.

What are table vise lead screws made out of? What about the handle?

The lead screws are usually made out of hardened high carbon steel. This is ideal as you need a material that is hard enough to resist the wear and tear that a lead screw will endure, but it must not be so brittle that it will completely snap under high clamping loads. Lower carbon steels are too soft and need constant repair. High carbon cast irons are too brittle and will fracture too quickly.

The handle can be steel or a softer material like aluminum. Some manufacturers actually design their handle to bend under high clamping loads to try and discourage you from clamping things too tightly and breaking your vise. Whether you actually want this feature or not is up to you.

A table vise can come with a number of optional features such as:

• swivel base
• pipe jaws
• anvil
• tilting mechanism
• quick release
• ball and socket swivel

What is a table vise used for?

A table vise can be used for a number of things such as:

• glueing
• filing
• sawing
• holding steel rods and bars
• holding lumber
• holding pipes
• drilling
• screwing
• buffing
• grinding

Just remember that a table vise is generally smaller in stature. If you plan on subjecting your vise to heavy workloads, you may have better luck searching for “engineers vise” or “metalworking vise”. I review some on my article on bench vises for sale.

The post What is a table vise? appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

Release the screw

To start, rotate the handle locking your slide in place counterclockwise until it is no longer locked.

Remove The Jaw

Once the slide is unlocked, remove the movable jaw and slide from the base of the vise.

Rotate the vise

Rotate the vise 180 Degrees and get it ready to reinsert on the other side of the vise body.

Insert slide

Insert the slide back into the vise body from the opposite direction that you started.

Re-lock the screw.

Turn the handle you turned at the beggining of this article clockwise to lock the jaw and slide in place.

Clamp Workpiece

Place your work piece within the vise jaws and clamp it tightly by turning the lead screw handle clockwise.

The post How to reverse the jaws on a reversible vise appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

Some vises, like my yost750-di vise, have a pin that you pull to unlock the heads rotation abilities. After pulling the pin, push the vise head to the angle you want. Once you have the vise head at the angle you want, simply let go of the pin and it will re-lock once it finds a preset position. It is important to make sure that your vise is locked in place, you don’t want it to wiggle around once you start working on your work piece as this could be dangerous for both you and your equipment. It usually makes a large clicking sound when the pin slides into place and locks the vise head.

Other vises have a handle you that pull to unlock and lock the vise head.

It’s honestly pretty straight forward, most vises will come with an instruction manual when purchased new that will give more details. It’s hard for me to provide specifics when there are so many different models of rotating vises.

If you are buying used, you can usually find the owner’s manual or additional materials such as an isometric view that will help you figure out how to rotate the jaws on your vise.

If you are looking to purchase a rotating vise, make sure to check out my review of the yost 750-DI, and my review of the best 3 work benches.

The post How to rotate the jaws on a rotating vise appeared first on Gallivanting Craftsman.

Mounting your vise

The first step is to mount your vise to a table or workstations. It’s considered best practice to bolt your vise to the corner of your table. Mounting it in the middle of your table can be done, but it does cause a number of problems such as:

• Not being able to work ergonomically as the table is in the way
• Not being able to fit your work piece into the vise as it will bump into the table
• Vises that have rotating heads (which are quite tall) may bump into the table if there is not enough room

That being said, don’t make this a bigger deal than it is. I know of several people that have 3+ vises and they will often have one on each corner, and one in the middle. The middle one works just fine.

Most right handers will mount their vise on the left hand corner, with left handed people mounting their vise on the right hand corner. I must confess I don’t know why this is. I once heard it’s a tradition from woodworking as it’s easier to plane boards by moving the planer towards the vise. Most vise instruction manuals will recommend this configuration as well.

Again, just do what makes most sense for your shop and setup.

Open Vise Jaws

This part is easy. To open your vise jaws, rotate the handle counter clockwise to open the jaws. Open the jaws until they are wide enough to hold your work piece.

Place Vise Jaw Pads (If Needed)

If you are working with softer materials like wood, brass, or aluminum, it may be worthwhile to place a vise jaw pad on your vise to prevent the vise from scratching or marring your work. As a simple rule: hard scratches soft. A vise jaw cover made of softer materials can help protect your work.

Clamp Your Vise Jaws

To close your jaws around your workpiece, turn the vise handle clockwise. Make sure your vise is clamping down firmly enough to prevent the work-piece from wiggling around, but don’t overdo it. Clamping with excessive pressure will scratch your work piece and will increase the wear and tear on your vise.

If the piece you are clamping is long or unwieldy, make sure to support it with an adjustable stand or table at the far end of the piece. This takes strain of your vise making it last longer, and provides additional support to whatever you are clamping.

Rotating the vise head on multi jaw vises

Many multi-purpose vises will have two different jaw heads on the vise. To rotate the vise in order to access the other head is straight forward. Pull the pin that locks the head in place (the exact location of this can vary by vise), and then push your vise until it begins to rotate.

And that’s it! Make sure to enjoy your new piece of equipment. If you don’t have a vise yet, and are just doing research, make sure to check out my guide.

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