How to Build a Budget Moxon Vise | Woodworking Shop Project (DIY)

Moxon vise hardware kit: amzn.to/3zAZy3F
In this video, I show you how to make a moxon vise with some short boards and a $40 moxon vise hardware set that I got from Amazon. The Moxon vise is a really handy woodworking vise because it accepts wide boards, making it great for dovetails, mortise and tenon, and other joinery. I also cover in this video how to attach a small tabletop workbench to your moxon vise, adding more utility and capability to the moxon vise. I hope you enjoy this video about my moxon vise, and if you do, please consider hitting the thumbs up button or leaving a comment to let me know.
⏳ Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:37 Milling lumber
01:38 Gluing the vise workbench top
02:19 Constructing the Moxon vise jaws
04:28 Beveling the jaw for hand sawing
04:54 The vise workbench legs
06:38 Attaching the vise jaws to the tabletop workbench
07:58 Flattening the tabletop workbench's table
08:35 Applying finish
🛠️ Tools and materials
▸ Moxon vise hardware kit: amzn.to/3zAZy3F
▸ Bosch 12V MAX Drill/Driver combo: amzn.to/3C5YhB3
▸ SawStop 1.75-HP Contractor Saw: amzn.to/3db9cv3
▸ Bosch Router: amzn.to/2DbmL1l
▸ Zetsaw Japanese Pull Saws: amzn.to/2ZwJMTS
▸ More tools: bit.ly/bikecity-shop
▸ Disclosure: Links to tools and material are affiliate links. Any purchases made using these links will help support this channel at no additional cost to you. We really appreciate your support!
👋 Who I am
My name's Brian, and I'm a content creator and founder of Bike City Woodworks. I love learning about woodworking and enjoy sharing my knowledge in my spare time.
🚲 Support Bike City Woodworks
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🎶 Music in this video
▸ Epidemic Sound

[@ferdinandbasques7715]

TRES BELLE REALISATION.... TRES BELLES PRISES DE VUES. FELICITATIONS. 👍👍👍👍

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Thanks!

[@dfinma]

This is really awesome 👍

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tmarticle2065]

Professional Channel 🔔🔔👍👍👍

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Thank you so much 👍

[@Canio567]

Its a bin. Wow!

[@soledude]

Nice finish. Love the gradients. 👌👌👌

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Thanks!

[@Klingonbr]

Excelente!

[@howler5000]

Nice build!

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Appreciate it!

[@mikemason5108]

Just found your channel. Great videos so far. Nice to see some Nor. Cal. wood workers on here (I am in Modesto). Keep up the good work!

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Much appreciated Mike!

[@garypopa6384]

The legs dadoed into the top create a cross-grain situation, eventually may result in a bow or cracked top. One way to correct this (design) is to make the leg grain up-and-down or use clips to attach the top and only gluing the top to the rear jaw.

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Great feedback, Gary, thanks! With such small pieces, many of which being quarter-sawn, the resulting wood movement is pretty small in terms of total distance. Additionally, the polyurethane finish makes it a **little** more moisture-resistant than if it were oiled, so that will help mitigate movement even more. If this were a dining table, I would definitely think twice before attaching the legs like this.

[@vargasox]

great job the vise looks amazing. Wish I saw this before building my moxon :/ I’m also contemplating dog holes or match fit dovetails

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Go for it!

[@kle2217]

Cool! I like adding the extra table top platform in the back. I think I'd like to do this. I need a portable wood vise like this as I don't have room to add another whole workbench to my shop and this seems the cheapest. Could you use pine like 2x4 for this? Or is hardwood better for the vise? Cheap like poplar or oak, or exotic wood like purple heart? Woodcraft always seems to have this on sale. Could the vise jaws be thinner than 1.5" or even thicker? thx

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

You could definitely use pine but you’ll get more marks in it than If you used any hardwood, like even poplar. The jaws can be slightly thinner - I wouldn’t go less than 1.25” though because the jaws might flex under pressure. Thicker is fine, but it’ll make it heavier. In all, you can definitely customize!

[@richardfenton6975]

Good description and a well filmed. I wish woodworkers would say what wood you used. This would help those of use are learning

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Appreciate the kind words! Since this was just scraps of other projects,I’m not sure what all was in it beyond walnut and maple!

[@elboincc]

Nice project. I think I know why you went with a platform behind the jaws vs just the jaws and a brace but can you explain your design ideas?

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Thank you - I went with the platform this time because it’s so useful for dovetailing. The platform brings the work a little higher, making it more comfortable for chiseling. Additionally, when I’m transferring lines from the tail board to the pin board, it’s much easier to level out the tail board. Without that platform, there is about a 4-5” difference between the workbench and the top of the vice jaws.

[@jeromegagnon3787]

made one almost like yours, down to the epoxied knot on the front jaw. made some dovetail slots for microjig clamps and hardware and its the best thing ever. currently building an overbuilt moravian bench. i can recoment the dovetail slots, makes holding pieces so versatile.

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Great idea! Are dovetail clamps pretty strong in the grooves? I always feel like I would put too much pressure on them and ruin it.

[@jeromegagnon3787]

@@BikeCityWoodworks built mine out of maple and cherry, haven't had any problems yet and i tend to torque those clamps like a savage. fact is im more affraid of breaking a clamp than breaking the slot walls. if the slots are cut correctly and in hardwood, i see no reasons for them to break. the only drawback is that these slots are a debris magnet. keep a small brush around ;-)

[@richardc6932]

There are numerous Moxom vice builds on KZbin. Not sure why individuals like the threaded rod projecting out the front. Why not include dog holes or dovetail grooves on the table for hold own clamps?

[@georgebarronjr]

Thank you for the Moxon vice video. I’m definitely going to build one. However, I have a question about your Delta jointer. I need a jointer and there is one for sale near me that looks exactly like yours. It has a good price on it. But it has no cutter head guard and I can’t find replacement parts. In your video it looks like yours was missing too and you or someone else made a replacement . If it was you can you share how you did this? Thanks, George Barron

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Sure! The jointer is pretty good, although I'd recommend getting a helical head for it. I was also spooked by the lack of a guard, so I made it myself. It's basically just an inch-thick cutting board, cut into a pork-chop shape with a hole as big as the hole in the table. The real key is that the jointer still had the cutter guard spring in it. That makes sure it can spring back and forth without any further modification. If yours doesn't have the spring still installed in it, then you might have to do something different. But my process was as follows: 1. Glue up the pieces into a cutting board 2. Cut the general rounded shape, and finesse it. 3. Drill the hole for the post. 4. Get two nylon washers (one for directly above and one for below the guard), a nylock nut, and a piece of half-inch all-thread about 6-8 inches long. 5. Cut the half-inch all-thread down to length, then using a grinder cut a vertical notch into one end. This will contact the stock spring in the jointer table. 6. Install the all-thread, making sure the spring indexes inside the notch. 7. Install one nylon washer, then the guard. 8. Install the second nylon washer. 9. Install the nylock nut, making sure to tighten it just enough so the guard doesn't move, but can still move back and forth. Too tight and it will stick open. Here's a bit more on it: instagram.com/p/CJtWKYYjrBG/ Hope this helps!

[@georgebarronjr]

@@BikeCityWoodworks Thank you! This is great info. I think the price on this jointer is good enough that I'd have room in the budget for a helical head. It is on Craig's list and the seller is slow to respond to questions but I'll see if he can tell if the return spring is still there. If not I'll pass. I'm not a safety freak but I just don't like the idea of an exposed cutter head.

[@user-ip3yw8hc1k]

💥💥💥👌👍😎

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

🤜 🤛

[@romlyn99]

6:19 Using a wood vise (I assume not a Moxon Vise) to make the legs to go on your Moxon Vise. So do I need to make that other vise first? LOL

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

If only there were other ways to hold work 😉

[@johnkrasny7336]

Where did you get your hardware?

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Amazon! There’s a link in the description and another comment reply

[@contessa.adella]

Sadly every Moxon hardware kit I can find are ludicrously expensive…all these woodworking channels sport these vices and seem to imply the parts are relatively cheap. Well, two metal handwheels (or your lever style here), two 8” course thread 3/4” rods and four nuts to match is like 120 Bucks…You don’t even get a short plank of wood in that “kit”. It’s an insane rip off of about 4x the true value! How you can source the metal parts for 40 Bucks is beyond me! So I won’t be building one anytime soon…from anybodys design.☹️

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Unfortunately handwheels are much more expensive than the wing nut style. But the one I have is pretty affordable, here’s the link: amzn.to/3zAZy3F

[@tomt9543]

I recently built a portable workbench following an episode of 3X3 Custom, and it featured a Moxon vise using a TayTools kit. I honestly didn’t feel like the price was unreasonable, but always eager to challenge myself, I scratch built the thing for nearly nothing! I took a couple 3/4” nuts and welded 2 steel rods on each, angled like the cast ones in the kit, and had a couple old pieces of 3/4 all thread that I managed to salvage 2 8” pieces from. Not being a fan of the threaded rods sticking way out the front, I welded the wing nuts to the end of the all thread, and captured two 3/4” square nuts in the bottom of the workbench. The result is never having to deal with things (arms, hands, clothing etc) getting hit or hung on the protruding rod! The finished product has been much handier than I ever imagined!

[@airnashville3883]

Go pick up one piece of 3/4" all thread, 4 nuts and a couple of large washers for

[@jimgersky]

Jesus christ, its a vice, not Smithsonian art, overkill anyone?

[@BikeCityWoodworks]

Why is its design aesthetic offensive to you?