modified vise jaws for swamped barrel ?

[mikemeteor]

Ordered all the parts for my next build.
Includes a 42" swamped barrel from Colerain.
Seem to recall there was some way of installing "floating" or pivoting jaws in one's vise, so they could adjust and grip a swamped barrel at any orientation.

Can anyone help me out here with a picture or a explanation of how to make these?

much obliged.
MM

 

[Roy]

I have never had a need for pivoting jaws for a barrel the amount of taper in 4 to 6" is really not to great, and my jaw pads never have slipped yet. :v I wouldn't too much worry about it.
Now I do think at times pivoting jaws would be nice for getting a hold on different objects... :haha:

 

[Eric Krewson]

I made these jaw pads by copying the pivoting kind leaning against the vise. I actually like the wooden ones better than the pivoting type.

 

[Birddog6]

Let's not make this difficult. Take pieces of .035 to .040 brass sheet stock about 2" wide and as long as the vice jaw. Put 1 piece in the vice just deep enough to cover the vice jaws & bend it over & flatten it with a hammer. Do the second sheet on the opposite jaw. (Lowe's has solid brass door kickplates for metal doors & a piece of that will last you a long time. Peal the magnetic stuff off as it is soft & smushy)

Put the barrel in the vice, add a piece of shim stock on the taper end & tighten it down good. Get a 12-15" Cresent wrench & take the plug out.
Caution:Watch you don't get over the tang area with the Cresent wrench jaws & smush it up. :thumbsup:

The key to taking breechplugs our & not messing up the barrel is a 6" wide jaw vice & a 12-15" cresent wrench & a 18" cheater to slide over the wrench. Seldom need a cheater but once in a blue moon. But the jaw width & substantial vice is Very important, so it has enough a$$ to hold the barrel good. And of course you need a substantial bench under the vice as well. :hmm:

 

[rigmarol]

I have a similar setup only I use sheets of lead I picked up in my lead scrounging. Got some old x-ray room lead shielding. Works great. Tighten as much as you like!

 

[Chuck Yoder]

I had the same problem. i found what I needed in a tool catalog but thought they were too expensive so I made my own from the picture. I hope I can explain how I did it. I used two scraps of hardwood about half to 3/4 in. thick to fit inside the jaws. Then take a piece of 3/4 hardwood dowel. Split it in half and place it in the center of the jaws between the wood and jaws.
The dowels seperate the hardwood pieces from the jaws allowing the hardwood to rotate a little just enough to grip uneven pieces to be held in the vice. Works like a charm. when you see how easy it works you can glue the dowel pieces to make them permanant. I would send a picture with this to show you how realy simple it is but these computers mess with my mind and I can't figure it out how to do it.

 

[Zonie]

Chuck
I hope this is where you wanted your answer to go.
It does fit the subject of the post.
Zonie.

My only comment about this post is, if you are clamping a barrel to remove or install a breech plug and using some form of wooden jaws they better be some real tough wood.

If there is any "give" to the wood jaws the barrel can easily rip its way out of them.

IMO, some sort of soft metal like brass, copper or lead would be best.

 

[Vaino]

Have jaw covers for the vice made from .090 thick copper sheet and these have sufficed for many breechplug ons and offs. For general clamping of the stock, w/ and w/o the bbl, the padded, wooden "H" type inserts, as pictured in a previous post, are all I use. 95% of the clamping in the vise is done w/ the bbl in the stock.....Fred

 

[Chuck Yoder]

I originally used hard wood because it is easier and less expensive than say brass or aluminum. The one I saw in the tool catalog I believe was made out of aluminum. The one I made of wood works great on holding the stock at the lock area since i don't use undo pressure to hold the stock. Just enough to hold it stable. To make one out of brass of other soft metal would probably work better for holding a barrel to remove a stubborn breach plug. I'm sure someone out there who needs one can come up with an idea that will work perfectly for them. good luck.

 

[Stophel]

I just put a piece of leather in the vise. For a tapered barrel, I just double the leather up towards the smaller side. No fuss, no muss.

Simplify, man! :wink:

 

[Birddog6]

That is what I have on the big vice. I like to hold the stock whenever possibly in 2 vices & try to keep the barrel in it whenever possibly.

But when I take a breechplug out, I flip the leather back & put the brass sheets in the big vice.

 

[Stophel]

I RARELY hold the stock in the vise beyond the barrel/ramrod inletting phase. Usually, I couldn't get it in the vise anyway. I should probably invest in a padded stock vise. I do most of the work on the stock in the lap vise.

 

[mikemeteor]

thanks gentlemen.

Went to take out my breech plug out of the new barrel for the first time - I tried the wood blocks, and like Zonie said, the wood crushed and the barrel just spun.

Tried some belt leather pads next, the leather split and the barrel spun.

who says I'm a slow learner ? :shake:

Flattened two piece of thin-walled copper tubing and shaped them to the vise jaws.
Stuck a small shim piece of copper in the taper gap.
Put the cheater bar on the wrench and the plug spun right out.

I made a homemade vise out of oak for my stock work - it's attached to a stout table in my shop.
Occasionally clamp the ends to the outrigger supports.

I do all the stock/woodworkin' stuff sitting down at the table.
This is supposed to be a relaxin hobby, ain't it?

 

[Birddog6]

ha ha ha !! :rotf: :rotf: I was expecting to next hear the vice came off the bench !! :rotf: :rotf:

I never had any luck with wood, leather, plastic, lead, etc. The brass plates worked. For years I didn't use anything as I would draw file the barrel anyway, so it didn't really matter. But one day had the brass plates there so I made the jaw covers.

Glad ya got it out. You will have it out Several times during a build..... :thumbsup: