Bench vise soft jaws

[Greasyfingers]

I need to purchase some soft jaws for my vise. Prices are all over place. Snap-on quoted me $72 for some aluminum ones and I see them on Amazon in the low $20 range.
Anyone have any recommendations for a good quality set of aluminum and nylon jaws? I would like buy to something that's going to last more than a few uses.

Thanks for any input,
Aaron

 

[pauly]

I made a set of aluminum ones for mine. They were simple rectangular in shape. Depends on how complex the shape is. At the price difference, you could buy three sets of the $20 ones for the price of the others.

 

[toolmanmike]

You need to buy soft jaws to match your vice. Very few vices made in the last 50 years use the same jaw dimensions. Make your own.

 

[67Dart273]

You can also make them out of scrap copper. If you know of or are "friendly" with an HVAC/R outfit, see if they have some scrap copper tube. You can anneal the hard copper then just clamp a piece in the vise and hammer form it to the jaws, trim the access etc. And as above---you can do the same thing with scrap aluminum. It must be soft, and I'm no expert on aluminum alloy

 

[moparmat2000]

Check at lowes or home depot in the metals section. Pick up some extruded aluminum angle, and cut it down to fit the jaws.

 

[DFX 340 Duster]

How soft? A set of rubber inserts came with my vise. They act like fingers or an extra hand. Different rubber compounds would give different hardness properties. Same with nylon. Some types of aluminum will deform depending on the pressure applied.

 

[Alaskan_TA]

Scraps of plywood work too. Easy to work with and cheap to replace as needed.

 

[Greasyfingers]

The jaws on Wilton vise put deep marks in anything I clamp in it. Which is fine, but sometimes I just need a light grab with no marring.

 

[MoparMike1974]

I have aluminum ones and nylon ones and in my opinion wood works better. The nylon ones work but you cant clamp too tight

 

[str12-340]

subscribed!

 

[jos51700]

Most of 'em are a 'rectangle' with four fingers coming off at odd angles, and you just bend the fingers around to clamp 'em on.
You can use anything from pop cans to sheet lead to play-dough. Mcmaster has these for stupid money.

Ebay has these

Out of stock but easy to make/do. 4" Bench Vise Aluminum Soft Jaws 1 Set (2pcs) fits Yost, Wilton, Columbia, USA | eBay

 

[Darter6]

Pick up some extruded aluminum angle,

Did this and have been using them for 20+ years now.

 

[Greasyfingers]

So, I purchased a set of these. They are really soft on my painted parts. www.bluejawz.com
They are american made to boot.
I also picked up some aluminum angle to make a different set.

 

[Tooljunkie]

For round, i use a chunk of 2x4 and hole saw the size i need. Then split the block with a jigsaw. Grips nice.

 

[gzig5]

So, I purchased a set of these. They are really soft on my painted parts. www.bluejawz.com
They are american made to boot.
I also picked up some aluminum angle to make a different set.View attachment 1715827198

I like the look of these blue ones and snagged a grooved set for myself. I usually do/make most stuff myself, but this seemed to be worth it. I do a lot of gunsmithing and sometimes the leather jaws don't hold like I need.