I had been using my Wilton vise with good results till I got to the stock shaping phase of my build. I had my eye on the wood river "pattern makers / gun stock carving vise" for some time now. I liked the movement of the jaws to clamp non parallel surfaces.
I also needed a better support system to hold the rifle on either side of the vise. So this is what I came up with. Smart Dog thanks for the dimensions of your vise!! That enabled me to start building the supports while my vise was on back order.
I bought two 24" lengths of Incra-track from wood craft. They use standard 1/4" hex head bolts. I in-letted them into my bench top on either side of the vise. This gives me all the freedom I need to move the supports where ever I need them.
The supports are made out of red oak. The knobs for locking them in place on the bench and clamping the dovetail for the vertical adjustment are also made by Incra.
The T shaped posts that ride in the dovetail that the rifle will actually rest on are two different lengths to give me flexibility as far as what side I need to use. I also plan to cover these in leather.
This was my previous set-up.
This is the new set-up.
This picture shows the maximum reach of the support.
