Jameel,

I am going to make some modified shafts and lock pins to increase the versatility of the Moxon Vise so I thought I'd post the idea here for yourself and others to scratch your brains with.

Longer shafts are necessary for me to feed through the 5" bench and engage a pin into. Or, I can place the pin through the front face to gain another 2-1/2"


Modified shaft


Shaft lock pin


Pic #1 - direct bench-face mount as typical Moxon vise. A hole in the end of the shaft will allow a lock pin to drop down and hold the shaft from pulling out, it will also stop it from turning.

Pic #2 - using the screws as a 'press' style clamp. If the screw is required in the middle of the bench the pin engages from underneath the bench with a 2.5" loss of clamping width.

Pic #3 - the holdfast in the face of the bench is to show how the pin can be pushed in to go through a hole in the shaft to hold it in place.

I am having some difficulty finding suitable material to make the new shafts and will most likely have to get them made.

Attached Thumbnails

     

The threaded rod is probably a standard size available in various lengths from places like McMaster-Carr: McMaster-Carr

Why do you want to mount it to the face of the bench, flush with the top? You already have a leg vise and deadman for holding wide boards for working ends at that height. I'm not sure why you'd want to use a Moxon vise at bench height. What do you anticipate? And what do you expect to use the "press style" clamp for? Not trying to talk you out of anything, but I have some pretty strong feelings about workholding efficiency and anything that can be accomplished quicker and easier, without sacrificing anything is the way to go in my opinion. That's why I'm not a fan of twin-screws as face vises. But that's another topic. We love your bench by the way. A tad dark for our tastes, but otherwise very very nice.

Jameel, What is the thread size/pitch? No doubt a standard acme.

BenchCrafted.com - Moxon Vise

Product descriptions are your friend.

"Product descriptions are your friend." = 37 key strokes

"3/4"x 8 tpi acme" = 15 key strokes (quicker and easier is the way to go)

From MC previously:

Due to the complexity of U.S. Export regulations, McMaster-Carr has decided to only accept orders from a few, long-established customers of ours overseas. We will not accept your order and regret any inconvenience this causes you.

Y*******

Not good. I would imagine there are Australian industrial suppliers that wouldn't be such a shipping hassle.
I bought a 6' piece & nuts from Fastenal here in the U.S. at a bargain price. MSC is another large supplier that I believe still ships around the globe. MSC Industrial Supply Co.

My thinking is that the bench height is for planing, the elevated Moxon is more for fine work; a bench front Moxon style vise would be very useful to hold a drawer for planing. I could of course use the holdfasts or a dozen other methods but since I now have the wheels and other bits.....

Press clamp. One of the dog hole layout ideas initially was to allow the bench to be used as a clamping surface for veneers. The dog holes in the top can take clamps, but also the holes in the skirt are designed to allow a bar to be inserted across the top of the bench which can have wedges or press clamps attached to apply pressure. The screws for the Moxon clamps simply gave me an idea they can be yet another option if I could anchor them at the other end of the shaft.

Dark benches. I have a light (pine) and a dark bench and really find the discussion more theoretical than practical. Other than less reflected light from the surface I have not found it an issue at all. I much prefer the additional weight and density of the timber because nearly every strike is a dead-blow, transmitting full power into the tool and workpiece, not dissipating the energy into the bench through movement or sound.

I like your ideas Groggy. Drop me an email and perhaps we can supply you with what you need.