Gramercy Tools "Blue Moon" Saw Vise

Some things show up once in a blue moon. I ordered my saw vise from Tools For Working Wood at the WIA conference in Valley Forge in the beginning of October. Since I had ordered the vise pre-production I didn't expect it right away. On December 31st my patience was rewarded. Since there was a full moon that night, the second full moon of the month, I am calling this my „Blue Moon“ saw vise. The vise comes unpainted and Joel recommends oiling and waxing it but I opted to paint mine with a Rustoleum brand hammered metal finish in dark bronze. The vise also comes unhandled, I made a quick handle out of a piece of 1/2 inch pvc pipe that I heated and flattened in my bench vise and pressed on to the saw vise. I mounted my vise onto a board and I clamp it in the bench vise when I file. I am very pleased with the way the vise looks and works, it holds the saws tightly and at 14 inches long I only have to move my 26 inch saws once. While I was waiting for my vise to show up a neighbor gave me an old Wentworth that he didn't use, you can see the two vises are related in how they work. The Wentworth was a little loose so I made a leather sleeve to mount on the back jaw which took up the slack. I just sewed a pocket in each end of the leather and slipped it over the rear jaw. Saw filing has never been so good!

The painted Gramercy saw vise with PVC handle.

The Wentworth saw vise

The leather sleeve on the Wentworth vise

The leather sleeve half removed showing how it is made