Shopsmith Forums

Every woodworker needs a vice, but there is not always enough floor space for a big workbench with a tail vice.

I have wondered if a decent woodworking vice could be mounted onto the SS system, and have not yet come across one on any forum or youtube. So, I finally accepted the challenge and built a Moxon vice which drops into the 1 1/4 inch casting recesses at either end of my Mark V 510.
The jaws were made from 8/4 Sepele and are 28" wide. The screws are 16" apart which accomodates up to a 14" board between the screws.

I used the Rob Cosman version of the WoodCraft twin screw kit, which features springs for quick jaw retraction, pin handles on the wagon wheel, and oil soaked copper collars to reduce friction and catching.

I modified the tops of each jaw with my Domino jointer to make peg holes. Using dominos pegs, I can grip a board horizontally up to 4" wide with enough holding force to hand plane.
What is unique about this Moxon vice is the working height is easily adjustable using the twist knob on the SS casting. I can lower the vice for hand planing and then easily raise the vice for end grain work such as dovetails or jointery. Or, I can adjust the height simply to gain ergonomic advantage and spare my lower back . Gripping power is excellent throughout.
I purchased two extension table replacement tubes from Shopsmith for about $29 each. The Rob Cosman hardware was $188 shipped to my door. There are other Moxon hardware kits on Amazon for as low as $44. So the overall price of my Moxon verrsion was about $250, but I chose the high end hardware. With the affordable hardware, you could get the same functionality for about $100.

This vice does not replace a workbench, but it does extend the versatility of the SS system for common woodworking tasks. I can effortlessly replace the extension table with a non-marring woodworking vice and adjust the working height to my needs. One downside is that It does not accommodate long boards between the screws, but will grip them outside of the screws.
A bench vice should transfer the force of mallet blows (during chiseling) to the legs (and thus the floor). When this vice is lowered all the way so that the stationary jaw rests directly on the SS casting, downward forces are absorbed by the SS frame and thus transfered to the floor.

I did not video the build, but if you are interested in how I made it, reply to this thread. I have a few key photos and can describe the important steps and what I learned from this build.

Hope you find this useful.
Thanks

That is too purty to be useful! ;>}

Very clever! I like it!

That is a thing of beauty (I love sapele)!

I think you are right that no one has ever shown a vise (of any kind) directly mounted in the headrest.

How stable is the Shopsmith when using your Moxon vise to plane? Any tendency to tip? I would imagine it might get tippy if trying to plane a longer board -- although that could be handled by some clever use of the extension legs (as is sometime done by members using infeed/outfeed tables).

As for not being able to accommodate long pieces between the vise screws, did you consider putting some kind of spacer between the mounting legs and the stationary jaw (or simply laminating up a thicker stationary jaw) in order to gain the necessary clearance (looks to be about 6-8" needed)? Or do you think that would introduce too much instability when applying downward force on the work piece?

Cheechako wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 12:40 am

I did not video the build, but if you are interested in how I made it, reply to this thread. I have a few key photos and can describe the important steps and what I learned from this build.

Hope you find this useful.
Thanks

This is AWESOME, what a great idea.

I’d be very interested in more details about your build and info about what you learned.

Thanks for sharing.

Steve

This is really cool! Thanks for ideating, executing, and sharing!

Does it have a tendency to slip vertically when exerting downward force?

Those spt column clamps are somewhat wimpy(especially if not adjusted properly to tighten only against the columns.

Stop collars can help there.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and compliments. I just finished the Vice a few days ago, and already have found so many uses. It really has expanded how I use my SS. I will try to answer everyones questions in separate replies, but first another addition to the SS feature set....

Introducing the Mark V mobile Assembly Table on wheels !!

I started making a small bench top cabinet for my cordless drills. I found I could position the parts for cabinet assembly using the adjustable height feature of both the Mark V tables and the moxon vice. An amazing feature that I did not anticipate, but now I can roll my SS around where I need it and use it to help me build casements etc.

JPG wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 3:44 am That is too purty to be useful! ;>}

For now...but it will soon have road wear !! Thanks

algale wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 7:14 am How stable is the Shopsmith when using your Moxon vise to plane? Any tendency to tip?

So far, so good. I ran a low angle Jack plane over some boards, pushing down as hard as I could and the stock did not slip, and the vice did not drift. But the vice was resting on the SS castings, so this kept the vice from drifting downwards. I will have to test other scenarios to see if the SS nurl knob will hold it without downard drift. So far, does not tip the vice or the machine...

algale wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 7:14 am How stable is the Shopsmith when using your Moxon vise to plane? Any tendency to tip?
As for not being able to accommodate long pieces between the vise screws, did you consider putting some kind of spacer between the mounting legs and the stationary jaw (or simply laminating up a thicker stationary jaw) in order to gain the necessary clearance (looks to be about 6-8" needed)? Or do you think that would introduce too much instability when applying downward force on the work piece?

I can hold long boards. They rest on the screws and protrude from each end of the vice. If I want to stand a board between the screws (as shown in one of the photos) then the maximum width of a board in this configuration is 14". However, you can build a Moxon as wide as you need. Just position the screws wider apart to increase the span between the screws.