Conventional vise jaws don’t work well when clamping a carved chair seat or any other workpiece with non-parallel faces or uneven high points. To grip these parts securely with my standard vise, I made a double-tapered auxiliary jaw that pivots against the front jaw to apply pressure at any angle. I put the flatter face of chair seats against the rear jaw of the vise, and move the pivoting jaw so it gets good contact on the other side. It’s very simple and very effective. A bit of felt or leather glued onto the flat face of the auxiliary jaw protects the high points on the workpiece.

—NICK ROWE, Auckland, New Zealand

Illustrations by Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking issue #283

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