Columbian D45 vise jaws source?

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pgmrdan

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Saw some replacement jaws on ebay. With shipping they're about $75. Ouch!!! That ain't gonna happen.

Can you tell me of a cheaper source? Or should I just make my own?

I have some aluminum plate to practice with plus some aluminum jaws would be handy anyhow.

Thanks!
 
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I wouldn't waste the money purchasing a set of vise jaws. Over the years I've made dozens of sets. Some soft jaws out of aluminum, some plain ground and hardened, and some with features for holding specific shape parts. If you're interested in plain hard or soft jaws, you should be able to easily make a set in an afternoon.
 
I bought the vise for $5 at an auction. Makes no sense to spend $75 on jaws.

When I got it one jaw was missing and the other one had some welding splatter on it but at least I can get some dimension measurements from it.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Make your own. You need some 5/8-1" thick stock by 1-1-1/4" wide. Aluminum will work fine for most stuff and you can put all sorts of V's and grooves in them to suit your purpose. Make sure you get an accurate hole spacing for mounting, after that the sky's the limit.

And then after you get the hang of it, splurge and get some heat treatable steel and make some Bad-A** jaws.
 
Make 'em! I've been tempted to buy some nicely made, toothed and hardened jaws. Whipping up a set of AL jaws is pretty easy and you can customize like Chewy said. They get the job done fine.

The last set I made I used Robin Renzetti's idea of using clamping screws to attach the jaws. Benefit is that there's almost no bolt head to interfere with the holding surface. My take & a link to his vid are in my post here: link.
 
I have a set of 1" thick jaws and drilled and taped several 10/24 in the tops of them. You would be surprised how often that becomes useful in clamping down on something. Setting stops or threading in dowel pins. saw Robins idea, just haven't got around to it yet. Got about 6 months worth of tooling to make for lathe and mill first.
 
That's a great idea to thread or ream holes in the jaws for dowels; works just like dogs in a woodworking vise/table.
 
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