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- Feb 17, 2013
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I'm always looking for good ways to organize my machine tool accessories and keep them handy. This one comes from the January, 2020 (#289) issue of Model Engineers' Workshop. The magazine is published in the UK, so I'd guess that most forum members don't regularly read it. It was the Readers' Tip of the Month (on page 33), by Philip Hurst, and describes a novel way to organize mill vise parallels.
I thought it was a great idea for two reasons -
1. It makes the parallels readiy accessible and visible, and makes it easy to see which are absent.
2. Rather than emphasizing the height of the parallels, it notes how much of the vise jaw sticks up above the parallel. I find that to be an incredibly handy feature!
Here's how I'd previously stored my parallels - I'd modified the case they came in to make them a bit more accessible. But picking a size was always a matter of "too high, not high enough, guess again."
The second photo shows my take on the "xylophone" storage rack. The parallels are held by 3/16" dowels. Thin pieces of plywood on each end allow fingers to wrap around the parallels for removal. The size of each pair of parallel is indicated on the board behind it, so if I have several in use, I know right where to return them. Next to the parallels is a measure of vise jaw exposure. I'll eventually neaten up the labels. I also plan to add vise jaw exposure numbers for the other two vises I (infrequently) use on the mill. PS - the name came from a friend of mine who stopped by the shop while I was laying out the board. It fits!
I thought it was a great idea for two reasons -
1. It makes the parallels readiy accessible and visible, and makes it easy to see which are absent.
2. Rather than emphasizing the height of the parallels, it notes how much of the vise jaw sticks up above the parallel. I find that to be an incredibly handy feature!
Here's how I'd previously stored my parallels - I'd modified the case they came in to make them a bit more accessible. But picking a size was always a matter of "too high, not high enough, guess again."
The second photo shows my take on the "xylophone" storage rack. The parallels are held by 3/16" dowels. Thin pieces of plywood on each end allow fingers to wrap around the parallels for removal. The size of each pair of parallel is indicated on the board behind it, so if I have several in use, I know right where to return them. Next to the parallels is a measure of vise jaw exposure. I'll eventually neaten up the labels. I also plan to add vise jaw exposure numbers for the other two vises I (infrequently) use on the mill. PS - the name came from a friend of mine who stopped by the shop while I was laying out the board. It fits!
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