# Another DIY Bow Vise



## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

This has probably been done before, but here’s an easy little bow vise I made from a cheap ball swivel vise I found on Amazon. So far it works really well and holds my bows in any position I put them in. I just drilled and tapped the the top of the jaws and installed some shoulder bolts. Covered the bolts in vinyl tubing then shrink wrap. Gave it a quick rattle can paint job because I didn’t care for the original greenish color.


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## theo54 (Mar 23, 2016)

Nice!


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## pate3420 (Jul 3, 2014)

Nice work!


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## Gieani (Aug 13, 2012)

Thanks for the idea. I made one tonight. Just wondering if you turn the holder part right to the limbs of the bow? Light pressure on it to make it snug?


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## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

Gieani said:


> Thanks for the idea. I made one tonight. Just wondering if you turn the holder part right to the limbs of the bow? Light pressure on it to make it snug?


Awesome, glad you liked it and turned out well for you. Yeah, I been using just really light pressure, doesn’t take much, it’s not going anywhere. Only down side is leveling your bow if you need to...takes some patience.


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## Gieani (Aug 13, 2012)

I bought my vise at Menards for $17 and used carriage bolts 4 1/2" by 5/16" in diameter


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## hesslie (Dec 4, 2019)

Nice!


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## RevBelleville (Oct 31, 2019)

On these ,.is the Jaw material a composite? Thanks


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

That's pretty funny, I use the same vise, but flip it over. So the "vise" is now the clamp and the "clamp" becomes the vise. 2 minutes to holesaw a clamp piece and 5 to bore it in the lathe. Made one for a buddy as well. Complete with a fancy wood base.

If you have a local Menards, you can get the vise for ~18. Wait for a sale and it's even less.









I even made the wood block like a T-nut, so the vise can't twist off of the block.


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## Gieani (Aug 13, 2012)

Can we see a picture with your bow in it?


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

Mine? Sure.









This way the lever screw to change the angle is a little more accessible. You can't really see it, but it's right under where the limb is clamped.

The one I made for my buddy I glued a nice thick piece of leather to the purple puck that I add to the clamp piece. His wife and he have really nice bows. So no scratching. Although I haven't noticed mine scratching. The clamp comes with a rubber piece on the bottom (under the limb), so it's half way done out of the box. 

The purple piece is a retired cutting board. :darkbeer:


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## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

RevBelleville said:


> On these ,.is the Jaw material a composite? Thanks


Mine is aluminum


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## moutianbowman (Jan 12, 2020)

Looks awesome man nice work


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## Realnews (Jan 21, 2020)

Nice work, the price some manufacturers want for vices are shocking.


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## ccotter (Apr 27, 2019)

How long are your shoulder bolts?


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## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

ccotter said:


> How long are your shoulder bolts?


I think they were just shy of 3 inches. I can get exact measurements tomorrow.


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## 1955 (Sep 22, 2009)

Nice job on both accounts!!! Simple ideas that work!


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## SCCx (Jan 31, 2020)

this is genius, going to have to try this out


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## JH1291 (Jul 11, 2018)

Couldn't you have just left it alone and placed the bow grip in it or vise the bottom limb pocket?


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## RandyXLT (Sep 4, 2018)

I made one today with the $17 vise from Menards. Works great! Used it to get my new bow all squared up. Yes, my bench is a mess!!









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## Ldfry001 (Jan 29, 2020)

After lurking around here I came across this thread so I went out to menards today and bought one of these. I flipped it over to use the clamp like has been previously posted. I epoxied a washer and a rubber washer to the small side of the clamp and I must say this is probably the best diy vise I have ever seen. Definitely going to make working on the bows a lot easier.


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## ToddD89 (Nov 20, 2019)

That's a great idea. Going to have to do that.


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

RandyXLT said:


> I made one today with the $17 vise from Menards. Works great! Used it to get my new bow all squared up. Yes, my bench is a mess!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice.

I wouldn't trust a guy with a clean bench. :wink:


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## shoult99 (Feb 15, 2020)

After lurking around right here I came throughout this thread so I went out to menards nowadays and purchased the sort of. I flipped it over to use the clamp like has been previously published. I epoxied a washing machine and a rubber washing machine or any other best embroidery machine[/URL] for stitching the clothes to the small side of the clamp and I have to say this is probably the excellent diy vise I have ever seen. Definitely going to make working on the bows a lot easier.


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## buckcrazy_98 (Feb 12, 2020)

These are some great ideas. Nice Job!


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## ElkChappo (Feb 14, 2020)

Nice!


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## crandallkid04 (Feb 19, 2020)

The answer to my final (for now!) DIY tool! Thanks guys.


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## ccotter (Apr 27, 2019)

I made this one after your posting and it works excellent. I even made a 2nd notch on the opposite side of the ball mount so I can lay it down on either side depending on how my table is sitting.


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## BlanchardRvrBuc (Feb 18, 2020)

great idea


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

ccotter said:


> I made this one after your posting and it works excellent. I even made a 2nd notch on the opposite side of the ball mount so I can lay it down on either side depending on how my table is sitting.


That's a great idea!


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## Ted22 (Aug 5, 2013)

Sweet!


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## johtajahannula (Dec 30, 2019)

Thats looking wonderful. Need to get my own =)


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## ackies95 (Jan 2, 2020)

Thanks for this! Hoping this comment keeps this thread high up in the forum for the next guy


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## 5ks (Feb 20, 2020)

Nice job


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## Kimel (Feb 5, 2020)

Excellent! Off to Amazon!


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## nlpinc (Jan 5, 2020)

Pretty cool


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## Aaron Foell (Feb 7, 2020)

This is a fantastic idea. Thanks.


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## ddidier21 (Mar 17, 2013)

This is a great idea!


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## Rigwelder06 (Jul 9, 2017)

mjydrafter said:


> That's pretty funny, I use the same vise, but flip it over. So the "vise" is now the clamp and the "clamp" becomes the vise. 2 minutes to holesaw a clamp piece and 5 to bore it in the lathe. Made one for a buddy as well. Complete with a fancy wood base.
> 
> If you have a local Menards, you can get the vise for ~18. Wait for a sale and it's even less.
> 
> ...



What exactly did you have to bore out on a lathe??? Or did you do one with a hole saw and the other with a lathe??? Seems like a better vice than alot of actual bow vices haha


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

Rigwelder06 said:


> What exactly did you have to bore out on a lathe??? Or did you do one with a hole saw and the other with a lathe??? Seems like a better vice than alot of actual bow vices haha


Just the little purple "puck" that's on the bottom (top of the limb) clamp screw. Originally the clamp bit is like a "C-clamp", as far as the little piece at the end of the screw. I make the piece to go on the clamp piece, to increase the surface area. 

I use the hole saw to cut the piece out and then the lathe to bore a hole that that clamp piece presses into. I bore the hole a little small, and then use the screw clamp to press it together.

You could also probably just glue something in there.


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## lprchery (Sep 18, 2014)

JH1291 said:


> Couldn't you have just left it alone and placed the bow grip in it or vise the bottom limb pocket?


That also works, see my earlier post here:

https://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5662177

I used a piece of angle iron mounted on my big vise and this way I could move a bit around the bow. No drilling, no scratches on my bow grip and once the bow is leveled it stays there.

It is interesting to see how people come to slightly different solutions to the same challenge.


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## ac338in (Feb 22, 2020)

These look very nice I'm going to add one to my bench. Now I just have to decide between shoulder bolts or flipping it over...


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## Rigwelder06 (Jul 9, 2017)

Ok thanks for the clarification I was guessing a lathe was unnecessary will be doing one soon


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## mjydrafter (Sep 24, 2019)

Rigwelder06 said:


> Ok thanks for the clarification I was guessing a lathe was unnecessary will be doing one soon


Yeah, even a forstner bit or a paddle, would do the same. Especially if you epoxy it. Heck, you could probably just epoxy any disc you can find or make to the clamp piece without any holes. I was just showing off since I have a lathe, and it was just easier to make the puck a press fit, since I can stand there and hand fit it.

Here's a little better pic:


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## Munga (Feb 23, 2020)

Thanks for sharing, great idea.


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## Justin4232 (May 27, 2018)

good idea ill be making one


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## Dietter700 (Mar 24, 2017)

This is exactly what I was looking for!


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## AF CMS (Nov 23, 2005)

Exactly what I've been looking for as well. Nice! And thanks!


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## pharmdatc (May 30, 2016)

Those are great ideas. Can't wait to start building one.


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## arrows slinger (Mar 16, 2013)

Nice!


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## arrows slinger (Mar 16, 2013)

Awesome


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## dylanthomsen12 (Mar 13, 2020)

I like the ball mount style, wish that I would have thought of that when I made mine


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## azwells (Dec 27, 2019)

looks good! my question is why not make it clamp on the grip or middle of the riser? Seems like clamping the end of the bow woul dnot be as stable. I see that is most of the vises but like how BAP did there's.


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## txarcher1 (Aug 5, 2003)

*I'm glad to see that your work bench's look just like mine.*


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## Dietter700 (Mar 24, 2017)

Cissell said:


> This has probably been done before, but here’s an easy little bow vise I made from a cheap ball swivel vise I found on Amazon. So far it works really well and holds my bows in any position I put them in. I just drilled and tapped the the top of the jaws and installed some shoulder bolts. Covered the bolts in vinyl tubing then shrink wrap. Gave it a quick rattle can paint job because I didn’t care for the original greenish color.


Hey awesome idea. I totally stole this today. Are you worried about where the 5/16 bolts go into the cast aluminum breaking. [emoji51]
I built mine the exact same way as yours but it just feels a little dicey to me this is very cheap Chinese aluminum haha ya know?










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## Bluejeep (Mar 29, 2020)

Looks like I have another quarantine project


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## Dkoncan (Mar 1, 2020)

And I’m off to Home Depot.... thank you for the pics


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## BCH1313 (Jan 30, 2020)

Thanks for the idea!! Made mine yesterday


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## TheWasatchBack (Mar 24, 2020)

Thanks for the ideas. I came across this just in time. I was going t do something similar with a salon dummy head mount. This is much simpler.


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## Dietter700 (Mar 24, 2017)

BCH1313 said:


> Thanks for the idea!! Made mine yesterday
> View attachment 7122577


Nice what did you use for the rubber over the 5/16 bolts?


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## BCH1313 (Jan 30, 2020)

Dietter700 said:


> Nice what did you use for the rubber over the 5/16 bolts?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


2 layers of heat shrink tubing

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## hmmmnomaybe (Mar 23, 2020)

mjydrafter said:


> That's pretty funny, I use the same vise, but flip it over. So the "vise" is now the clamp and the "clamp" becomes the vise. 2 minutes to holesaw a clamp piece and 5 to bore it in the lathe. Made one for a buddy as well. Complete with a fancy wood base.
> 
> If you have a local Menards, you can get the vise for ~18. Wait for a sale and it's even less.
> 
> ...


This is ingenious! I've been trying to think of how to get a vise so I can work on my bow. I've got a Menards a stones throw from my work, definitely going to be hitting it up after work soon. 

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## kinz584 (Apr 3, 2020)

Nice


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## Savoie (Mar 8, 2018)

Very nice work! I've heard also of people using bicycle frame clamps.


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## Richardi503 (Jan 3, 2014)

Great idea.


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## hoghntrncypress (Aug 10, 2017)

Nice job, looks good...


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## seamusduffy (Jun 4, 2018)

following . . .


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## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

Dietter700 said:


> Cissell said:
> 
> 
> > This has probably been done before, but here’s an easy little bow vise I made from a cheap ball swivel vise I found on Amazon. So far it works really well and holds my bows in any position I put them in. I just drilled and tapped the the top of the jaws and installed some shoulder bolts. Covered the bolts in vinyl tubing then shrink wrap. Gave it a quick rattle can paint job because I didn’t care for the original greenish color.
> ...


I was a little concerned about the aluminum holding up at first, but it has held up great so far and I use it a lot.


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## Cissell (Dec 16, 2010)

ccotter said:


> I made this one after your posting and it works excellent. I even made a 2nd notch on the opposite side of the ball mount so I can lay it down on either side depending on how my table is sitting.


Good idea, gonna add that to mine!


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## Itsjoneill (Mar 15, 2020)

I like that. How much was that amazon vise?


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## BCH1313 (Jan 30, 2020)

Itsjoneill said:


> I like that. How much was that amazon vise?


Mine was 17.99 but I had the bolts and shrink tubing on hand


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## Msd380 (Apr 25, 2018)

This is really going to help me set up my home shop.


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## carter64 (Apr 21, 2020)

This is awesome, thanks everyone! The inversed vice idea looks perfect, and super easy!


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## Cjohanson1 (Jun 11, 2020)

Nice I was thinking about the harbor freight vice


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## frenchbowhunter (May 9, 2020)

Genius !!! thank you for sharing !!!!


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## Chewmodo (Apr 20, 2020)

After looking at bow vise prices, this is something I'm gonna have to give a try.


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