More From Bill’s Bench

Tips from Gunsmith William L. Henwood, Quincy CA 95971, Holding Tapered Parts Tired of having tapered parts, such as barrels, squirting out of your machine or bench vise? These jaw liners will tightly grip parts with a tapering profile for their full length. Construct the vice jaws from angle iron 1/8" or thicker. Drill and tap for screws, drill a 1/4" hole for a pivot nail and have a brass, copper, aluminum liner running the full length. For tapered parts, just drop a nail in the hole.

This will allow the liner to pivot and adjust to the work piece’s taper. Hole Square This shop-made tool, also constructed from 1/8" angle iron, positively aligns the drill 90 degrees to the work piece. Build one with angle iron and 1/8" plate for flat surfaces and another from two pieces of angle iron for round surfaces. To use, set the drill point in the center punch mark, then bring the corner of the hole square up to contact and align the drill bit. Drill the hole.

For smaller drills, file the radius out of the inside angle to get a more positive alignment. Use a shorter piece of angle iron to allow for the shorter drill.