MFT and ZYLISS Vise

[peter halle]

Yes, Jose sold me mine too.  I imagine that he made the woodworking show tour longer to the Washington, DC area than here in Richmond.  I think that the shows stopped about 1989 here.

Peter

 

[Boatman]

here is the box for the drawers to hold the vise and other things. I'll post the drawers when I get them made. What I am sharing now is the way the box is hung. An aluminum angle trimmed down and mounted on the back of the box and dead bolts engage the inner track on the front. To remove the box takes about 30 seconds and if the top of the box is in the way of inserting a clamp it can easily be slid to the side or removed.

 

[Boatman]

Sorry for the double post, but here is an update on this project. The photos are of the top drawer and what I will probably keep in it. I really find the wing for clamping the vise handy for many things but if I was to make it over again, I would make the top surface a 1/2 an inch wider, so that the handle would swing freely without hitting the table.

http://img535.imageshack.us/i/p1010191r.jpg/

http://img402.imageshack.us/i/p1010192qn.jpg/

 

[waho6o9]

www.myhomeworkshop.com    These folks call it the  Z-Vise, as Boatman stated.  Less expensive than the Zyliss vise.  [smile]

 

[Sparktrician]

Yes, Jose sold me mine too.  I imagine that he made the woodworking show tour longer to the Washington, DC area than here in Richmond.  I think that the shows stopped about 1989 here.

Peter

Just a note on the Woodworking Shows, Peter - they're moving from the Expo Center in Chantilly to a venue in Fredericksburg next year, which should make the run easier for you. 

[smile]

 

[Boatman]

This mount can be used for other types of vises also.

 

[Ivan T]

I found my Zyliss Vice last month, and decided I wanted to use the vice I have had since the last century. I had read this thread so had some idea of how to attach it to the MFT3. Well I needed a vice today so I got the Zyliss out.

Took a piece of plywood and clamped the plywood to the MFT3. Attached the Zyliss to the plywood and hung it over the side of the MFT3. It had to hang out far enough so that I could tighten the 2 bench clamps. I turned the 2 bench clamps over so the screws were on top of the plywood. It was easy to tighten the bench clamps and the plywood did not have to hang over as much. Placed the vice at the end of the plywood and the plywood at the end of the MFT3 so the handle could be turned all of the way around.

See attached pictures.

View attachment 1

View attachment 2

Just a quick and easy setup that may come in handy someday.

 

[Tinker]

I my Zyliss at the Eastern Stats show in springfield many moons ago. Probably got it from Jose long before i was introduced to Festoy.  Once I got my first MFT, the Zyliss sort of disappeared into some dark corner of my shop.  Recently, I did a project that required a lot of work with rasps and I dug it out.  I could set pieces at all kinds of crazy angles to do the filing.  I now have it on a very prominent shelf and use it often where it can be handier than clampig to the MFT.  I recently did a couple of knife handle scales for both my son and daughter.  It was handy for that project as well.

I tried to take pics of the operation, but the batteries were dead.  By time the bats were charged, the scales were already glued.  I will be doing another set sometime before next Christmas and will try to do better with the reporting.
Tinker

 

[Holmz]

I my Zyliss at the Eastern Stats show in springfield many moons ago. Probably got it from Jose long before i was introduced to Festoy.  Once I got my first MFT, the Zyliss sort of disappeared into some dark corner of my shop.  Recently, I did a project that required a lot of work with rasps and I dug it out.  I could set pieces at all kinds of crazy angles to do the filing.  I now have it on a very prominent shelf and use it often where it can be handier than clampig to the MFT.  I recently did a couple of knife handle scales for both my son and daughter.  It was handy for that project as well.

I tried to take pics of the operation, but the batteries were dead.  By time the bats were charged, the scales were already glued.  I will be doing another set sometime before next Christmas and will try to do better with the reporting.
Tinker

Please do.
I think I got a Z-vice at a show and need some fashion of holding it.

 

[Tinker]

[member=40772]Holmz[/member] I was able to clamp mine to an edge of my MFT/3. It takes some careful fiddling to clamp there, but workable.

The best method was to clamp a scrap of 2x to the MFT or one of my other benches and clamp the Zyless to that.  I can then move the clamp or the material to the best position for working.
Tinker

 

[Holmz]

Thanks [member=550]Tinker[/member] - I'll take a look on the weekend.

 

[Woodwork Wizard]

Another MFT and Zyliss vice.
The Zyliss vice is genius and incredibly versatile.

 

[Tinker]

[member=24875]Woodwork Wizard[/member]  I like your setup, especially your table.  Unfortunately, when i enlarge, I get only a black hole.  Don't know if from my end or from FOG end.

I have not measured, but in mounting my Zyliss to my MFT/3, the clamps are opened to max and if doing a lot of filing or cutting, the clamps will come lose in time. Your table leaves plenty of room to take full advantage of the Zyliss clamps and they should never come lose from the vibrations of whatever work you are doing.
Tinker

 

[Woodwork Wizard]

The Zyliss vice is very versatile, especially with the additional extras available for it, it's portable and can be set up anywhere. It's the Swiss army knife of vices. On my 8'x4' bench it can hold pieces about 7' long when used upside down. I've not had a problem with it working its way loose when in use, though I wouldn't say it is for really heavy duty work. Makes a good prop for holding things up when attached to a batten too.

These two YouTube videos show most of its versatility, though this is an exact copy of the original Swedish made Zyliss Profi-King, but all components are interchangeable between them.

 

[yworkcb]

  Thanks for the Video links !

 

[peter halle]

I have had my Zyllis for a loooong time.  If this thread inspires anyone I would suggest that people check out craigslist and eBay.  Lots of them out there for sale at far less than what I paid back in '86 or so.

Peter

 

[supimeister]

A quick aside:

I recently received a Vunder Vise from eBay that I got for a decent price.  I thought it looked identical from the pics (and thought the claim it was unused since purchased in 1982 was hopeful) but now I see the dreaded “made in Taiwan” stamped into it. 

Anyone know if this knockoff is going to give me more of a headache than not?  I was trying to sneak past the prices of the zyliss vises currently on eBay, but alas, now I am afraid this is just going to be a disappointment... but I am eager to set it up on my mft/3 along the lines of what I have seen here.

Thanks in advance for the thoughts.

 

[Boatman]

Check your PM. I think you will like it. As I said in the PM the fit and finish is not at the same level as the Zyliss but the Vunder vise travels with me when I'm not working in the shop.
I can't believe this thread came back to life lately. Until a couple of weeks ago the last post was 2011. I still use the same setup and am very happy with it.
Jim

 

[Tinker]

i had my Zyliss tucked away for a few years as well.  Recently, i was making handle scales for a couple of knives I was gong to give to my son and daughter for Christmas presents.  Clamping those scales to my MFT or iether of my two vices on other benches just was not working.  I found that old Zyliss, dragged it out and was able to clamp to the end of my MFT/3. It worked like a charm, but kept coming lose.  I found it would hold with a wedge in the upper trougth (the 45º).  It worked even better with clamping to a piece of 2X which in turn was camped to one of my more stable work benches. It worked so well I now have my zyliss on an open shelf very handy to just grab, clamp almost anywhere and saw, file and any number of uses.  The one thing i do not do with that vice is t hammer on it.  I have no idea how hard a blow it can take before breaking.  I do not want to find out.
Tinker

 

[ear3]

If I were to get a zyliss off ebay, which one/model should I look for?  It looks like there are several different ones, and its hard to figure out from the pics what the exact differences are.