Retrofit ‘O’ Ring Vise Cushion

We fitted new 9” vises to the workshop benches that came from Veritas. They have them made in the Czech Republic and they are wonderful vises—heavyweight, strong and well engineered. One of the best vises I have come across in a long time. They have a long and strong tightening bars that afford good leverage which I really like, and so they cinch stock in the vise jaws really securely because they engineered toe-in to the outer jaw and the equalizes pressure across the whole stock. One thing we have added to improve the aesthetic function of the vises and which cost just pennies was two 7/16” rubber ‘O’ rings. When you have 20 vises opening and closing all day the drop of the Tommie bar can be quite a racket. Adding the ‘O’ ring as shown cushions the sound and makes it for a quieter workshop all round.