Solid saw chocks simply made

Saw chock sizes

For those who sought the sizes for the saw chocks I posted of, here they are. Seems straightforward to make, though the hardware is not standard. A bolt and wrench would work well as would a rod welded to the bolt. Anyway, you can see there are but two 5/16” M&T joints and a wooden hinge with a 3/16” steel rod passing through. Probably an afternoon’s work by hand, half that by machine.

 

14 Comments

  1. If the only purpose is to clamp a sawplate, what does the knuckle joint add?
    It seems the screw would pinch the jaws tight on a sawplate even without a joint.

    1. That’s true, it’s an added complication, but not complex in the sense of difficulty so much as an added step. It could actually be square with the pin through and a slight gap that allowed movement. The knuckle actually falls ope about 1/2″ and that is a nice feature. Another reason for the knuckle is alignment of the tops of the jaws against the plate, which is perfect every time. Good question though, and the whole item could at least be simplified, but this has seen much use for at least a century I suspect because there is no evidence of any machine touching it.

  2. How do you recommend shaping the concave and convex surfaces? Thank you Mr. Sellers. P.S. I enjoy your videos. Very informative and your approach to hand tools has inspired me to overcome my timidness toward using them in my humble shop. 🙂

      1. On the saw vise plans it shows a hinge with mating surfaces that are rounded over on one end and then curved inward on the other end. I figure I can use a rasp to shape the end of the boards that are rounded over but I can’t figure out how to take out the material from the inward curve in the hinge to mate with the rounded ends? thanks. Tom

        1. I would bore from one side to the centre and then come from the other side using the square and a centre point to work from. Using a brace and bit this is simple and quick and it would give you a perfect arc. As you say, the mating round over can be done with a plane and file or a good rasp.

  3. I have a question about the dimensions of the hinge piece itself, particularly the height. Is it critical that it be a specific size or would it be something I can work out easily as I build it along?
    It’s often the simplistic designs that escape me. Thank you for sharing these measurements with us.

    1. I just looked at the drawings in the blog and I think there is enough there to make the project from.

  4. How about a tutorial? For the saw chock as well as the hinge knuckle joint?
    My vise won’t accommodate the depth of saws, and this is just the answer.
    I do hope you find time for making a tutorial, as saw sharpening is an essential skill we must learn.
    Thank you for the drawings and measurements. I appreciate all you do.

    Carol

    1. I’ve started to build the saw chock from the plans Paul provided. Other than the Knuckle joint, all other procedures are coved in other tutorials. I’m using Eastern White Pine for the first one as I am sure to make many mistakes along the way.
      I found a YouTube video by Mitch Peacock (WOmadeOD) that covers making a similar joint with hand tools. It has helped me understand the process and answered the how to questions everybody seems to have. The only difference is his is designed to rotate 180 degrees whereas saw the chock knuckle joint is designed for limited movement. Its only about 8 minutes long and Mitch doesn’t talk much so watch it a few time as there is a lot of information there.

  5. Hello Paul and team,
    I’m actually sorry to go back to this old blog post but I have to. I’ve been planning to make these saw chocks ever since you published the plans, so I made several prototypes in pine, and none of them works. The problem is the hinge of course, which seems to be a unique example of its kind.
    So what I’m asking is not how you make the hinge, but how can this ever work? The ones I made actually break in the thin arched sides whenever you try to make it rotate, if it would ever rotate at all. I searched on the internet for answers but nothing good seems to be around so I have to go back to the source. Also, I know I could make a standard knuckle joint or use any metal hinge, but that wouldn’t help me to understand anything. Best regards,
    Richard

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