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Workbench Accessories |
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"Vintage" Brass Cover
I made the cover to conceal the hardware, thinking it would
develop a nice, warm patina with age. Because I needed the tees
to project through holes in the metal coverplate, I carefully
measured their locations relative to the bottom jaw edges and
transferred them to the brass stock. I checked the measurements
twice, as thick brass is anything but cheap. Using an adjustable
circle cutter on the drill press, I clamped the brass stock
to the drill-press table and cut the holes at low rpm. I clamped
the plate to the jaw and slid the tees onto the screw shafts.
To my relief, everything fit nicely.
I now had a functional vise with a brass-plate cover, but I
wasn't happy with the way it looked. It had a square, modern
feeling that just didn't match the bench's wooden elements.
It was time to rethink my design.
After a few days of surfing the Internet and looking through
old tool catalogs, I redesigned the jaw to give it more of a
vintage look. I reshaped the wooden ends to mirror the detail
on the trestle feet and rounded off the plate corners using
a compass, jigsaw and file. Taking decorative inspiration from
photos of linished hardware and old plow planes, I decided to
give the plate a three-dimensional surface by etching a design
into the brass.
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Stencil
applied to brass plate. |
I
sanded and washed the brass cover and applied self-adhesive film to the
front and back to act as a resist to the chemical etchant. I
sketched out a pattern freehand, incorporating the mounting
screws and tee holes into the design, and cut away the film
where I wanted the etchant to remove the metal on the design
background.
I wore neoprene gloves and splash goggles for protection and
submerged the cover plate in a shallow etchant bath normally
used for making printed circuit boards. I checked it frequently.
After a few hours, I pulled the plate out of the bath, removed
the film and rinsed the metal thoroughly.
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Other Articles from this Issue |
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