PanaVise Junior "Big Mouth" Mod

I love my PanaVise Jr. But about half the time I go to use it I find its just not wide enough to hold what I'm working on. At only a 3" opening, it only holds the smaller of my projects.

After disassembling the vise to see how I might be able to extend the opening, I discovered it was very doable. This Instructable documents how I was able to extend it to a 7¼" opening for only $7 in parts! The end result is a product that looks as good and works better than the original.

Important Notes:

This will make the vise more unstable since the wider it opens the more its off balance. But it works great for me, and a homemade base would solve most issues (EDIT: or one of their own bases here http://goo.gl/cKsWk).
The wider you make this, the more screwing you will need to due to open and close it that far.
You will need a tool to cut 1/4" steel rods (hacksaw/miter saw/etc)
You will need a grinder or dremel to make a delicate cut in one of the steel rods.

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Step 1: Planning

Below are the original plans I drew up for the mod.

The parts that will need to be replaced are the two outer glide shafts, and the inner threaded rod. The new length for the replacements will obviously determine your new vise opening.

You can decide on your own vise opening size, as long as you follow these rules (ensure your own vise does match up with this):

The vise opening = Shaft Size - 1¾in. This accounts for the 7/8in arms on either side.
The threaded rod should be 3/16in longer than the glide shafts. This accommodates the threading into the knob.

I chose to use a 9in shaft, which means my vise opening will be 7¼in wide. It also means that my threaded rod needs to be 9 3/16in long.

Note: While a very wide opening is nice, because of the design of this vise it will start to tip over the wider you go with a load in it. A bigger base addition would fix this though.

FourthDr says: Feb 20, 2011. 11:26 AM

I just tried to find the rod and threaded rod at the Lowes website. And as per usual when someone mentions a Lowes product as a source, Lowes no longer carries it. Or at least it's not on their website :-(.

Are these items in store only? Or has Lowes stopped carrying them? The nearest Lowes to me is miles away, so I not going to waste fuel driving all that way just to find out they don't carry these items any longer.

Can someone who live close to a Lowes store confirm or deny that Lowes has them in store but not on the website??

Croy9000 (author) in reply to FourthDrFeb 20, 2011. 2:37 PM

I see what you mean. Yeah I bought it in my local Lowes store (SC). I "think" this is a 12" version on the website http://bit.ly/fR5ap. But not sure how much I trust their website because while trying to find a 36" version of it, I see inconsistent data between the descriptions and specifications of some of the other ones.

If you have a hardware store closer to you what you are looking for is a 10-24 threaded rod. The 10 is the diameter (.1900in) and 24 is the thread count (per in).

PanaVise says: Feb 7, 2011. 5:06 PM

Nice mod!
We have weighted bases and clamp bases designed for the PV Jr. #201 that help out with the balance issue. http://goo.gl/cKsWk

Croy9000 (author) in reply to PanaViseFeb 8, 2011. 6:37 AM

Thanks for the kudos! I love your products.

Spokehedz says: Feb 1, 2011. 12:42 PM

To get a much cleaner cut on your circlip/e-clip/lock ring on the threaded rod, I find that it is much easier to put the threaded rod into my drill and spin it while cutting into it with my dremel and go slllllooooowly with the dremel.

You could also use a lathe, or a milling machine which would make a much more precise cut.

Croy9000 (author) in reply to SpokehedzFeb 8, 2011. 6:33 AM

Great suggestion. I guess you might want to put the side you are cutting closest to the drill chuck to minimize any wobble. Just added it to the steps. Thanks!

jubal19 says: Feb 1, 2011. 11:40 AM

You might be able to put two nuts on the threaded rod, locked together with wrenches. Use this new "nut" with a wrench or vise-grips for leverage to tighten the knob, and then remove the nuts the same way. This could work for the original knob removal too.

A Dremel-type tool with a small cutoff wheel might work to make a tighter and cleaner lock ring notch.

Croy9000 (author) in reply to jubal19Feb 8, 2011. 6:31 AM

Great suggestion about the using the two nuts to hold the rod. Just added it to the steps. Thanks!

Redleg says: Feb 2, 2011. 1:35 PM

An asymetrical base which extends (in your photos) to the left under the extension should solve the stability problem. Cut a rectangular piece of material (plywood, plastic, whatever) about two inches wider than the vice at it's widest extension, and mount the vise base near one end. As far as cutting a notch in a rod (threaded or not) for a snap ring, I've had luck with this method in the past: Needed: -a drill, preferable reversible capable of chucking the rod -a hacksaw -a helper or a vice to mount the saw in Measure and mark the location of the notch with a sharpie. Chuck the rod in the drill so that the mark is right outside the teeth of the chuck Clamp the hacksaw in a vise by the backbone, with the blade on top, teeth up Hold the drill with the marked rod at a 90 degree angle to the blade, and with the blade aligned with the mark. You may be able to rest the jaws of the chuck against the blade to increase precision. SLOWLY start the drill allowing it to rotate the rod against the blade. Once it's scored it slightly, you can speed up a little. Cutting oil helps. Check progress regularly. You can always cut more, you can't "uncut". If you're cutting a threaded rod and blade wants to "walk" down the rod in the threads, either reverse the drill, or move to the other side of the blade so that it's "walking" toward the chuck. Nice instructable......