Panavise Mashup | Junior Head + Standard Base

Panavise makes a slew of bases, and attachments. Many of their parts are interchangable. You can mix a standard or low-profile base with numerous different vise attachments. However, not everything matches with everything else.

For example, the Panavise Junior vise is inexpensive and very handy, but is a self-contained unit: it includes both a base and vise. Since I have a standard low-profile base I use with other vise attachments, I wanted to see if I could make my Junior vise fit it to give me the added flexibility of the standard base and reduce the number of things I have around my workspace.

Turns out Panavise had the same idea and now sells just the Junior vise head, but I already had mine and didn't want to buy another ... so, here's how I did it.

Step 1 Preparation

Look over all the steps to get an idea of what's involved. Basically, you're going to cut of a  short piece of metal rod and saw/file a groove around one end for the "Junior" head to clamp too.

Simple.

 

The materials you'll need are:

 

1) 5/8" round rod of some sort. (I used zinc coated rod from Home Depot)

2) Hack saw (with a good, sharp blade)

3) Miter box (or, some other way to clamp/hold rod while you saw)

4) Flat and triangle files

5) Marker and ruler

6) Clamp

7) Small piece of wood to use as a stop

 

Find a good work surface. That will make the sawing easier. I used the floor. Not the best, but I threw down some canvas, and there you have it …

Before diving in, it's a good idea to take the head off the Junior vise just to see how it goes together. You'll see that the head has a pincer that fits into the shaped attachment on the base. That's what the groove in the rod is for.

The standard PanaVise base is just a simple clamp that holds a 5/8" rod.