Overall Rating: + If you do any of your own work on your bike, a set of soft jaws for your bench vise is a good investment. Soft jaws are available commercially in a couple of different materials, the most common being aluminum (as shown in the photos). Other materials include copper, plastic and leather. The idea behind a set of soft jaws is to allow the bench vise to strongly hold the work piece without damage from the serrations or teeth, which are machined into the vise jaws. Soft jaws are especially handy when trying to grip a chrome-plated part in the vise for any type of operation; this is where the leather soft jaws come into their own. Our aluminum soft jaws came from Custom Chrome Inc., and are also available from J&P, but there are a number of different size and material soft jaws from companies like Enco.
Soft Jaws are a must-have accessory if you do any type of custom bike work in the shop.
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SourcesCustom Chrome INC. www.customchromeinc.comVise Soft JawsPART # 24341MSRP $18.99ENCO800-USE-ENCOwww.use-enco.comFlexbar Magnetic Soft Jaw LinersPART # 891-5936MSRP $12.95Magic Grip Vise Jaw LinersPART # 891-5934MSRP $18.45Winton Copper JawsPART # 240-2959MSRP $23.95J&P CYCLES800-397-4844www.jpcycles.comRowe Vise Soft JawsPART # 910-141MSRP $18.99
 Here is a set of brand new...  Here is a set of brand new soft jaws in aluminum, manufactured by Rowe and sold by CCI and J&P. |
 We have been using a set of...  We have been using a set of these soft aluminum jaws for a few years now, and they seem to have mashed out from daily use. Here you can see the difference between new and used. |
 We have removed the soft jaw...  We have removed the soft jaw from the rear or fixed jaw of the vise; you can see the teeth of the vise jaw and the impression of those teeth in the back of the soft jaw. |
 Another type of soft jaw is...  Another type of soft jaw is leather. We picked this hunk of leather from a friend of ours who makes custom tool bags, it's about ten-inches long and six-inches wide. |
 The leather soft jaws work...  The leather soft jaws work real well when clamping something chrome in the vise such as this fork tube. Here we use the leather to wrap the fork tube before clamping the tube between the aluminum soft jaws. |