"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news
Upon Some reflection, how about a thick bar suspended between two or
more jacks?

Hmmmm... I think I am getting into the area where I am just going
to have to try it and see.

First I guess I need to make some jacks with different heads. Flat
head, flat flanged stud head, etc.

Ultimately I am thinking I'll have to go back to the idea of
shoehorning two vises on the machines. Maybe a pair of 4 inch
screwless machined out to hold six inch stock to keep the weight
down, and have the compact length.

4 inch mill vise or lockdown vise will not fit inside enclosure
without hitting the doors. Just a hair too long. However my 6 inch
screwless machined out fit just fine. I actually bought a couple 4
inch lockdowns for those machines. Oops. On the other hand they
make great drill press vises. LOL.

Maybe it would be better to just sacrifice some of my tooling and
make some fixtures with edge clamps.

I definitely do not need another cup of coffee this morning. LOL.

If you don't mind modifying vises you could cut shallow work locating
and clamping steps at the tops of the jaws and make support blocks the
same height.