The Rockwell JawStand, available at Lowe's and elsewhere, is a very handy piece of gear. It's intended as a general shop workholding clamp or stand, with a clamp that opens up to about 1.5" (enough to hold a 2x4), and a tilt mechanism that allows a full 90 degree rotation of the clamp from horizontal to vertical.
In addition to its intended use in woodworking, the JawStand has found other specialty uses, notably as a launch stand for large model rockets, where the tilt mechanism allows bringing the 1010 launch rail down to a horizontal position for loading taller rockets. In this application, the JawStand gets exposed to outdoor conditions for days at a time, rain and condensation, corrosive rocket exhaust, and direct sunlight/UV.
Because of its construction with fairly low-grade steel and hardware, the JawStand does not hold up well in outdoor use. This project was motivated by having to throw out a 10 year old JawStand based launcher that had seriously corroded hardware, brittle plastic parts, and moderately corroded metal in the clamp frame that was making the tilt adjustment difficult. In contrast, I have a second unit of similar age that has not been in the field very much that shows little corrosion, though the plastics are somewhat brittle from age alone.
The most effective and simple upgrade is to replace all the fasteners in the JawStand with stainless steel equivalents. This should noticeably extend the life of the unit.
All of the hardware is metric. There is one part for which I could not find a stainless version on McMaster - the M6x50mm square neck carriage bolt. For this one part I had to settle for a yellow plated corrosion-resistant regular steel bolt.
For M6 washers, you can substitute SAE 1/4" washers since the central hole is about 0.35 mm larger than the M6, and the outer diameter doesn't matter much. Likewise the metric stainless steel sheet metal screws are much more expensive than SAE ones, so I've listed SAE equivalents that work and will thread into the existing holes.
The spring in the original work clamp is a conical compression spring. I was not able to locate an easily available exact stainless steel equivalent, but various McMaster cylindrical compression springs are close enough. You want an uncompressed length of 1.5", diameter of about 0.72", and a wire size of about 0.062".
All are 18-8 stainless steel unless noted.
| Qty | Description | Location | McMaster PN | SAE Equivalent/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | M8 x 45 hex bolt | Leg pivots | 91287A307 | |
| 6 | M8 washer | Leg pivots | 98689A116 | |
| 3 | M8 nylon locking nut | Leg pivots | 93625A110 | |
| 1 | M6-1.0 x 80mm hex head screw, partially threaded | Central tilt pivot | 91287A254 | |
| 1 | M6-1.0 nylon locking nut | Central tilt pivot | 93625A250 | |
| 1 | M6-1.0 x 90mm hex head screw, partially threaded | Tilt clamping bolt | 91287A256 | |
| 1 | M6-1.0 x 50mm square neck carriage bolt | Work clamp assy | 98930A201 | not SS |
| 2 | M4 x 8 pan head machine screw | Work clamp assy | 92000A218 | |
| 1 | Spring, compression, 1.5" long, 0.72" diam | Work clamp assy | 1986K285 | |
| 1 | #4 x 3/8" round head sheet metal screw | Angle pointer attach | 92470A108 #4 x 3/8" | |
| 1 | M4.2 x 12mm round head sheet metal screw | Central spindle clamp | 92470A194 #8 x 1/2" | |
| 1 | M6 x 20 pan head machine screw | Central spindle clamp | 92000A428 | |
| 5 | M6 flat washer | various | 98689A115 | 1/4" flat washer |
| 6 | M5 flange nut | clamp rail attachment | 93033A106 | |
| 6 | M5 x 12 flat head machine screw | clamp rail attachment | 92000A322 | |
| 4 | M4 x 8 pan head machine screw | clamp block attachment | 92000A218 | |
| 4 | M4 hex nut | clamp block attachment | 9867A200 |
Apart from the fasteners, various steel parts of the JawStand will benefit from being painted or having a corrosion inhibitor spray applied.
See the instructions