Woodworking wise

[connan]

Thanks,HarryD.

[uv8452]

Very nicely designed and made. I own some specialized wooden vises to hold leather, electronics, to be repaired calculators, etc. where you need low clamping forces.
For improved stiffness and resistance against local damages and small tolerances I would recommend better suited types of wood: white beech, european beech (cheaper), ash, cherry or even bongossi (luxury for certain highly stressed parts).

[Toolmaker51]

per OP and post *12; It causes wonder about many materials. First thought is that 11 layer plywood I associate with European furniture, also found in boat building. Wouldn't need to be 100%, mainly outside and sliding surfaces. It could deliver added clamp pressure, which may or not be useful. Controlling that is a function of screw diameter and thread pitch.
I'd also be tempted to add a swivel jaw, per those Parker metal working vises, but tend to go unnecessarily hog wild on features.