I scored a vintage woodworker’s vise on eBay for an amazing deal and converted it into a small Kydex press for smaller blades. It works extremely well for quickly applying even pressure over the work piece.

Pictured above is a vintage US made Dunlap vise (also purchased NOS on eBay for cheap) and 1″ thick aluminum plates that I drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 bolts.

I mounted it a few inches away from my quench tank for rapid transfer. This is one of the more useful shop tools I have; it ensures every blade is perfectly straight out of the quench.