I finally got around to setting up my vintage saw vise and in the larger of the two jaws (the side facing away from the bench) there is a 1/4 wide groove that is about 1/16 deep running down the middle of the jaw face. The previous owner had put some sort of neoprene type material in here and on the other jaw, but it had swelled, or for some other reason was not flush with the face, causing the saw plate to flex slightly when clamped. I removed the neoprene stuff, which was flaky and brittle, but do I need to replace it with some sort of padding? Is that customary? I have never used a saw vise before, so I don't have much to compare to.
The groove sort of looks like it once contained a magnetic strip. Would it be worthwhile to try to source another magnetic strip to fit in it?