I don’t know if you could use Arc’s thin wavy parallels? The tallest is 23mm, see here:

https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement/Parallels-Angle-Blocks-Test-Bars/Precision-Wavy-Parallel-8pc-Metric-Set

Arc also have thin parallels, tallest is 20mm.

Thor

I’ve  a set of the wavy ones Thor links to and use them quite often when working with thin material, not only do they close up more than the magnetic ones you mention but they don’t fall over due to the shape which is something you will get with thin non magnetic ones.

You can stack them one on the other by alternating the wave pattern to get right to the top of  a vice, again something I do quite often.

Just Google ‘thin parallels’, there are loads of choices. Is 1/32″ thin enough?

Tony

Bosun when using a thin parallel the work is usually less than say a standard 1/8″ parallel otherwise there is little point in using a thin one. If you are drilling 1/8″ or thinner material simply remove the parallel, I do it most of the time with normal thickness ones too and my engines seem to run OK so why leave them in if it does not affect the quality of the parts..

You also don’t really need two of them as they are about 5mm wide before they start to compress so again using two and foam or a spring to keep them upright really defeats the purpose of using a thin one which is able to compress  down to about 20thou

If you want standard rather than wavy parallels, the boxed twenty-pair metric set sold by Arc, Amadeal and others contains four pairs that are 2mm thick, in 5, 10, 15, 20mm heights.

Presumably you know that if you’re not drilling through the full thickness of the material you’re working on, you can put even wafer thin pieces upright on a thicker parallel and then close the vice on to a 123 block et al. stacked to be above the height of the parallel the workpiece is resting on.

Joe Pie has a vid on it somewhere illustrating what I mean.

Edit: Here you are (from about 3 min. 40 seconds in).

Hi, quite a few good tips in Joe’s vid Bill, I like the spring he made from a piece of pallet strapping, If you find that your parallels are too thick, and you may run into them while drilling close to the edges of your work, you can always put some packing stripes between the jaw/jaws and the work, to make sure the parallels are clear, as shown below.

I’ve a number of these flat springs that have never been used, from my old job, which are just under 0.9mm thick, which I’ve used in the above example. I’ve used a couple of springs taken out of hand washing liquid soap dispensers, to keep the parallels pressed against the vice jaws.

Regards Nick.

A piece of old clock spring works for me, more than parallel enough for my accuracy.