The present concept a work piece mounting system for connecting two work elements together, includes a main body with radially oriented horizontal upper and lower jaw passageways for receiving therein upper and lower jaws respectively. The radially oriented horizontal upper and lower jaw passageways, are adapted to receive the jaws slid-ably therein, wherein the cross section of the jaws and passageways configured such that the jaws are restricted from rotating within the passageways. A vertical cavity extending vertically and centrally through the main body, along a z-axis, is for receiving a grooved end of a lower fixation element upwardly therein and a grooved end of an upper fixation element downwardly therein, wherein the other threaded end of the fixation elements are configured for detachably connecting to a working element. Wherein the jaws include a grooved portion for engaging with a grooved end of the fixation elements and are configured such that the fixation elements are drawn into the main body upon engagement of the grooved portions with the grooved ends thereby tensioning the fixation elements between the main body and a work elements. Further the angular relationship between the upper jaw passageway and the lower jaw passageway in a horizontal plane x-y relationship is selected to be able to nest the passageways to minimize a thickness T of the main body for improved rigity and dimensional stability of the work piece mounting system.