Bench vise?

[M Smith]

I spent the evening last night on a few projects -- joining some boards and doing some general assembly on a piece I'm making. After dropping (and dinging) one board a couple times, it occurred to me that having a vise on my bench should have been something I added long ago. I realize this is a no-brainer, but what can I say?

Anyway, I did do a search here for bench vises and came up with nothing. But I'm sure it's not a terribly new subject. Can anyone point me to details on how to fit an existing bench with a good vise? I'd prefer some type of vise constructed (mostly) out of wood (wood faces at least). Is there a good source for something like this that isn't astronomically priced?

Definitely would appreciate some help.

Mark

[Paul Wunder]

Mark,

I recently installed the Lee Valley "quick release front vise" . Very nice, very smooth. It uses wood faces that you supply, and has a nice wooden handle. I used their "large" size. If you look it up on their website, you will see the detailed installation instructions posted there for review. I'm a newbie, so that was very helpful in my purchase decision. For what it is worth, Fine Woodworking just rated that vise as a top performer in their latest issue.

The vise will work well on tops like mine (30"X60" birch with no apron) or for those benches with an apron. The instructions cover both methods.

Paul

[M Smith]

Mark,

I recently installed the Lee Valley "quick release front vise" . Very nice, very smooth. It uses wood faces that you supply, and has a nice wooden handle. I used their "large" size. If you look it up on their website, you will see the detailed installation instructions posted there for review. I'm a newbie, so that was very helpful in my purchase decision. For what it is worth, Fine Woodworking just rated that vise as a top performer in their latest issue.

The vise will work well on tops like mine (30"X60" birch with no apron) or for those benches with an apron. The instructions cover both methods.

Paul
Paul,

Exactly what I'm looking for. I looked at Lee Valley but obviously am search-challenged. Thanks for passing that along.

Mark

[Hank Knight]

Mark,

The new Fine Woodworking magazine (I received mine in the mail this weekend) has a review of bench vises. They compared both all metal vises and the ones that consist of the vise hardware to which the user adds wooden faces. I'm sure there will be lots of controversy about the article, but if you're just beginning to look for a bench vise, the FWW article would be a good place to start.

Hank

[M Smith]

Mark,

The new Fine Woodworking magazine (I received mine in the mail this weekend) has a review of bench vises. They compared both all metal vises and the ones that consist of the vise hardware to which the user adds wooden faces. I'm sure there will be lots of controversy about the article, but if you're just beginning to look for a bench vise, the FWW article would be a good place to start.

Hank
Hank -- thanks for the tip. I'll make sure to read their review before making a purchase decision.

Regards,
Mark

[Jim Eller]

Mark,

I just build a bench, researched vises/screws and ended up ordering from Lee Valley.

I am very satisfied with both.

Jim

[Steve Sawyer]

I have an all-wood front vise, but I can't tell you how much I love this end vise as well...and there is NO reason you couldn't mount it on the front.

The vise itself is an Anant 53ED that I think I got from Amazon, but may have been Highland (aboout $120). It's a quick-release, and as you can see the faces are both wood and I still get about 10" of opening when I need it. I also faced the wood with vegetable-tanned leather (rough side facing out) and the amount of grip that adds to a vise is amazing!!

http://www.semiww.org/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php/members/stevesawyer/new_bench2.jpg?cache=cache&w=525&h=700