Wagon vise added to bench

[Keith Young]

This was my project while on vacation in December. I drive a semi so I'm only home 33 to 40 days a year, so most anything takes forever to complete. Top and legs are SYP, stretchers and leg vise red oak, and the crochet is maple. My shop is on the small size 24'x16', so I down sized the bench from Chris Schwarz Roubo to 84"x22" and 31" high
At the time was not sold that it needed a tail vise, but after using it for a while, decided it did. Went with the wagon vise, end cap is 12/4 Sapele and vise hardware from Lee Valley. I'm still in the steep learning curve of hand tools so somethings are a little rough.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/[IMG]http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt208/keith31831/Shop/012.jpghttp://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt208/keith31831/Shop/Bench.jpg
A few pictures of the install
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt208/keith31831/Shop/005.jpg
Yes that is blood by mallet. Safety note to self: keep business end of chisels pointed away from self:o:o

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt208/keith31831/Shop/009.jpg

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt208/keith31831/Shop/013.jpg
The wagon vise works very good, the action is smooth and holds tight. I'm not to happy with the action of the leg vise,
its stiff and you have to rock it while turning the handle. It does not have rollers on the parallel guide yet, but looking at other benches, I think it should help. Next time home will start on that and the sliding deadman.
The SYP was not the best looking, started with BLO for the finish, but thinking I should find something a little darker, maybe walnut Danish oil to finish the legs and stretchers.

Thanks for looking.
Keith

PS
Thanks to everyone here, you make the time on the road a little easier.

[Michael Peet]

Keith, I think it looks great - functional and a real user. I hope to build a Roubo soon(ish) as well.

You might want to check out the Benchcrafted leg vise (http://benchcrafted.com/vises-glide.htm) if you haven't already.

Mike

[Dan Sink]

Nicely done!

[harry strasil]

Nice Modification, but, just be careful of that screw sticking out, that's why I modified the same screw on my NuBench and put a brass garter to capture the screw and put the nut under the vise jaw.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/Nubnch11109003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/Nubnch11109004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/Nubnch11109005.jpg

[Wayne Hendrix]

Harry, thats brilliant. How did you grind the threads off of the screw?

[harry strasil]

I was a Blacksmith for 55+ years, I still have most of my shop intact.

I chucked the screw up in one of my Metal Lathes and cut the groove with a Parting tool.

I have since added 2 more securing screws to the wings on the brass garter.

[Bob Jones]

Harry,
Your wagon vise looks like something I want to add to a bench I am starting (Roubo following Schwartz plans). I am a bit confused about how your bench dog does not interfere with the vise screw?? It looks like they are all in line. Could you please explain?

Also, why make a garter for the shoulder vise screw instead of buying the tail vise screw? Seems like it would work that way from the factory...?
Thanks!

[Don Dorn]

I too like the bench and have seen many like it that contain the single row of dog holes. I also agree about the leg vise - I wouldn't do it again, it's simply a little bit of a pain to get things to grip square vertically. Anyway, personally, I decided on a manufactured metal vise for the tail vise and then put a chop on it with two dog holes 10" apart. They match the two rows of holes on the bench.

My question is this - how do you guys with a single row of holes hold anything that is round or anything perpindicular to the bench with the edge hanging off. For that matter, how do you hold a larger panel solid for planing on top of the bench with a single row. Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning the wisdom, just wondering what the logic is and how you get around things like this.

[harry strasil]

Bob Jones,
I am a bit confused about how your bench dog does not interfere with the vise screw?? It looks like they are all in line. Could you please explain?
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My bench dog shanks are the same length as my bench is thick.

Bob Jones,
Also, why make a garter for the shoulder vise screw instead of buying the tail vise screw? Seems like it would work that way from the factory...?
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That is a tailvise screw, I just didn't want it sticking out past the bench when the wagon vise jaw was open due to the possibility of colliding with it while working around the bench, I have a cramped (small) space to work in.


Don Dorn,
how do you guys with a single row of holes hold anything that is round or anything perpindicular to the bench with the edge hanging off. For that matter, how do you hold a larger panel solid for planing on top of the bench with a single row.
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I have 4 rows of dog holes in my bench top in a staggered configuration, 39 holes in all, and two sets of holes line up with the Emmert clone vise on the end of my bench.

Jr.

[Bob Jones]

Thanks Harry. So your wagon vise is below your benchtop thickness? How thick is your benchtop?

[harry strasil]

The screw for the vise is below the top, look at the pictures in post #4.

The bench top thickness is 1 3/4 thick pin oak planks. My NuBench build thread is the first one in the Neander FAQ's above.

I have a tendency to do things to a different drummer than most others. LOL