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View Full Version : Benchcrafted wagon vise for vertical clamping



Tri Hoang
02-20-2010, 12:53 AM
I wonder if the vise can secure a pine board (say 8-10" wide) for sawing without damaging the sides? I'd love to hear from those who have experience with this particular vise.

Rick Erickson
02-20-2010, 1:31 AM
From the benchcrafted site:

Vertical clamping between vise jaws can be easily accomplished with our vise, and when lined with leather (recommended), the grip is tenacious. This is an ideal vise for cutting dovetails on the ends of boards. The vise, when installed for its maximum capacity and using a 5" long dog block, is capable of handling an 11-3/4" wide board. Maximum travel is 12-1/4" using a 2-7/8" end cap.

Tri Hoang
02-20-2010, 11:42 AM
Rick..I read that from their site as well but just want to get some input from others from their practical experience. It looks like the clamping area is very small compared to that of the twin screws varieties. While I don't doubt that it could clamp the board still for sawing, I think it may crush the sides of the softer woods due to higher clamping pressure required to compensate for such small clamping area.

Jon van der Linden
02-20-2010, 12:00 PM
You can always make a set of test jaws to set in your regular vise, i.e. same depth as the bench/wagon vise, and clamp a piece of wood in it to see how it holds or crushes. This will address your question through your own experience and test your exact application.

Jim Barrett
02-20-2010, 4:12 PM
I built the Woodsmith workbench in issue #50 almost 20 years ago. It has a "traveling dog" which works great for doing dovetails. It only allows you about 5 1/2 inch wide boards but it does work pretty slick.

Jim