Vice placement on a new bench

[Tom Godley]

I was working on a second work bench for my shop yesterday Bench #1 is a typical jointers bench about 28 deep x 94" long and uses a 24" twin screw as a front vise on the left and has a standard wooden tail vise on the right.

I wanted to make #2 a deeper bench - 30" deep x 5.5' or 6' long (I have two tops). I have a 10" wide (lee valley calls them front vises) that I was going to use as the right end vice -- and I have the larger Jorgenson bench vice (10" wide) that I was going to place on the left front

Now after getting all the parts out -- I'm not so sure. There is no way I can make the end vise the full with of the bench -- 15" looks to be about the max jaw size for the vise I have. And I'm a little concerned with the mounting of the Jorgenson (or any steel vise) -- they sit proud of the face of the top - I am disliking that more than I thought. I could inset it or add a skirt to cover the face ?? But I am thinking that I should reverse the placement of the vices.

Any thoughts on this?? Any problems with the proud mounting of the steel vices that I am not thinking about?

[Tommy Squires]

Tom, I inset mine in the tail position and covered the inside face with the same ash as the rest of the bench. You can see it here:
http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc154/tdsquires/My%20Workbench/

I like the result. Mine is a Wilton.

[Tom Godley]

Thats a nice bench!

My thinking is that maybe I should have just purchased two of the "front" vises - because you end up with the same thing.


What are the advantages of the steel Jorgenson vises -- because it looks as if every body covers them up.

[glenn bradley]

I inset my metal jaw like Tommy. Here's (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=133043&d=1258518522)a shot from back when I was building the top.

[george wilson]

I'm not sure why they sit proud of the bench top. Can't you add some layers under the bench to bring the vises down to even with the bench top?

I have an iron front vise on the left hand side of my bench. For the tail vise I made up all the metal parts. Screw,nut,sliding metal guides,etc.. The outside of the vise is beech. I had a Swiss made bench in my former job that I used for a basic model.

[Tom Godley]

George: I am going to shim out the bottom so that the vice does not sit above the top of the bench.

I am using a 1.75 inch thick butcher block top to make this bench - so I will have to shim under the top about 1/2 inch to make it flush. But the face of the rear jaw will not be flush with the front face of the bench - especially if a wood block is used. I did notice that some builders used leather.

It just seems that the other type of vise is more suited - if you want it flush.

I am just trying to figure out if there is any problems with this arraignment -- my old bench and my new jointers bench both have the front vice flush - so that is what I am used to.

[george wilson]

My bench is 4" thick. I used one of those copies of Record vises as my front vise. In my case,the vise came 1/2" BELOW the top surface of my bench. I just put in wooden jaw liners that were flush with the bench top. There is a gap between the rear jaw and the edge of the bench. I simply fitted a piece of the same wood as the jaw liners. Worked just fine.

Since my bench is extremely heavy,I didn't want to bother getting several guys together to turn the bench over to thin it where the vise was mounted. Another benefit is that there is no metal at all that a plane might hit it.

[jerry nazard]

Tom, I inset mine in the tail position and covered the inside face with the same ash as the rest of the bench. You can see it here:
http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc154/tdsquires/My%20Workbench/

I like the result. Mine is a Wilton.

Tommy,

That is a drop dead gorgeous bench. Splendid!! Wow!!!

-Jerry

[Tony Shea]

I would recess the back face of the vice to be flush with the edge of the bench, chisel out a mortise. Then I would trim the bench out around all the edges, or just the edge with the vice and opposite edge to even out the look and use this trim/apron as the back face of the vice. This is what I did with my 9" rockler vise and have been very pleased with how it looks and performs. I don't think most people understand what your asking as I believe you have the height issues worked out. You're just looking for the back face of the vise to be inset to the edge of the bench correct? You may not have planned on putting and apron all the way around the bench but this is the best option if you want the vise not to stick out beyond the edge.

[Tom Godley]

The standard way to install these vices is to just slap them on the front or side of the bench -- and shim the vice down if the top is not thick enough. You can then attach wood to the jaws if you would like.

Using this standard install process the face of the rear jaw is not in line with the face of the bench - The amount depends on the thickness of the rear vice jaw and the wood jaw -- if you add it.

So if you want to clamp a long board in the vice - the board does not sit up tight against the face of the bench.

I am just looking for the pros and cons of this - all my current setups have the rear jaw flush. I do on occasion attach long boards in the vice and then use a clamp to hold the far end of the board tight to the bench face. This would not be possible with the vice installed in the standard fashion -- unless a block was used behind the board.

I am thinking that this is not really a big deal. I have the hard maple top -- its 30" wide as it is - and I was not originally planning to skirt it

[Maurice Ungaro]

My bench is 4" thick. I used one of those copies of Record vises as my front vise. In my case,the vise came 1/2" BELOW the top surface of my bench. I just put in wooden jaw liners that were flush with the bench top. There is a gap between the rear jaw and the edge of the bench. I simply fitted a piece of the same wood as the jaw liners. Worked just fine.

Since my bench is extremely heavy,I didn't want to bother getting several guys together to turn the bench over to thin it where the vise was mounted. Another benefit is that there is no metal at all that a plane might hit it.

George, that's exactly what I did with my Record knock-off vise too. Just seemed to make sense to me. Could you post a pic of your bench? I'm curious to see what a master's bench looks like. While I would love to redo my bench (read: make another one, which is fancier), I like to see those of others that have weathered many years and many projects.

[harry strasil]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/nu%20bench/vises3-4.jpg

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

[Tommy Squires]

Jerry and Tom - Thanks for the kind words. The project was fun and I have really enjoyed using the bench.

Tom, I think you have answered your own question. There seem to be a lot of logical reasons to inset the rear jaw into the face (or tail) of your bench. I imagine it would be a PITA to have to use spacers for boards longer than your chops. As mine shows, you don't have to have an apron to inset the jaw but, depending on the thickness of your metal jaw and your choice of materials to cover that jaw, the mortise gets pretty deep. I ended up using my timber framing chisels to remove the waste.

As far as the advantages of Jorgensen (or any steel vices) if both faces are covered, that's a good question. I like the ease of adjustment but I know equivalent bench hardware exists that is cheaper and works just as well.

Good luck.

[Tom Vanzant]

Tommy,
What is the height of your bench. It seems to be fairly low, or is that an optical illusion?
Tom

[Tommy Squires]

Honestly, I don't remember. My shop is several miles from my computer so I can't just go out and check it. I am about 5' 11" and I used the knuckle at my side method and then adjusted to a little higher. I think it was either 32 or 33" tall so I guess it is an optical oddity.