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Marko Milisavljevic
03-23-2012, 1:51 AM
Any suggestions for ideal leg vise width? I can swing 7.5" wide from 8/4 board of hard maple I have on hand. Do I need a wider board?
Chris Griggs
03-23-2012, 7:28 AM
Mine is 10". Wider than 7.5" will give you a bit more capacity when clamping boards vertically on one side of the screw, but really I think 7.5" will should work just fine.
Jim Ritter
03-23-2012, 7:29 AM
Mine is the same width as the leg, 5". It has enough area to hold anything I've put in it and minimum wracking if I can't clamp full width. I have 6" between the top of the screw and the top of the vise.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/boatman53/4a616bb6.jpg
Andrae Covington
03-23-2012, 10:35 AM
Any suggestions for ideal leg vise width? I can swing 7.5" wide from 8/4 board of hard maple I have on hand. Do I need a wider board?

My leg vises are just about 8". As Chris said, a wider chop can be helpful for vertical work when the workpiece is long and has to sit beside the screw (and the parallel guide below). On occasions I've put a scrap on the opposite side to keep the chop from racking horizontally, but generally it really hasn't been a problem. When I'm working on significantly wider pieces vertically, I have a sliding leg vise that I bring over to hold the other side. Alternatively a sliding deadman as in Jim's pic, or even a clamp can secure the other side.
Chuck Nickerson
03-23-2012, 1:03 PM
Jim Ritter - Hey! Another shop that looks like mine. All I need to do is upgrade the quality of my under-the-bench clutter.
Zach Dillinger
03-23-2012, 1:16 PM
My leg vise is about 4" wide and 12/4 thick poplar ... works great.
Mike Holbrook
03-25-2012, 11:12 AM
The BenchCrafted plans for a Split Top Roubo make the top part of the jaw, to just below the screw, 9" and the lower portion of the vise, below the screw, 5 3/8", matching the width of the leg.
Jim Ritter
03-25-2012, 11:47 AM
Yes mine are tapered also. You don't need the strength down low and it is more graceful looking.
Wilbur Pan
03-26-2012, 3:10 PM
If you have a sliding deadman, you can pretty much clamp any size board or panel with your leg vise, with the only limiting factor being the floor.

Wide boards:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-buEbpEgXjbU/TFy3mdLhAzI/AAAAAAAABN0/BSdL_xgN-Rw/s640/IMG_6509.JPG

Long boards:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vzZx2CXYqZA/TFy0E2yA-FI/AAAAAAAABNs/7OazpxDLdMI/s640/IMG_6507.JPG

For the record, the chop of my leg vise is about 8" wide, and the leg itself is 5" wide.