Yet another tail vise question

[Frank Carnevale]

Hi all. So I am getting ready to build a new bench. It will be used 99% for hand tools (planing, dovetailing, etc). I have a moxon vise I use for dovetailing and I will put a benchcrafted glide leg vise along with an adjustable planing stop on the bench end. So, do I even really need a tail/wagon vise? I am starting to think there is no need for anything on the right end of the bench. Any thoughts? Did this even make sense?

[Terry Beadle]

IMO there is still a place for an end vice on your table.

The end vice is most useful for putting dado's or groves in drawer bottom pieces. I've also found it to be very useful for clamping flattening drawer bottom panels .

It's also very useful for smaller work pieces that need to be held in a vertical position for end grain paring and or sawing. Yes, you can use your leg vice for this type of work, however I've found it useful to be able to hold certain work pieces in a non-vertical angle.

The end vice is also very useful for clamping both ends of a work piece whose grain direction changes frequently. When you have to switch position and direction of the plane you are using for multiple grain changes, the end vice is most efficient.

Just my 2 cents and worth every penny....hoot!

[Jim Koepke]

So, do I even really need a tail/wagon vise?

The tail vise and wagon vise are two different critters. So much so that my thoughts run toward making my bench with both.

It all comes down to your manner of work and what you make. If you need something to hold long pieces securely, then a vise that holds things along the length of your bench is important. This is handy when making long rabbets and such.

jtk

[Frank Carnevale]

Ha! appreciate it




Just my 2 cents and worth every penny....hoot!

[Jim Koepke]

Often my mind doesn't even think much about how things are done in the shop and today while marking a board to cut, it came to me as another way to use a tail vise.

235944

Here a small piece is held in the tail vise like a planing stop. My hope for the future is to have enough room on the far side of the shop to use this set up as a planing stop.

jtk

[Frank Drew]

I like traditional tail vises; as Terry notes they're very versatile (more so, IMO, than a wagon vise.)

[Jim Matthews]

I rarely used my tail vise in conjunction with the planing stop at the left of my bench.

I had a Veritas inset vise (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,41659&p=66819) in the previous iteration that just gathered shavings and got in the way of crosscutting.
I've adapted the little Veritas blades (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=51&p=64685) to do the same task, when needed (which is not often).

As mentioned above, if you're working lots of longer pieces on their face grain - a vise at the end makes sense.
If you're not, temporary fixtures will do. The way my shop is set up, having a vise at that end just gets in the way.

[Jim Koepke]

I rarely used my tail vise in conjunction with the planing stop at the left of my bench.

[snip]

As mentioned above, if you're working lots of longer pieces on their face grain - a vise at the end makes sense.
If you're not, temporary fixtures will do. The way my shop is set up, having a vise at that end just gets in the way.

A couple of good points here. It is easy to clamp a planing stop at the left end of my bench.

Also if one has space limitations or work flow needs it can call for a different holding solution for the work being done. My sawing doesn't use a vise very often since a couple of saw benches were built. Often though a shooting board or bench hook will be clamped in the tail vise. With my current bench there is better stability sawing and shooting aligned with the bench's length instead of across the the top. Hopefully a slightly bigger and a stouter bench will change the stability issues.

In reality, one could likely do fine work without a vise attached to their bench. It would just require different holding options.

If one wanted to go that route, the might want to allow for an option to add a tail vise at a later date.

jtk