Leather Lined vises - Show and tell

[Joe A Faulkner]

I noted when searching for examples of leather lined vises that in a May 2012 poll on the question of leather lined vises, 41 respondents indicated they lined both the jaw and bench-side face of their vises. I've been doing a little research on the topic and noted some suggestions for 14-16 oz vegetable tanned leather as the material of choice. I'd appreciate some pictures of leather lined vises, along with descriptions of the leather (dimensions, weight/grade), where you sourced it, how you applied it and actual or expected lifetime of the application. Of secondary interest is how you applied the leather to the bench-side face: surface mount or recessed?

[Peter Pedisich]

Joe,

I have a habit of never throwing out certain things I think I might use in the shop one day. Nowadays they call it hoarding, I think.
In any event, I've re-purposed an old briefcase/work bag that my wife was going to throw in the trash... "Hold on a minute there, girl!"
I lined only the vise side, and it still seems to hold the workpiece with an insanely strong grip. I think I could lift the bench up off of 2 legs by lifting up on a clamped workpiece.
By carefully cutting the bag up, I was able to line both of my vises, make a 2-sided strop, and have some leftover. I used Old Brown Glue (hide glue) and it's holding fine.

Good luck,

Pete

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MXxEUAeLayU/UGOwshcb7TI/AAAAAAAABJc/alr8eZQQLuQ/s800/IMG_7255.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vwkpOsLSZP4/UGOwqTXNeMI/AAAAAAAABJc/t0rQ57Km4eE/s800/IMG_7253.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IcBXlo4OK6I/UGOwp8hMR5I/AAAAAAAABJc/qvHc3p75dWc/s800/IMG_7251.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ube7iC2Gz1s/UGOwrE4AvjI/AAAAAAAABJc/3_2WcooQJjM/s800/IMG_7252.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Cj3ssstVJbw/T8gobwFAYKI/AAAAAAAABCE/UdMLEMPxtnc/s800/IMG_6473.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wMlBwcXZz_A/UGOwuIU9nMI/AAAAAAAABJc/GHEmHb09Emo/s800/IMG_7258.JPG

[glenn bradley]

I used to keep a slab of leather on the bench and just wrap things that needed it. Now I have had leather on the faces for quite some time and have not been sorry. After other adjesives kept slipping, I used contact cement.

[Jim Ritter]

That sounds like something I would do Pete. What make is that first vise? Those are some guide bars.

[Peter Pedisich]

That sounds like something I would do Pete. What make is that first vise? Those are some guide bars.

Jim,
Hi, the vise is a Sjobergs from their Elite line of benches, it was on clearance at Woodcraft last winter so I bought one, so far I like it.
-Pete

[Joe A Faulkner]

I love this idea. Have you had any color transfer to your work pieces? Nice looking bench too! Is it featured in another thread somewhere? Does it feature 4/4 stock face glued to a subsequent layers?

[John Coloccia]

Personally, I rummage through the scrap pile at my local Tandy Leather for such things. For vice jaws, I have have some hard, undyed, leather cut approximately in the shape of my jaws, and I slip them in when I need them.

[Peter Pedisich]

I love this idea. Have you had any color transfer to your work pieces? Nice looking bench too! Is it featured in another thread somewhere? Does it feature 4/4 stock face glued to a subsequent layers?

Joe, no color transfer so far.
The bench is my first hand tool bench I made last winter where I work in the basement. I'm a little embarassed to show it here with all these incredible Nicholsons, Roubos, Klauszs and so on. The base and the banding in the top were all made with Doug Fir 2x10's that my dad used as a workbench in our basement growing up - the wood was left over from when the house was built in the late '50's. So for a while I wanted to use the wood to make a bench from, as it meant something to me. The top is a solid-core door from ReStore, 1.75" thk, with 9/16" thk white oak engineered flooring glued down. So far it has stayed flat through winter in the basement, and spring and summer in a garage on an island (Long Island, about 1 mile from water) It's no beauty, but it's way better than what i was using, and solid for planing.

Pete

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kbGn8N8hOxk/T41skboPQAI/AAAAAAAABCE/zupWfLzVBEI/s800/IMG_6154.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Zjwkl6bXnuw/T8goR4vH1iI/AAAAAAAABCE/SpOD_hiIToY/s800/IMG_6236.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rSgTywUIjrk/TzSa7oI-2AI/AAAAAAAABCE/dSqGu_iG9CU/s800/IMG_5731.JPG

[Matthew N. Masail]

Peter, that looks great to me! your vises look strong with good capacity and the bench is stable heavy and flat.... I'd say you have as good a bench as any. nice size space also!

Glenn - is your bench top MDF banded with wood? if so what did you use to finish it? and how does it hold up?

to the OP - I'm just finishing my bench now... I know you asked about leather but thought I'd throw in some info on VERITAS high friction sheet stuff. I lined my front vise with it and have a small metal working vise with wooden jaws that are lined with it too.
it grips like a monster. it doesn’t have an immediate hold, the rubber has a few millimeters of give, but you get used to it - just keep closing until it's tight. don't know if it's better or not, maybe just different. I'll have to work with it for while to form a solid opinion.
I don't have it inset... so if clamping long work I need to insert a thin shim between the work and the apron. I just stuck a piece of the same liner material to a 6 inch stainless ruler and it works fine. I'm sure it's good enough for fine work.

[Frank Drew]

Joe,

No photos, but I lined both faces with leather, rough side out, using a spray adhesive (from 3M, I think).

[Andrae Covington]

I noted when searching for examples of leather lined vises that in a May 2012 poll on the question of leather lined vises, 41 respondents indicated they lined both the jaw and bench-side face of their vises. I've been doing a little research on the topic and noted some suggestions for 14-16 oz vegetable tanned leather as the material of choice. I'd appreciate some pictures of leather lined vises, along with descriptions of the leather (dimensions, weight/grade), where you sourced it, how you applied it and actual or expected lifetime of the application. Of secondary interest is how you applied the leather to the bench-side face: surface mount or recessed?

I bought a belly strip from a local store (Oregon Leather Co). It's about 1/8" thick, so probably 8-10 oz. Nothing wrong with the thicker stuff but I don't think it's necessary. I used rubber cement but others have said any woodworking glue will work. I only lined the vise chops, so can't offer any advice about applying it to the bench side. The photo was taken early on; since then (a couple years) much of the nap has compressed, though not all. If there's a next time, I think I'll try the smooth side out. I don't see this stuff wearing out anytime soon though.

241898241899

[Peter Pedisich]

Andrae, that's a great looking vise. Like your avatar, as well! (I have a blue tool chest also)
-pete

[Mark Wyatt]

Joe, I lined both faces of mine and like it so far. No issues.

If you find yourself in Indy, I strongly suggest stopping by Landwerlen Leather Co. It's a 100 year-old business in the shadows of Lucas Oil Stadium. Take some time and talk to the owners; they are great people! They will have any leather you want or need.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Thanks Mark. What did you use? Did you purchase from Landwerlen? Did you have to buy an entire "belly" or side? Or do they sell by the piece? I'm really enamored by Peter's solution. May have to start checking out GoodWill for old brief cases :).

[Andrae Covington]

... Did you have to buy an entire "belly" or side? Or do they sell by the piece? I'm really enamored by Peter's solution. May have to start checking out GoodWill for old brief cases :).

As John said:

Personally, I rummage through the scrap pile at my local Tandy Leather for such things...

Most leather places have a pile / box / barrel / etc full of remnants. You don't have to buy a big piece like I did. It's just that the scraps section at the place I went looked like the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark... I bailed after about five minutes and bought the belly strip for around $20. Still have leftovers for other projects.

If you end up buying something leather at Goodwill to repurpose, I think it should be some garish color like pink or lime green.:D


Andrae, that's a great looking vise. Like your avatar, as well! (I have a blue tool chest also)
-pete

Thanks.:) My vise chops are Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana). In my naivety, I didn't realize the rough-sawn board was spalted when I bought it... I just thought it was dirty, lol. :rolleyes: On the tool chest, I used Federal Blue by the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co.

[glenn bradley]

I love this idea. Have you had any color transfer to your work pieces?

No color transfer. Suede side out.

[Bill White]

Well, you guys made me feel bad. I've been intending to line the vices for quite some time. I just went after the job with some 3/16" bull hide and 3M Yellow Trim Adhesive. Done! Gonna keep 'em clamped down for a while 'til the glue fully sets.
Thanks for pushin me.
Bill

[Stew Hagerty]

Here's my face vise. The table was passed down to me from my father-in-law and he made the top from hard maple. But, he mounted the vise flush with the front and then added a wooden inside face so that it was now 3/4" proud of the front of the bench so you couldn't clamp anything flush. last winter I took off the vise and notched out the benchtop then reinstalled it. When I did it I decided to both dress it up a bit and add a couple of improvements. First, I made it out of some rock hard 8/4 Jatoba that I had left over from a project. I rounded the clamping face for asthetics and added a couple of dog holes. I dropped a couple of Veritas Bench Dogs into in, and added some suede to the clamping face. I left the bench face bare so that it is totally flush with the bench.

241940241941241942

But, that is not the only leather lined vise in my shop. I have what I believe is a fairly unusual saw vise that is also leather lined.
It is a Gunn & Harman 14" vise with Patent Dates of 1895 and 1896.
It looks as though it was meant to hook over something, possibly dog holes (but it doesn't fit mine), so I made a mounting bracket for it that I can drop into my vise. It workes very well and, not surprisingly, there is virtually no vibration or harmonics when filing.

241943241944

[Bill White]

Related to my previous post:
Dang! What a difference!!! Glue is cured, and I tried the grip with the leather face on both front and end vice. This addition has been well worth the 30 min. it took.
Why didn't you guys inspire me earlier? :)
Bill

[Joe A Faulkner]

Well, you guys made me feel bad. I've been intending to line the vices for quite some time. I just went after the job with some 3/16" bull hide and 3M Yellow Trim Adhesive. Done! Gonna keep 'em clamped down for a while 'til the glue fully sets.
Thanks for pushin me.
Bill
Come on Bill - it is show and tell. Let's see the pics :)

[Eric Brown]

I have also put leather on my holddowns and bench dogs using contact cement. Works great.
My main bench vice is a Tucker that came with leather liners. Mounted it flush.
I would buy another if they ever make them again at Lee Valley.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Show and tell..... this is with the Veritas high friction material... I'm the black sheep in the group

241985241986241987

[Frank Drew]

I think leather lining on vise faces contributes both cushioning and better gripping, so would recommend lining on both vise and bench for maximum effectiveness in both areas.