Veritas twin screw, Bench front QR Vise & Tail QR vise review. (pics)

[Bill Wyko]

Some of you may know I'm building a new multi generational bench. I say multi generational because it should last centuries longer than I will:eek:.
When it came to vises I put a lot of thought into what I needed, what the cost would be VS the return I would get on my investment. I'm guessing I'll use this bench for the rest of my life so that made me realize I should really invest in top quality vises that won't bind or stick and cause me frustration for ever. We've all seen the twin screw from Veritas, its basically become the standard when it comes to twin screw vises. It's the vise that made me think of them first. After contacting Lee Valley and Veritas, I came away with a lot of info and confident that they were the right choice. The people at both Veritas and Lee Valley were very knowledgeable, courteous and never pushy to get me off the phone or into some other thing I don't want. They helped me decide which vises would suit my needs and how they would work with my bench design. I now have all 3 vises in my possession and can say, pics don't do them justice. In the beginning I thought it was a lot to spend on vises but now that I have them in my hands, I can say they are worth every penny. The design, especially the quick release, and the extreme quality of construction overall really sets them apart from the crowd. I have a less expensive vise on my bench at home and it sticks and the QR is temperamental. With all the effort I'm putting into the build of this bench, I just can't have those problems. Anyway, this is all I can say about them so far. I'll be back with more on the installation and the function of them when I put them to the test. I just hope they perform as well as they look and feel sitting on my counter. (I'm pretty sure they will)


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[Bill Wyko]

Anyone else have any experience with these vises? I'm so busy this week that all I get to do is look at them for now. Like putting a bone under glass for your dog.

[Dick Mahany]

Anyone else have any experience with these vises? I'm so busy this week that all I get to do is look at them for now. Like putting a bone under glass for your dog.

Bill,
I have the twin screw vise and like it very much. One thing to note is that when extended, the screws tilt down due to the weight of the vice face and mechanism. To prevent that I installed a strip of HDPE between the underside of the bench top and the top of the screws and it works wonders. The other thing is that there is an extra small shear pin with the parts......don't loose it like I did.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks Dick, can you post a pic of the HDPE? I'll be using the wide mount option due to my bench being about 32" across. I want to do this right the first time. Thanks.

[Greg Portland]

Anyone else have any experience with these vises? I'm so busy this week that all I get to do is look at them for now. Like putting a bone under glass for your dog.
Yes, I have the twin screw. They are not kidding when they say to read ALL the instructions. I would even suggest you make a quick mock up in pine 2x4s before cutting into your nice bench. Get some UMHV plastic to place between the bench and screw (when the vise is fully closed) to prevent sagging. If you're going with an all-wood design then something cable of handling abrasion could be substituted (hickory, hard maple, lignum vitae, etc.).

[Bill Wyko]

I'm still having trouble understanding where it goes. Is it under the bench between the screw and bottom of the bench? I've been reading the instructions over & over. I definitely have to get it right the first time. Good idea to mock up a pine one first, I'll probably do that just to be safe.

[Brian Tymchak]

I'm still having trouble understanding where it goes. Is it under the bench between the screw and bottom of the bench? I've been reading the instructions over & over. I definitely have to get it right the first time. Good idea to mock up a pine one first, I'll probably do that just to be safe.

You got it. It's attached to the bottom of the bench top (at least on mine) above the screw. I used a piece of ash scrap for my blocks. I don't use that vice that much as it turns out. Too much work :) to run the vice in/out. I almost always use my quick-release in the tail position. I am really thinking about switching out the twin-screw for the same quick-release front vice you purchased.

[Dick Mahany]

I'm still having trouble understanding where it goes. Is it under the bench between the screw and bottom of the bench? I've been reading the instructions over & over. I definitely have to get it right the first time. Good idea to mock up a pine one first, I'll probably do that just to be safe.

It goes between the screw and the underside of the top. Let's say you have a 1" space above the screw, then fill it with a solid material that just clears the top of the screw. I 'll take a pic of what I did later today, but will have to play around a bit with the camera to see how to photo it. I think I layered a 1/2" strip of black HDPE on a strip of maple that were the width and length of the screws. It just barely clears the screw tops when closed, and when opening, the HDPE provides a nice frictionless bearing surface and eliminates sag. My bench is 30" across and it works fine. Layout is important, but with your surgical precision work, should be a walk in the park.

[Bill Wyko]

I get it now, thanks guys. I have a cutting board made of Teflon or something like that, I'll use that between them.

[Brian Tymchak]

I happen to have a picture of one of those blocks in a photo I uploaded for a different thread. You can see the block right above the screw in the top right corner. the other block you see toward the end of the screw is supporting bins in the split top.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks Jim for the help, can't wait to get this thing done. Won't have a chance to do anything til after easter, drives me nuts to just look at the parts built & the vises. So close & yet so far.

[Bill Wyko]

I went on their site & realized they offer a wide kit for the twin screw. I got that on the way due to my bench being 32 to 34 inches wide. (Haven't determined my tray width down the center of the bench yet.)

[Bill Wyko]

I was also wondering, I see some benches with very thick jaw faces. I want to do that but how thick is too thick? I have 2 pieces of 8/4 Bubinga I was going to double up, is that too much or should I take it down a bit?

[Dick Mahany]

Mine finished up just shy of 1-3/4" and have been rock solid for my needs. I could have gone thicker, but decided I would rather have the vise capacity than thicker jaws.

[Bill Wyko]

I thought about countersinking the threaded part under the bench to recover some of the capacity. The end of my bench is 12/4.

[ian maybury]

Pardon my taking it off on a tangent - but I'm not that keen on the idea of fitting a twin screw horizontally at the end. Not unless the bench is free standing and well away from any back wall. Likewise I'm not so sure about one fitted as a face vise - it'll take up an enormous amount of real estate along the side of the bench. The rear jaw when face mounted is also likely to mess with the layout of the bench leg at that side/end - in the case of a Roubo anyway.

It's a common enough view, but it seems like a Moxon vise covers the same taper holding requirement - in a form that can be at whatever height is required and which can easily be removed when not needed. A leg vise meanwhile has the depth above the screw that's missing on a twin screw - and sidesteps the issues of a thick top causing problems re. placement of the screw and sag.

The one requirement that's less easily covered is if you want a row of dogs along the top of a long moving vise jaw - for clamping frames or whatever. It's possible though that this can be got around using a beam that mounts off the top of the moving jaw on a leg vise.

I bought a veritas TS to mount horizontally, and am still debating the option for my own bench (still to start after 18m of looking at the wood) - but there's the possibility of mounting a Veritas Twin Screw as a self adjusting leg vise. The lower screw would only be required to adjust the parallelism of the jaw, and would only need a small hand wheel, short T bar or similar fitted....

ian

[michael osadchuk]

I thought about countersinking the threaded part under the bench to recover some of the capacity. The end of my bench is 12/4.

Bill

I've countersunk the nuts without an adverse consequence in the dozen or so years after the installation of the vise..... my benchtop rests on several 4.5" wide wood pillars that run the full width of the benchtop, including one such pillar on the vise bench end; together with a 1.75" wood inner vise jaw, the vise screws run through 6.25" of wood (the instructions simply say the rear jaw should be at least 1.75" thick); I countersunk the screw nuts into the back of the rear wood jaws and bolted the rear wood jaws to the wood pillars and benchtop.....however, I don't think I've ever used the resulting 12" jaw opening (smiley)

....the vise hardware is quite robust..... the front jaws on my installattion are quite high (partially for aesthetics, given that the 3.25" hight benchtop and 4.5" wood supporting pillars were about 8" high) so I made the distance between the top of the jaws and steel dowels that keep the wood piece off the vise screws fairly deep - about 5" - again without any adverse effect....

btw, I found I did not need any plastic "rub" strips on the underside of the bench, for the bench screws to rub against to prevent sagging of the front jaws

.... the one item in the instructions that I would change would be to reduce the taper in the front jaws from 2 degrees to 1 degree and believe the wood jaws would still close at the top of jaws first.....

....I agree with Brian (below) on the outer jaw not benefitting from being thicker than 8/4 which is the thickness I used... I routinely use the dog hole drilled into the outer jaw, within a couple of inches of front edge of the bench, together with matching dog holes along the front of the bench, to hold workpieces, without any issues of racking, etc. However, some people have modified the installation so that the chain/sprockets are embedded in the outside jaw, leading to a thicker than 8/4 outer jaw.


good luck

michael

[Brian Tymchak]

I was also wondering, I see some benches with very thick jaw faces. I want to do that but how thick is too thick? I have 2 pieces of 8/4 Bubinga I was going to double up, is that too much or should I take it down a bit?

I'm certainly no expert in bench design, but I can't see ever needing anything thicker than 8/4. Maybe it depends on what you intend to clamp? But I don't see where you get added benefit. I doubt if I can generate enough clamping pressure to cause any significant deflection in an 8/4 chop. Maybe? if you are going to rack the vice a lot? However, I would be looking into other clamping methods at that point that allowed a square clamp up. And of course, with the extra 8/4 board, you will also lose that amount of travel in the vice.

[michael osadchuk]

Pardon my taking it off on a tangent - but I'm not that keen on the idea of fitting a twin screw horizontally at the end. Not unless the bench is free standing and well away from any back wall. Likewise I'm not so sure about one fitted as a face vise - it'll take up an enormous amount of real estate along the side of the bench. The rear jaw when face mounted is also likely to mess with the layout of the bench leg at that side/end - in the case of a Roubo anyway.

It's a common enough view, but it seems like a Moxon vise covers the same taper holding requirement - in a form that can be at whatever height is required and which can easily be removed when not needed. A leg vise meanwhile has the depth above the screw that's missing on a twin screw - and sidesteps the issues of a thick top causing problems re. placement of the screw and sag.

The one requirement that's less easily covered is if you want a row of dogs along the top of a long moving vise jaw - for clamping frames or whatever. It's possible though that this can be got around using a beam that mounts off the top of the moving jaw on a leg vise.

I bought a veritas TS to mount horizontally, and am still debating the option for my own bench (still to start after 18m of looking at the wood) - but there's the possibility of mounting a Veritas Twin Screw as a self adjusting leg vise. The lower screw would only be required to adjust the parallelism of the jaw, and would only need a small hand wheel, short T bar or similar fitted....

ian

Ian

hmmm.... mounting a Veritas twin screw vise VERTICALLY... that is quite a tangent and I think deserves its own thread and would, without doubt, attract lots of advice and comment....

my two bits..... I don't see why not ....and have you queried Lee Valley about anyone having reported doing it (I didn't find any reports of such an installed when I googled "veritas twin screw as a leg vise, mounted vertically, etc.)

michael

[ian maybury]

Hi Michael. Pardon if it was too much tangent. I posted the thought before some months ago. Maybe it was just bad timing, but it didn't seem to draw much interest.

Which surprised me since all the chat about X type/peg less sliding lower jaw supports for leg vises and the like was just getting going.

There are some possible issues regarding sag and thread clearances that would be interesting to discuss - especially if some have purpose made leg vises with which to compare...

ian

[Bill Wyko]

When I discussed my bench plans with the wonderful people at Veritas, they did ask if the bench would be free standing or against a wall, in this case it will be free standing. I also do a lot of unconventional woodworking in my audio business like custom consoles, woofer boxes, custom door panels and more. Because of this I'll have clamping applications not normally found in cabinet making. When building some of the stuff we do, I've given a lot of thought as to how I would clamp the pieces if I had a bench. This bench has been a long thought out process. I also really didn't look at it as building a Roubo or any other particular style of bench, I took the ideas from benches I've researched and the needs I would have and came up with this plan. It may follow one particular style more than another but that will be due to benches that influenced my design. Thanks for the tip on going 1 degree vs 2 degree, I can always take more off.

Interesting idea to mount a twin screw vertically as a leg vise.