Got a new vise and a problem

[Anthony Whitesell]

I won myself a new vise for my bench at auction today. A nice vise with quick release to upgrade from my yard sale find of years ago (probably a HF special or the like but the price was right at the time). When I mounted the first vise, I was building the bench. I mortised the edge of the bench (door hinge style) prior to affixing the last board. This created a pocket for the rear face to sit in and guaranteed the front of the bench was perfectly smooth. The problem is the old vise required a 1/2" recess, the new vise requires a 5/8 to 11/16" recess 2 1/2" deep. The question is how for I enlarge the mortise in the bottom of the bench top? I don't have mortising chisels or a mortising drill bit. All suggestions welcomed.

[Ray Newman]

Can you get to it with a small router or laminate trimmer?

[Jerry Miner]

if you can't get a small router under there, can you detach the top and flip it over, and work on top? Only other option I can think of is to have at it with a chisel--don't need a dedicated mortising chisel--any "all-purpose" chisel will do.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I can remove the top and flip it over. The larger concern is how do I remove the material from a 2 1/2" deep mortise? I was seriously pondering buying a mortising attachment for a hand held drill but 1) don't think they make one and 2) hate to spend that much money on a one-time-use tool. I looked at MLCS for a straight bit with a 2 1/2" cutting length but did not see one. Did I miss it by chance?

[Jim Matthews]

To orient us to this without a picture, let's label the surfaces of your board.
Z for the top, Y for the bottom and X for the front face.

Which surface needs the 2 1/2" mortise?

Is the 2 1/2" of material to be removed from the front edge of the bench (X), rather than the underside?

[Dave Richards]

Any chance you could post a picture of the vise showing the part that goes in the mortise? It would make it a lot easier to get useful advice.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I saw a shop tip in a magazine or website about cutting a mortise (aka a slot that doesn't go all the way through the board) in the bottom side of the bench in which to place the rear jaw of the vise. The advantage is the front face of the bench remains solid and smooth and the rear jaw is now wood covered and flush with the rest of the font of the bench. I will see if I can find the shop tip online.

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As I type this email I realize there are two types 'mortises'. How do you install a door hinge? "Mortise" the door jam and door slab. In jointery, what cut receives a tenon? A "mortise". Same term, two different techniques. The bench is laminated spruce (2x stock) with a hard maple strip along the front edge. Before I glued on the final maple strip, I used my door hinge jig to make a 1/2" deep, 2 1/2" wide, 9" mortise (that would have been a heck of hinge huh?). Then I applied the maple edge which transformed the cut from mortise type 1 to mortise type 2.

The mortise that needs to be enlarged is now in the bottom of the bench (when the bench top is right side up). The current mortise is 1/2" wide, 2 1/2" deep, 9 inches long and about 3/4" from the front edge. It need to be at least 5/8" wide, 2 1/2" deep and 8" wide.

[Prashun Patel]

How about just mounting the vise in the existing recess? It will sit proud by 1/8" and won't fill it completely along the 8" dimension, but it's ok, I think.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Let me rephrase. I cut the mortise in the last spruce board using the door hinge jig. Then I applied the maple edge strip, converting the door hinge mortise to a slot that doesn't go all the way through. The original slot is 1/2" wide, the new rear jaw is 5/8". The rear jaw itself is not flush with the edge of the bench but buried in the slot in the bench.

When I saw the shop tip, I thought is was common to mount a vise this way. Now I'm thinking otherwise.

[Dave Zellers]

I have a vise installed like this. So you need to remove 1/8" off the back of the mortise, over the length of 8-9".

Just flip the top over and have at it with a chisel since it doesn't have to be perfect and you won't see it. Half-hour, tops.

If you have a router and a straight bit you could start with that to whatever depth you can reach with the bit.

[Prashun Patel]

Or shim your apron around the existing mortise so that the bench edge is brought up flush with the rear jaw.

[Dave Zellers]

No- the mortise starts 5/8" back from the front edge of the top. The mortise is in the top from the bottom. The rear vise jaw slides into the mortise from underneath leaving an unbroken edge on the top.

The rear jaw on his new vise is 1/8" thicker than the old one.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'm beginning to think there is no decent way out of this. I will empty the bench and flip the top. Then use the router with an edge guide and spiral bit to remove the upper 1 1/4" inches, then I will get some chisels and work the lower inch by hand.

[glenn bradley]

When I saw the shop tip, I thought is was common to mount a vise this way. Now I'm thinking otherwise.

I also buried my rear jaws in the apron. If I were faced with enlarging them I would flip the top over and use a chisel and mallet or, just replace the apron. The bulk of the hole is there, it just needs to be a bit bigger . .. or maybe we need a picture.

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[Ray Newman]

Eagle-America haslong -- between 2-4"-- router bits: http://www.eagleamerica.com/product/v102-0102/ea_-_straight_bits (http://www.eagleamerica.com/product/v102-0102/ea_-_straight_bits)

Scroll down the list for the diameter needed,then look for the length.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Your picture does fine Glenn. Thank you for posting. The hole just needs to be wider.

I was hoping not to have to empty and flip the top (mostly, I didn't want to empty it). But I think that's going to be the easiest way. Pounding on it from the bottom while the top has a bunch of stuff on it would still result in clearing off the top.

[Jim Matthews]

This could also be done with a circular saw (scoring multiple kerfs), as the exit isn't structurally significant or visible.

That would establish the depth you want and a chisel would make short work of the clean up.
I like the idea of burying the rear jaw, but flush mounting makes for a very solid assembly, too.

I prefer jaws lined with belt leather for non-slip grip without marring the workpiece.