Orientation of vises on workbench

[Brad Swanson]

I'm in the planning phase for building the Benchcrafted Roubo workbench as I am in the process of outfitting my basement shop. I've noticed that some that have built the workbench have built the mirror image of the plan, with the wagon vice is on the left and the leg vice on the front right leg. What would make one chose this configuration over the other? Thanks.

[Kim Gibbens]

Being left handed.

[Brad Swanson]

It's not clear to me why the standard orientation/location is preferential to someone who is right handed.

[Jim Koepke]

It's not clear to me why the standard orientation/location is preferential to someone who is right handed.

If you currently have a bench, try planing a face or edge of a board right handed then left handed in the usual right handed orientation.

Trying to control right handed planing on a left handed bench is no more fun than trying to left hand planing on a bench set up for right handers.

With a wagon vise set up, it is always preferred to plane away from the vise. Less stress on the threaded parts this way.

When edge joining it is likely better to be planing toward the vise than away from the vise. The reason for this is if there is slippage. Planing away from a vise my go unnoticed until the board lands on one's foot.

jtk

[Brad Swanson]

Thanks Jim. I am ambidexterious to some degree when using hand tools, so I'll probably go with the right handed setup when it's time to build.

[Prashun Patel]

If you work with wider stock and a plane stop chucked in your face/leg vise, then the choice becomes even more critical.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Having to step around the leg vise when planing backwards is always a big annoyance to me.

[Jack Curtis]

Having to step around the leg vise when planing backwards is always a big annoyance to me.

So why don't you start planing at the leg vise and work away from it?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Well, normally, I plane towards the leg vise, and it's never an issue, because I run out of bench right around the leg vise and don't need to step around it, it's just when I need to work a piece in the other direction, maybe for one smoothing stroke over a funny spot, and don't want to flip the piece around because I'm lazy. If the piece is short enough, I do just as you say, and start at the vise and work away from it, but if the piece is long enough, I often would have to walk around it. It's a little awkward, but often the best solution for these situations is to use my Stanley in a "japanese" pulling fashion.

So that was just my thought, in response to the OP's question - if you put the vise on the other side, and planed in the "normal" right-handed manner, with the bench to your right as you work down it, anything long enough to require most of the bench, you're walking around the vise; even things not that long, it gets in the way, for me, it interferes with my stride, basically reducing the available length of bench that can be "easily" used, where with the leg vise at the end of the planing stroke, your arms extend over that area, so you get a little more length out of it, that's all.

Again, I don't plane "lefty" often, and chances are my leg vise is bulkier than other vise options, but my bench experience holds that the traditional orientation, if you plane in the "normal" fashion, is probably easier.