quick release vise location

[Curtis Niedermier]

I've been putting off building a quality workbench because my wife and I just rent our house and are planning to buy this fall or next spring. I've been saving money and don't want to move a big heavy bench in a few months. However, I'm about fed up with my existing "bench," which is a ragtag bench that was assembled by one of the previous owners of our house. It's three 2x10s nailed on a flimsy 2x4 frame, and there isn't a flat spot on it.

Anyway, I'm probably going to build a yellow pine knockdown bench that's based on the Roubo-style bench, but with easy-to-dissassemble joinery. I was going to invest in a Benchcrafted Glide leg vise, but I already have a very large and very nice vintage Craftsman quick-release metal vise. So with funds a little tight right now, I am thinking of using the Craftsman vise I have.

As for my question: Where would you put a quick-release face vise on a Roubo-esque workbench? Outside the leg? Inside the leg? My first thought was to put it outside the leg, but then I thought about sliding the leg out toward the end a bit farther than normal and putting the vise inside it. I figure that if the top is 4 to 4 1/2 inches thick, as long as the space between legs isn't more than about 5 feet it shouldn't sag. Or am I wrong? What do you think?

[Jim Koepke]

Curtis,

Please remember this is all just my opinions or thoughts on what works for me.

My reason for liking the leg on the inside of my vise is so a piece can be held by the vise and clamped to the leg at the same time. This is handy when working end grain of panels or cutting joinery. Also when joining long pieces a support can be clamped to the legs. It is also convenient to hold things in the vise to saw off past the bench's end. For these kinds of things it helps to have the vise at the end of the face.

You may be able to build a bench so for now the Craftsman is on the face and when you get settled you can change it to the tail vise and have a leg vise.

jtk

[Curtis Niedermier]

Thanks Jim. Swapping the Craftsman to the tail vise position and adding a leg vise was one of my initial plans, however, the regular old metal vise is growing on me. It has some limitations, like when clamping a wide board, but I've figured out it's not too difficult to adjust for those issues. I guess there are just too many vise options out there, and each has its limitations and advantages.

[Matthew Hills]

My vise is outside the leg -- mostly for holding work pieces and cutting off the edge of the bench.

One recent knock-down workbench build to consider:
http://www.closegrain.com/2014/01/apartment-workbench-part-4.html


Have you tried reinforcing the frame or considered fastening it to your wall?

Matt

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

In my opinion, vises are often like the cameras - the best one is the one you have on you. It's always nice to want something better, but that doesn't help you make something beautiful now.

Like Jim, I like having my metal vise in the end position.

For a face-vise position, I'm not sure if putting the the vise inside the leg gains you anything if the chop of the vise isn't thicker than the top of the bench. (If the chop was thicker than the top, putting the vise inside the leg might get you a little sturdier clamping to the left of the vise - but outside the leg might do the same on the right, so I'm not sure it matters.) I would prefer outside the leg, but simply because on my small bench, it moves the vise further away - the farther out it is, it gets the less it's in the way when working long stock. If that far end, where the face vise is to reside is going to be stuck close to a wall or something, moving it in may be nicer for you when working the ends of stock (sawing dovetails or tenons or something) in that vise.


In the end, these vises aren't terribly difficult to mount - I would go for whatever makes the most "gut sense" to you, and if it doesn't work, it's not too hard to mount it in a new spot. If you're rebating into the bench top, you could even make two pockets for the vise while you're building the bench top, to make switching it over easy, and make a little block of wood that you can screw in place to hide the hole not in use if you want.

[Brian Holcombe]

Curtis,

if this is what you really want use it, but my advice would be to get what you really want if you are building a bench from the ground up. A few bucks upfront or a few bucks and a lot if reengineering down the line.

[Curtis Niedermier]

Matthew - I saw that workbench and loosely followed along during the build. What I had in mind is more substantial. I'll laminate the top with either 2x6s that have been smoothed on four sides to remove the rounded corners or quartersawn pieces ripped out of 2x12s. The stretchers will be attached to legs with wedged dovetail through-tenons or some other type of joinery that can be taken down. I want to see bolts on my bench legs, so I'll probably not use metal fasteners. I plan to tenon the legs into the top, but not use through tenons. I'll probably not even secure the tenons so it can be taken apart easily. I'll probably add short stretchers from the top of the front legs to the top of the back legs and drive lag bolts up through them into the top from below. The leg tenons will just serve to help prevent racking, and I'll go for a tight fit since there won't be glue, pegs or wedges. Down the road, I could drawbore those joints if I'm in a more permanent location. But again, this is all brainstorming.

Brian - I had the same thought, but for awhile now I've wanted a leg vise because everyone has talked about how great they are. Thing is, I've never used one. Yet I've been using a metal vise for awhile now, and that's what I used in high school woodworking classes and elsewhere. I'm used to it. I guess I should find someone with a leg vise and take it for a test drive before I make a decision.

Here's something else I've been thinking about. Instead of inletting the vise so the rear jaw/chop is flush with the bench face, I thought about tacking a spacer block on the front edge of the bench so long boards (or boards too wide for the vise) can be secured in one side of the vise then clamped to the bench at the other end. I've seen this done before, but I thought it would be better if the block could be moved across the front of the bench to exactly where I wanted to attach the clamp. My idea was to inlay a narrow piece of metal across the front edge of the bench and stick a couple magnets in the back of the block. That way I can move it - or I can take it off when I want to drape a couple dovetailed boards over the edge or perform some other task along the edge. It's probably more work than is necessary, but why make something simple, right?

[Joe A Faulkner]

It sounds like you are settled on the basic bench design - top thickness & laminiation, joinery for your legs & stretchers and the method for attaching the top to the legs. It is going to take several hours and many elapsed days to acquire the lumber, rip and mill the legs, stretchers, assemble the top.

I suggest you go ahead and get started on this. After spending hours to produce the components of your bench, I think you might look at your vise options and any associated cash outlay a little differently. You might resolve to move forward with a leg vise, and use your quick release as your tail vise, or you might decide to go ahead and install the quick release as a face vise, or you might decide to install the quick release as a tail vise, and not bother with a face vise until funding for another vise becomes available.

I just went through months of debating the vice options for my bench build, so I can relate to your situation. I currently have a very sturdy 3' x 5' outfeed table that has a 7" quick release vise mounted as a face vise. It is the only vise I've ever used. I thought about using this vise on the new bench, but in the end decided otherwise. The new bench is going to have a leg vise featuring a big wooden screw and the Lee Valley Twin Screw vise as a tail vise.