Tail vice retrofit on Sjoberg

[Daniel Rode]

I have a Sjoberg workbench. While it's not perfect, by and large it does a decent job. It has a side and end vice. I use the side/front vice for joinery and most everything else. I rarely use the end vice for anything other than holding a bench dog. However, for this use, the vice racks and I'm always trying to find a spacer that is somewhere between 1/4" and 4"...

I'm curious is anyone else has faced a similar issue and has a solution. Maybe retrofitting a simple tail vice of some type or perhaps some innovative auto-spacer to prevent racking?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Perhaps you need one of these:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69605&cat=1,41659

[Daniel Rode]

Thanks Malcolm. You reminded me of a similar shop made solution Jim Koepke posted a while back. I can't find the link now :( I wish SMC had some way to mark favorite threads.

UPDATE: Fount the link. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183743-Anti-Rack-Spacer-Stack

[Matthew Hills]

What is the downside if the vise racks when you're pinching your workpiece between bench dogs?
Ideally, you aren't applying too much force (otherwise you're likely flexing your workpiece)


Matt

[Daniel Rode]

Racking, even a little damages the vice over time. Additionally, it doesn't take much to hold a piece in place but when the vice racks it can spring and loosen easily. Therefore, it requires more force to hold the board securely in place causing more racking and more damage to the vice.

[Matthew Hills]

Can you use a 1/2" sheet of scrap plywood between the pair of dogs and the back of your board?
i.e., keep your workpiece entirely on the table, with the scrap plywood acting as a moveable stop, pushed in by the twin dogs?
Might work even better if you make this with dowels integrated to fit into the dog holes (think this would help keep it from falling away unnecessarily)

Matt

[Jim Koepke]

I can't find the link now I wish SMC had some way to mark favorite threads.

There is a way.

At the bottom of every thread is a selection labelled "Tags for this Thread." It allows for users to Add/Edit Tags. I use it all the time.

The spacer stack is also used almost every day on my bench.

jtk

[David Weaver]

The spacer stack is also used almost every day on my bench.

jtk

Me, too, as all I have is a weighed down version of the 6 foot sjoberg bench. The stack would be more convenient, but I have, instead, just several thicknesses of scrap with a quarter dowel through the top so that they don't fall out of the vise when loosening it.

Once there is something on the other side of those little lightweight vises to keep them from racking, they actually work pretty well.