Pattern Maker's Vise from Highland Woodworking- anyone try it?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I don't know how I have missed this. I knew there were some Chinese copies out there, but this looks pretty well-made. Has anyone tried it? Is this new, or am I just out of touch? (I mean this particular offering by HWW; I know the design itself is not new.)

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/patternmakerswoodworkingvise.aspx


I may just have to get one. I don't really want to have to do all this routing to my bench. Since it may be a while before my dream Roubo build comes to fruition, addign this to my existing bench would be sweet, and probably I would add it to the back or side of the Roubo when I do get to that build. I like these for carving and making wierd-shaped stuff. $300 is a sweet price for such a hefty vise. Seriously thinking about getting this.

[Bruce Page]

I would love to have one but my bench top is not easily removable so retrofitting the underside of it would be a major pain.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Yes, same here, but it's doable. I just realized, however, that I would probably have to modify the shelf below it too.

Well, my wife asked me yesterday, "What does a woman get a man who has everything for Father's Day other than another Veritas gift certificate?" (gloat) and so I sent her a link to the HWW gift certificate page. I guess I will wait until June 21 and see if I get the gift card, and by then I also will know if I am getting a good bonus this quarter or not. Perhaps if the bonus is good I will just break down and order up some maple and build that dream bench. I think what I would do is a leg vise on one side and a pattern vise on the other. The bench is accessible from all sides.

[Stephen Kudro]

I've seen these in person, but haven't used one. Of course it's made in China as well. But it seems to be a fairly well made knock-off. Considering what a real Emmert (or the equivalent--I think Oliver and others made similar vises) would cost, and how hard they are to find, it'd be a good option.

Frankly I'm not the biggest fan of HWW, but this vise serves a nice purpose for folks.

[Jim Matthews]

They're good, but not so large as the traditional Emmerts. This makes fitting one easier, due to fewer collisions with support structures.

Keep in mind that the PTRNMKR vise has a long secondary spar that must be mounted to the left.

That will limit where the vise can be fitted.

[george wilson]

I have never wanted an Emmert style vise,being mostly a musical instrument maker. Not sure how it would mount on a 4" thick top.

My main concern is how rugged that center square screw housing is against breaking off if it got unevenly racked while clamping wood,Chinese cast iron being what it is. Perhaps users will post how well it holds up.

P.S.: Apparently the banjo has become the instrument of necessity for woodworking videos. I guess the folkier than thou scene prevails.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Ha! The banjo music kind of kicked in unexpectedly, too. I thought I had entered that scene from "Deliverance."

Well, I agree that Chinese castings are usually not very high quality, and that's why I was wondering if anyone had tried it. It looks good in the videos at least, but there appears to be some slop and the adjusting arm looks flimsy to me. Also I worry about that release lever giving way as I am working on a large piece of wood with the vise up at an angle. The vise would suddenly fall, swinging the workpiece right at my head or groin. Hmmm...

[Jim Koepke]

P.S.: Apparently the banjo has become the instrument of necessity for woodworking videos. I guess the folkier than thou scene prevails.

It may also be that there is a lot of royalty free banjo music available. Heck, it was some of the banjo music in one video that lead me to a lot of the royalty free music that is enjoyed while in my shop.

jtk

[John Sanford]

P.S.: Apparently the banjo has become the instrument of necessity for woodworking videos. I guess the folkier than thou scene prevails.

I'd rather listen to banjo than the "instrument of necessity" for so many motorcycle videos - wailing hard rock guitar(s).

[Malcolm Schweizer]

At the risk of going further astray, but since it's my thread anyway...

314569314570

[george wilson]

I agree about wailing hard guitar music. Never liked rock and roll,especially not METAL!

But a little creativity wouldn't hurt in selecting music.

[Don Rogers]

Malcolm,

I finished my workbench last Fall and had to design it around my Emmert vise in order to make a cavity for it’s rather large ram. The top is about 3” thick which would have the ram go into the well. Also had to redesign the leg placement to be as close to the vise as possible. Witjout actually measuring the vise and bench., the well starts about 18” from the left end of the bench, Otherwise ir is a solid bench only for the first 18” of the left hand bench side. The well starts there and then extends to the right hand side oh the bench.


With respect to the vise that you you are interested in, I would seriously consider it if I did not have the Emmert. I am perfectly happy with the Emmert and, so far have not ever thought about getting another type. I also have a quick release end vise that very seldom gets used.


Mine is mounted so that it’s rear jaw face is 1-1/2” from the front apron and the apron is cut out so the vise can be rotated and also rotated upward. At this point I have not needed support for long boards but can always put dog holes in the apron to hold a dowel support


As a disclaimer, I’m not an experienced woodworker but wanted to say that the clone should serve you well if it is made well enough for it’s purpose.


I also enjoyed the installation and uses videos for that vise.


As a side note, my father was a Pattern maker and when I was a kid , sometime in the 1940 s,
I tightened his Emmert so much, the lead screw broke. Not a happy time for both of us but he managed to weld or replace it and get it working again.

[Thomas Schneider]

I have the AMT version of this vise. Looks exactly the same. I bought it NOS about 6yrs ago for $50.00. So far it's held up well although I have to admit I don't do any carving and use it mostly like a standard face vise. The only modification I made was to Line the inside of the jaws with leather. The vise holds the work very well with just moderate pressure. I don't know if I would buy it for $300.00 but not because of how it performs. I just think for where my woodworking is at right now I would rather have something like a twin screw vise. Maybe.

Tom.

[John Vernier]

I have this vise, or one of virtually identical make, which I bought at a Woodcraft store about 6 years ago. It works just fine, and I haven't had any hint of trouble with it. The fit and finish of the moving parts, rotation, pivoting head, etc, is very smooth. The exterior sand-cast finish is coarser than you would expect to see on a vintage Emmert Vise, and in particular the fit on the sliding dogs is sloppier than on the Emmert, but they work all the same, with retainer springs to hold them in place. I make a point of not abusing the thing, and I have an old record quick-release vise mounted as the primary face vise on my bench, so the Ersatz Emmert is mostly reserved for tricky gripping jobs (tapered legs and chair parts), but I'm glad to have it, I don't baby it, and I'm glad I didn't have to drop $800 on an old Emmert. I did turn a new white oak handle for mine, which significantly improves on the appearance of the cheesy stock rubber wood handle.

Incidentally, before I bought mine years ago, I read someone's comment, I think on a boat building forum, that the old Emmerts are more fragile than the knock-offs, due to the quality of stove-grade cast iron they were using, and I certainly have seen a lot of cracked and brazed Emmerts kicking around. I can't vouch for this information, but it's worth thinking about.

[Bob Strawn]

i got one from Highland in 2008. Small it is not. You almost need to build a table around it! With it you can do things safely and with force that would otherwise be foolhardy. I love mine I have worn out the wooden handle. The rest is still going and as good as new. Here are my blog articles on it.
http://toolmakingart.com/2008/09/12/a-pattern-makers-vise/
http://toolmakingart.com/2008/09/16/patternmakers-vise-can-give-you-some-new-angles/
http://toolmakingart.com/2008/09/22/even-more-tricks-the-pattern-makers-vise-can-do/
http://toolmakingart.com/2008/09/18/setting-up-a-pattern-makers-vise/

[allen long]

I recently purchased the HWW version you are considering. I was very happy and impressed with the fit and finish. I highly recommend it. The price with shipping was very reasonable for what you are getting.

There are a number of folks who mortise the fixed jaw flush with the bench front. I didn't bother doing tgat. I figured that for the few times I need to clamp something along the front skirt, it would be easier to make a jig that would hang off the front dog holes. I did have to remove the top drawer under the bench to allow for the scew/ beam to pivot downward when pivoting the vise upward. Was well worth losing a drawer that was difficult to access under the front vise to begin with.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Excellent feedback, thanks. thanks Bob for the links. I love the ability to clamp tapered objects. I never seem to build anything simple these days.

[Stewie Simpson]

I would have no hesitation paying that price.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Well my wife got confused and thought THIS Sunday was fathers' day, so I got my $100 HWW GC early. Vise ordered.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

By the way, I think this vise would be perfect for an offshore cruising boat. It seems suitable for holding a variety of things, and when offshore you just never know what you're going to need to fix or fabricate. Mount it on the edge of the pilot berth, which usually becomes a makeshift workbench.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Update: turns out shipping is $100 to me, so I kind of had to give it some thought. I pulled the trigger anyway. Still cheaper than buying an original and paying that or more in shipping. I really prefer it not be an original so I don't feel like I am destroying a piece of history every time I use it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

317504317505Well due to my travels, I only just got to lay eyes on the vise, although it arrived some two weeks ago. I am absolutely blown away at the size of this thing. It's HUGE!!! I am not kidding when I say now my worry is that it's going to tip over my little bench when fully extended. I certainly may have to build a bench now, which is really what I was trying to avoid with this purchase. My goal was just to improve my existing bench until further down the road when I have more time, money, and room for a Roubo.

When they told me the shipping weight was 65 pounds, I thought, "hmmm- okay, that's big, but not huge." I appear to have a problem with envisioning things. Think of this: A 50-pound bag of dogfood with another 15-pound bag of cat food would equal this in weight. As for size, the thing is near two feet long from handle to other end (length, not width.) My only concern at this point is that the handle has a knot in it, and that kind of bugs me. I would have culled that if I were a quality control guy, but it's a small, tight knot, and I may make my own handle anyway- maybe laminate some mahogany and flamed maple and turn a handle.

Anyway, due to the immense size of this thing, I will have to play with it and see if it will even fit my bench. I may just take the top off my bench and make a heftier one. I'm on the computer. Let me reply to this from the iPhone with an image. If you don't see a reply with image, then it means the image was too big to post and I'm not dealing with resizing it.
edit: added pic of vise sitting on a 2'xroughly 4' table. Also closeup of the handle with knot.

[Jim Koepke]

Do I want one? YES!

Do I need one? Let's just hope SWMBO never asks.

jtk

[Bruce Page]

Give it some class with one of these: https://www.lie-nielsen.com/product/workbenches/bench-accessories-wooden-vise-handles-?node=4068
I have one on my Jorgensen.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Wow, thanks Bruce. I never knew that existed, and I happen to have a LN $50 gift certificate to spend.

[george wilson]

I would not make one from flamed maple. It is not nearly as strong as straight grained. Ever turn a long piece of curly maple in a lathe? It jumps around like it has a coil spring in it.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Malcolm, I'd contact HWW. Let them know about the handle. I'm sure they will take care of it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I got the Lie-Nielsen vise handle in the mail today and it is just slightly too big in diameter to fit. I may actually ream the hole because I like this LN handle so much, but I can always get a smaller dowel and still use the handle ends. I'm going to say it is about 1/16" too fat.

[Bruce Page]

It is a nice vise handle. Mine's exactly 1" dia. and fits into my Jorgensen with about 1/32 clearance.