Traditional tail vise

[Tony Mize]

So I’m rebuilding my tail vise on my bench. The first time I built it I rushed thru it and just made it work. I found article in fine woodworking that goes thru process fairly well using a inner core screwed to outer frame. So I’m asking is this only way to build it solidly or has the great minds on here know another?

[William Fretwell]

I used the frame method, made up my own design. There is hardware you can buy and avoid the frame altogether, lots of metal.

[Tony Mize]

Yes I forgot to mention I have the Lee Valley hardware kit with the screw and rails. http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=31136&cat=1,41637,41659

[Stew Denton]

Tony,

What issue of Fine Woodworking shows the details on how to build one? Someday I hope to build a nice bench, and that kind of tail vise will be high on my list of wants for the bench.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[bill howes]

Tony
I have a tail vise on my scandanavian bench a la Taj Frid. Its 30+ years old a nd I use It all the time. However over the years it has started to sag. It is still quite usable but perhaps something with a little more metal in the construct would be an improvement.
I cant complain, I am sagging a bit too
Bill

[William Fretwell]

With the Lee Valley kit no frame is needed. The opening however is 8” minus the wood jaws so probably a bit less than 6” of opening. My frame design opens a full 13” with no droop, which effectively makes the bench over a foot longer when needed.
Did the Lee Valley vise not come with plans?

[William Fretwell]

Bill, I bet some simple wedges could reduce your droop! Well one of them anyway!

[Tony Mize]

https://www.finewoodworking.com/membership/pdf/40986/011162050.pdf?fww_sid=NzE1NTRkNGYzNTM2NmMzNjQzNmI2 NjY0Nzc3Mzc4NTE4NWY0NzQyODIyY2M2YTExNGQwZmUwZWExOD lmMjRkM2RlOWN8MTUwNTI2NzAxMQ%3D%3D&fww_token=e0f513f3f95a6b32bc6d3144575a749e
Here the link I found on the install. I’ve had it about 2 years but the problem was original I built just a touch out of square. So when you clamp anything long or cross grain it jumps out of the dogs. So I that why I’m rebuilding it.

[Phil Gaudio]

Tony: the Lie Nielsen hardware is excellent, although it is a frame-less tail vise. I've had one on my bench for a couple of years now and no droop issues.

[bill howes]

William,
Of course you are right, in fact I went down to look and with a couple of brass shims under the back wood runner all is hunky dory again.
Should have done it years ago.404244404266
Thanks for the motivation guys
Bill

[Robert Engel]

Stew,

Search for the Scandinavian bench or Klausz bench or Tage Frid.

There is a good article on the Klausz bench in Scott Landis' book, too. That's what I went by.

I thought I built mine pretty well, but its gotten a bit sloppy.

Also, consider the dog hole spacing. I would definitely make them closer together.

If I were doing it over, I'd spring for the quick release tail vise and be done with it.

[Andrew Seemann]

FWW #4 has plans for Frid's bench. They are also in Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking Book 3: Furnituremaking. The FWW #4 one has some errors in it; the one in the book has fewer, and is slightly easier to follow. Plans for Klaus's are in Landis's book, and plans plus a detailed narrative are in Oct 2004 Woodworker's Journal. Those used to be on the internet but seem to have disappeared, maybe the Wayback machine has them.

Frid's vise is more complicated than Klaus's, but it might be slightly more shock resistant. Either one should work just fine. I did Frid's bench, as the dimensions fit my space better. I also made my dog holes closer together on my current bench, much easier. I also made them 13/16 so I can easily make dogs out of 3/4 stock.


404259

[Tom Bussey]

My tail vise hardware is the small one from Wood Craft. This is my second bench to use this hardware on and I haven't had any problems. If you are wondering about the holes in the side of the tail vise they are dog holes so I can put some small round dogs in. I use then when I clamp long pieces into the shoulder vise the other end on a long board can get whippy. On the bench side I can use a hold fast. Can't use a hold fast on the actual tail vise so short round holes work they are in line with the square dog holes so I can use my finger to push them out when not in use.

404267404268404269

[Tom Bussey]

Thought I would show a couple pictures of the finished bench

404270404271

[William Fretwell]

Tony, you could just correct the face angle of the dog if you have square or oblong dog holes. If the face angles 2 degrees down it keeps the work in place.

[Tony Mize]

I have round dog holes. But thanks for the info. I have already squared up the cut out in the bench top. I’m working on cutting the dovetails in the outer frame.

[Sean Nagle]

Last year I finished the Lee Valley traditional workbench (shamefully, it only took me 17 years).

I used the older Lee Valley tail vise screw, which is larger, but still operates the same way. Unfortunately, I found the instructions and even the design to be very unclear. The best instructions that I found were Chris Gochnour's article "Build a Stout Workbench" in the 2018 FWW Tools & Shops issue. The description and photos were very clear and I felt his vise jaw design was simpler and easier to execute than I had seen elsewhere. A close second was ShopNotes instructions on tail vase construction.

http://www.shopnotes.com/files/issues/sample/sample-40-41.pdf

I had considered changing course and using the Lie-Nielsen tail vise hardware. However, I dismissed it since I already had vise hardware and I found that the Lie-Nielsen tail vise installation required some very precise, deep mortises to be routed and drilling and tapping into both the workbench top and the tail vise chop. I'm sure it works much better, but installation is not necessarily easier than a traditional tail vise mechanism.

[Tony Mize]

I haven’t seen the Shop notes article that’s good info thanks

[Matt Evans]

Tony,

Hopefully this link is not disallowed, but here is a set of plans for a traditional tail vise. Not sure if it'll help at all, since it sounds like you are rebuilding rather than building new.

https://www.thetraditionalcarpenter.com/installation-and-plans/

[Brian Holcombe]

I used a milling machine for the LN cutout, you can do a glue up also. It’s a great tail vise, I enjoy using it.

[Don Dorn]

The effort and patience of many of you is impressive. Mine has a large quick screw vice on front and a smaller one on the tail with both fastened with lag bolts. They work well, but admit that they don't sport any kind of 'look" compared to the photos I see on this thread.

I'm going to stick with the old Shaker saying "Beauty lies in function" - only because it may make me feel better about it.

[Matt Evans]

Thought I would show a couple pictures of the finished bench

404270404271

Tom,

That is a nice looking bench!

Hard to tell from the pictures, but on the wagon vise side it looks as though the dog row is above the cabinets. Have you found the dogs difficult to pop up at all? Every time I think about putting a cabinet under a bench I end up not doing it mostly for that precise reason. Sort of looking for an excuse to build one with built in tool storage, but don't want to sacrifice ease of function.

[Robert Engel]

I have round dog holes. But thanks for the info. I have already squared up the cut out in the bench top. I’m working on cutting the dovetails in the outer frame.

If you're not averse to a jig, you might take a look at William Ng's video on this.

[ken hatch]

Last year I finished the Lee Valley traditional workbench (shamefully, it only took me 17 years).

I used the older Lee Valley tail vise screw, which is larger, but still operates the same way. Unfortunately, I found the instructions and even the design to be very unclear. The best instructions that I found were Chris Gochnour's article "Build a Stout Workbench" in the 2018 FWW Tools & Shops issue. The description and photos were very clear and I felt his vise jaw design was simpler and easier to execute than I had seen elsewhere. A close second was ShopNotes instructions on tail vase construction.

http://www.shopnotes.com/files/issues/sample/sample-40-41.pdf

I had considered changing course and using the Lie-Nielsen tail vise hardware. However, I dismissed it since I already had vise hardware and I found that the Lie-Nielsen tail vise installation required some very precise, deep mortises to be routed and drilling and tapping into both the workbench top and the tail vise chop. I'm sure it works much better, but installation is not necessarily easier than a traditional tail vise mechanism.

Sean,

Seventeen years? I'm sure that was a typo and it should read 17 weeks:).

Where are the photos?

ken

[Sean Nagle]

No typo. Actually, it's worse than that. I think I started my workbench over 23 years ago. I got the trestle built fairly quickly and had started on the top core. Around that time, I ran across a cheap 5' solid maple butcher block counter top slab. That went onto the trestle and became a basic workbench. I went on to build lots of other stuff instead of the workbench.

I think I read on this forum once that traditional workbenches have fallen out of favor because of the difficulty in building them. I think I agree with that. This traditional workbench was a lot easier for me to build with some 25 years of experience than it was with only a couple.

Anyway, finally got it done last year. Here are a couple pics.

404613

404614

[William Fretwell]

Fine bench Sean, you must appreciate how much better it is to work on. I’m not sure a traditional bench is more difficult to build than a Roubo, it is easier to move than a roubo. The oblong dog holes are more work than just drilling round ones but so fundamental to the bench it’s time well spent.