benches and bench vises

[Tom Bussey]

I thought I would continue a post on vises so as not to change another's post.

I have been woodworking for all of 50 years now. I have built all of our Kitchen cupboards and all of the furniture in the house, We have a house full of what I have made and no more room for anything else. But what I really like building is work benches. So here are a couple of benches that still need to be finished.

Like I said , I am not a real fan of the Roubo but I am building one that is 8 ft. long to find out what all the hype is about., It is a split top. The top is 4inches thick made out of southern yellow pine. I chose yellow pine because the cabinate shop in town threw a lot of strips in the dumpster and they said I could take anything I wanted out of the dumpster I wanted. So I glued it all up and got a top 8 ft. long and a little over 24 inches wide and a little over 4 inches thick. I believe I did have to buy about 50 BD Ft. to finish it.

I bought some nice walnut at an auction. And I am sure some will think me nuts, But I am not a fan of walnut, I do love Cherry though. And at my age it was either use it or some family member would have to sell it when I am gone so I made the legs and other bottom parts out of walnut on two different benches

I have some pictures of part of the Roubo but the top of the Moravian bench is also on top of the Roubo for the winter. When it is below zero in the shop things just get set down where ever a spot can be found, so pleas excuse the clutter.
Really all I have left is to finish the leg vise.

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Remember the top of the Moravian can be seen in the pictures too. So here are a couple of pictures of where I am with the Moravian bench. I have a lot to do to finish this one. I am trying to decide between a wooden screw and a metal screw for the Moravian leg vise.

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And while looking for a picture of the wood screw I found better pictures of the benches if you would like to see them let me know.

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Even though I am partial to a shoulder vise and a tail vise I am willing to check out other style vises, like a leg vise Both will have a leg vise as well as a wagon vise. Wagon vises are easier to build than a tail vise. Actually tail vises are not harder to build, just more time consuming.

[Tom Bussey]

Her e is a picture of the wagon vise on the Roubo.

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[James Pallas]

I like your benches Tom. I’m very much partial to tail vises. Not so much on a shoulder vise. I have a canted leg vise and a tail vise on my Moravian style bench. I did make a shoulder vise that adapts to a quick release that works just fine. I guess you could say I have a vice for vises. I have 14 woodworking vises all on 3 benches. I don’t care for wagon vises in the fact of no front opening. One day i may build one to see if i find it useful. I would like to see your other photos.
Jim

[Tom Bussey]

Like I have said in the past I prefer a shoulder vise and a tail vise on a work bench. I am also not a fan of the Roubo style bench either. I am kind of a rebel in the fact that everyone thinks the only style of bench for proper woodworking is the Roubo and nothing else can be considered.

I am building my Moravian bench because it can be taken apart and moved quite easily. There are several times I wished to have a transportable bench. I chose the wagon vise because it transports more easily than a tail vise and by using a shoulder vise screw for the wagon vise. it is much cheaper than any other type of wagon vise hardware available. The leg vise is also much easier to transport than a shoulder vise.

I like the way the top is positioned on pins making it very easy to make it solid in all directions but also easily removable on the Moravian bench. I liked it so well that I made the tops on the Roubo removable the same ways. Now I can lift off the tops ,one at a time, take out the four bolts holding the two stretchers ( using a nut driver powered by a battery powered drill) which is a no no on a hand tool forum and have it disassembled and ready to go in about a minute, making even the 8 foot Roubo portable in about a minute.

The interesting thing about building the Roubo this way, the holes can be relocated, the stretchers can be shortened, and the top can be sawn off on the end opposite the wagon vise so the bench can be made to fit in a smaller space if I ever have to move and don't have the space any more. I con probably resize my Roubo in about 2 hours.

[James Pallas]

Tom you are absolutely correct about benches in my book. Years ago I built a great bench, big heavy with a tail vise but not a shoulder vise. It was not portable. I moved and had to leave it. It is still in use by a friend. It took me 25 years to finally build one with a tail vise again. All three of my benches are portable now. So happy to have a tail vise again.
Jim