Patternmaker style vise

[Tom Godley]

Anybody use one?

I ask because I was thinking it may be a good addition.

My plan is to make the English workbench in C. Schawartz's (sp) new book -- but at the rate I am moving on that ....... you get the idea!

So.... until I do the above -- I was thinking about placing a vice on a workbench. I think I like the idea that you can move the pattermaker vise around. It would be better than a rag wrapped around the jaws of my current bench top vise.

Any thoughts -- I do understand the $$.

Thanks

[Mike Heidrick]

The chinese $200 Patternmakers vice is always on my desired lists - it and the $600 Tucker vice from LV. I have a heavy duty 7" Wilton vice though and it is very very nice and has done everything I have needed. Emmerts are always cool to look at. Some of the workbench books show the emmert installed.

[Charlie Schultz]

I've got one and it is a good addition. It actually sits in the bench, so there is some mortising to be done on the top and edge of the benchtop. If you benchtop is > 1 3/4" thick, there is some more mortising needed on the bottom of the benchtop. At least for an Emmert.

[Rob Will]

Tom, I have a different version of a pattern maker's vise.
It is a Wilton 79A. Compare these features.

10" face
13" opening
removable pivoting jaw
full width dog
enclosed screw

I also like the overhang on each side of the vise. If I want to stand a board up on end and clamp it, the overang makes this possible.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004XPVR?tag=workbenchdesi-20&link_code=as2&creativeASIN=B00004XPVR&creative=374929&camp=211189

Rob

[Mike Heidrick]

So the 78A of the Wilton vice above is the one I have and was talking about in ny previous post. What makes it a patternmakers vice Rob? I just think of it as a woodworking vice with a pivoting jaw and dog.

[Rob Will]

So the 78A of the Wilton vice above is the one I have and was talking about in ny previous post. What makes it a patternmakers vice Rob? I just think of it as a woodworking vice with a pivoting jaw and dog.
Well, by Emmert aficionado standards it is not a pattern maker's vise at all.....but then I got to thinking.....it has a wide pivoting jaw, big capacity, and a single rail right in the middle. The single rail design with enclosed draw bolt creates a wide overhanging jaw --- just like a traditional pattern maker's vise. Conventional woodworking vises typically have a tandem rails with an exposed draw bolt --- and no wide overhang.

It is my humble opinion but I think the Wilton vise has the most important features of a traditional pattern maker. It is called a woodworking vise but if you look closely it has more capabilities than most. No it does not tilt or spin but I really did not want that anyway.

I looked at buying two Emmerts or some modern version thereof. The Wilton won out because it moved in all the ways I wanted it to --- and rock solid in the ways I did not want it to move.

In my mind, the Wilton is somewhere between a woodworker and a pattern vise so I call it a "version" of a pattern vise.

Rob

[Alan Turner]

I use an Emmert No. 2 on my personal bench. It is mortised into the bench face so that the rear jaw is just proud of the face. The install was a bit of careful work. My bench is 75" x 26", with a traditional tail vise, and so the No. 1 Emmert was just too large. The only drawback that I see is that it is not quick action, but it does have a very coarse lead screw. No. 2's are a bit hard to find.

[Jesse Cloud]

I got this one from Woodcraft

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=3516

I love it. It works great for holding things at just the right angle, for instance shaping a leg with a spokeshave. Wouldn't be without it! And the price isn't too bad. As others have said, be prepared to mortise out some stock from that benchtop!

BTW, I bought some leather scrap and covered the inside of the jaws with leather, does not mar the workpiece, but holds it tight!