Jeff Levine
01-20-2008, 5:25 PM
Hello Folks -
I am looking to mount 2 quick-action vises as the front vise and end vise on my bench (a 3" thick maple glue-up, 30" by 72", I bought used from a kitchen supply store). I've seen that a nicer-looking way to do this is to inset the back (metal) jaw into the bench for a neater look. From posted photos, it looks like the top of the jaw is usually inset about 1/4 inch below the surface of the benchtop, so that when it is installed, and the rear jaw covered with a wood face, it cannot be seen. On the end vise, I plan to inset it about 3/8" back from the front edge of the bench so it can't be seen from the side either.
Any suggestions about how to do this? I'm guessing a router and some kind of template, but beyond that I'm stumped (probably a bad choice of word in a woodworking forum!). I don't have a plunge router, just a fixed base, and also a laminate trimmer.
Any suggestions?
I am looking to mount 2 quick-action vises as the front vise and end vise on my bench (a 3" thick maple glue-up, 30" by 72", I bought used from a kitchen supply store). I've seen that a nicer-looking way to do this is to inset the back (metal) jaw into the bench for a neater look. From posted photos, it looks like the top of the jaw is usually inset about 1/4 inch below the surface of the benchtop, so that when it is installed, and the rear jaw covered with a wood face, it cannot be seen. On the end vise, I plan to inset it about 3/8" back from the front edge of the bench so it can't be seen from the side either.
Any suggestions about how to do this? I'm guessing a router and some kind of template, but beyond that I'm stumped (probably a bad choice of word in a woodworking forum!). I don't have a plunge router, just a fixed base, and also a laminate trimmer.
Any suggestions?