Suggestions Re: tail vise/wonder dogs (or even doe's foot) for a new bench

Hi All,

I'm currently building a Roubo style bench and am trying to decide on what sort of work holding to employ at the end of my bench. I use bench and joinery planes a lot, so I know I want my dog holes close to the edge and want some sort of work holding mechanism. I will have a planing stop on the bench. I have a couple doe's feet, but never really got the hang of using them very well - can't seem to get them 'tight' enough onto the workpiece to prevent it from moving a little while planing, but enough to be annoying.

I purchased the wood for the bench top from a guy who was in the process of building a bench but gave up. It's 5" thick hard maple. At the time of purchase there was already a cutout in the front right corner, about 3" wide and 20" long. This ruled out using a benchcrafted vise, so I had my mind set on the Veritas quick release sliding tail vise. At $420 CDN it's pretty pricey, so I'm wondering if the quick release wonder dog might be a better bet. I have a regular wonder dog I use currently - while it's okay, I find it slow and the head is a bit thicker than I'd like.

I just came across HNT gordon 6" tail vise while looking into this issue, and it's a bit cheaper, but seems like functionally it would be similar to the benchrafted 'wagon' style vise. It also looks a lot better than the Veritas inset vise, and it seems to be a faster thread. Anyone have experience with this vise?

Really, what I'm wondering is whether the full tail/wagon vises such as Veritas QR and Benchcrafted have any real functional advantages over the inset vises/wonder dogs in common use.

Any suggestions or thoughts on what works for you for workholding in that position would be appreciated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hasin Haroon

Hi All,

I'm currently building a Roubo style bench and am trying to decide on what sort of work holding to employ at the end of my bench. I use bench and joinery planes a lot, so I know I want my dog holes close to the edge and want some sort of work holding mechanism. I will have a planing stop on the bench. I have a couple doe's feet, but never really got the hang of using them very well - can't seem to get them 'tight' enough onto the workpiece to prevent it from moving a little while planing, but enough to be annoying.

I purchased the wood for the bench top from a guy who was in the process of building a bench but gave up. It's 5" thick hard maple. At the time of purchase there was already a cutout in the front right corner, about 3" wide and 20" long. This ruled out using a benchcrafted vise, so I had my mind set on the Veritas quick release sliding tail vise. At $420 CDN it's pretty pricey, so I'm wondering if the quick release wonder dog might be a better bet. I have a regular wonder dog I use currently - while it's okay, I find it slow and the head is a bit thicker than I'd like.

I just came across HNT gordon 6" tail vise while looking into this issue, and it's a bit cheaper, but seems like functionally it would be similar to the benchrafted 'wagon' style vise. It also looks a lot better than the Veritas inset vise, and it seems to be a faster thread. Anyone have experience with this vise?

Really, what I'm wondering is whether the full tail/wagon vises such as Veritas QR and Benchcrafted have any real functional advantages over the inset vises/wonder dogs in common use.

Any suggestions or thoughts on what works for you for workholding in that position would be appreciated.

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I’m still shopping but Bill Schener, Billy’s little bench, on YouTube recently posted a 3 years in use video on his Roubo with the Veritas inset vise that might help you.

I went with a Lie Nielsen twin screw vise on the right side of the bench in lieu of a wagon vise. I wanted this because I work really long pieces, and so I wanted the bench to be able to "stretch" by opening up the vise, thus extending the clamp capacity of the bench versus a wagon vise. other than that, a wagon vise is a great work holding method, and a leg vise with a sliding deadman as designed by Benchcrafted is a great setup.

The main advantage of a wagon vise over the wonder dogs is clamping force and ease of use. A wagon vise would have much more clamping force and would be simple to move the hand screw to position it, whereas the wonder dog would require turning the clamping mechanism very close to the work surface. Not a huge deal- just a bit harder.

I have used the HNT Gordon wagon vise. Terry Gordon makes superlative tools, and this is no exception. It is neat, self-contained unit. The down side it that one must use dogs of different hieights, rather than extending one dog to the height. desired. The other point is that it uses a small hand wheel, which looks as if it would be slow, but works efficiently.

I use the BenchCrafted wagon vise, and am very happy with it. It is a better design for a thick tabletop than the HNT Gordon, which seems designed for one about 2" thick.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hasin Haroon

I have a couple doe's feet, but never really got the hang of using them very well - can't seem to get them 'tight' enough onto the workpiece to prevent it from moving a little while planing, but enough to be annoying.

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Just a couple things you might try with the doe's feet if you have not already. First, I hated my doe's foot until I covered the bottom with 100 grit sandpaper (think upside-down skateboard). The second is to use a planing stop with teeth if not already. I have a twin screw on the tail of my bench and before those aforementioned changes my go-to for holding work on the benchtop for planing was between a dog on the bench and a dog on the tail. Now I pretty much use the doe's foot unless I need crazy holding power.

I use non-slip under the doe's foot. This comes in rolls for stairs.

I agree with Chris' recommendations ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...l_2faa31c9.jpg

Pictorial with details: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...aningStop.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks everyone. I want the convenience of a quick mechanism, which is what made me look at the veritas and benchcrafted initially. I struggle to think of situations where one would need much clamping force for the purposes of planing however.

I have added non-stick to the bottom of my doe's feet, I think maybe my error was that I wasn't butting it up against the piece tight enough. I'll try that again in the shop tonight.

When using a planing stop with teeth you can minimize the toothmarks by putting blue tape on the workpiece.