vise question - leg vs. twin screw

[Bob Cooper]

thanks all for the input and like all of you i know this won't be the final bench i build. On the topic of 'build something quick and get to work'...that makes total sense but i'm going down this path due for a few reasons. (1) the wood is "free"...i harvested it all off my property and it's been drying for the past 5 years. I have enough oak and beech to make 3 of these guys if i needed to (2) the top is a left over boos brother top that was replaced when the one in my kitchen checked so bad that Boos B replaced it for free...so my wife has been bugging me to it out of the basement. (3) i'm treating this project as a skill building project. This has been my first experience in M&T jointery, chisel work, sketchup, sharpening, etc... etc so it's been a great learning experience. So it's a good excuse to start working with hand tools.

I started thinking about the kind of hand tool work i'd need to do right now and one example is a finished drawer box that fits tight...so i need to plane some off the side. That led me to ask "how would i hold this on my new bench" and i had a hard time imagining how to do this w/a leg vise and a wagon vise. So that led me to see the twin-screw as likely more usable.

[Jim Koepke]

I started thinking about the kind of hand tool work i'd need to do right now and one example is a finished drawer box that fits tight...so i need to plane some off the side. That led me to ask "how would i hold this on my new bench" and i had a hard time imagining how to do this w/a leg vise and a wagon vise. So that led me to see the twin-screw as likely more usable.

That is one reason for having the top overhang some past the legs. Of course there are ways of attaching an "overhang" on the side of the bench with a thick board and a couple of holdfasts.

jtk