I always used a shoulder vise to cut dovetails. But I once read on this forum that a person didn't like the vise because it mad him stand to far back from his work. Taking it to heart made and I tried a clamp on Moxon vise. I disliked the clamp on. Had to store a heavy vise and the clamps got in the way of access to the drawers on my bench and I didn't like the height my work needed to be at. So I decided to incorporate the vise into my next bench build.


The first picture is my finished bench with the vise on. The height is perfect for my elbow swing, and I can get up close and personal with the work. And although I still have to store the vactual vise it is made with 4/4 materia instead of 6/4s and the holes for the treads can be deep enough so that the actual threads can be screwed in so the hand wheels don't stick out as far.

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I liked the built in so much I decided to do it again on the roubo I am building now.The rest of the pictures are from the new build.


I wasn't thinking ahead and drilled the holes for the threads for clearance for the screws So I had to wrap tape around the thread to help keep it centered in the hole. The last couple of boards that make up the bench were doweled on so I could remove them to do some of the actual work. The rest of the pictures should be self explanatory at least to me
because I have already done it so if you have questions just respond in the post.


I did paint the nuts because steel in contact with wood tends to rust but even without it the nuts will outlast several lifetimes.

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I hope this, outside of the box thinking, gives some others ideas to what is possible.