roubo vise options

[Jim Koepke]

Vise selection arguably the most important decision when building a bench.

This is true for anyone buying or building a bench.

People should be careful not to succumb to the influence of what is popular by building someone else's bench.

The type of projects one wants to pursue and how one envisions their work flow's progression are important considerations. These have to be balanced with available space and the materials to be used.

Each bench style from Moravian to Scandinavian has its advantages. The same can be said for the various styles of vises.

At best one will end up with a bench providing years of service. At worst it will be a reason for one to build another bench.

jtk

[Steve Kang]

So I plan to build my first roubo bench in the next couple of months after using my cheapo SPF nicholson bench for the past 2 years with a leg vise. I definitely want some kind of end vise to hold my work when planing and came up with 2 options. First and best option for my budget and skills would be a regular vise, exactly like the one in the picture below. The only drawback I can think of is that even with tightly spaced dog holes, part of the board will hang on the vise when planing, in other words, not resting entirely on the solid top. Is that a problem ? Could the vise bend or sag when applying downward pressure when planing ?

The second option is getting a benchcrafted wagon vise but the price and skills needed to install it are a bit scary.

Here's the type of vise I'm talking about :

Hi Charles, I had the same concern when building my roubo. There was something about having a portion of the board unsupported while planing which didn't sit right with me. I can tell you in actual use it's not really a factor at all, there's no flex or slippage. If you want the work fully supported, you could always create a batten with a bench dog which fits into a dog hole in the tail vise. It's a simple solve for the issue.