Tail vises

[Brandon Speaks]

I really like the scandanavian shoulder and tail combo as well.

[Jim Koepke]

There is wisdom in the idea of keeping things simple. My tail vise is likely one of the simplest to have on a bench. Mine gets used more than my face vise because of the type of work done and the layout of my shop. It works fine for edge planing small pieces, holding a piece to be sawn. It holds many of my small fixtures such as a bird's mouth for a fret saw and a shooing board for squaring stock.

A wagon vise is likely the bee's knees for those who have chosen that design just as the Scandinavian tail vise works for those who use it in their designs.

My vises will not hold a drawer for fitting the way Tom's vise can. There are ways around this, but if one is doing a lot of drawer fitting why not use a design that is advantageous for such work than to be constantly having to create an adaptation?

There will always be different advantages of one vise system over another based on the scope of the work being done.

Likewise there are many ways to work without a tail vise. Hopefully that will never be my fate. With my vise, when there is an advantage to be had by not having a tail vise, it is easily removed in less than a minute.

jtk

[William Fretwell]

My tail vise is the most used by far. Unlike a wagon vise you get a pair of jaws to work with as well. The hardware is ultra simple and low cost. I made mine longer than most, it can open 13”. The main motivation was I only had enough black walnut fo make a 7’ bench. The tail vise extends enough I can make a door, it’s like having a bench a foot longer.
Yes it’s more complicated to make but it’s just a sliding frame.
For me the hardest part was finding good affordable hardwood for my once in a lifetime bench. I’ve used workarounds, makeshift this and that over the years. They worked in a awkward way and not very well. That is why you build a real bench.
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[Robert Engel]

I like the ability to clamp here also with the tail vise.
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Oops I just saw Williams photo

[Joshua Lucas]

Someday I'm going to get around to installing the Lie-Nielsen tail vise I bought last year. For the time being I get by with my angled leg vise (far superior to the vertical leg vise IMO) and a planing stop.

[Phil Gaudio]

You are going to enjoy the LN tail vise: well worth the effort.

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Someday I'm going to get around to installing the Lie-Nielsen tail vise I bought last year. For the time being I get by with my angled leg vise (far superior to the vertical leg vise IMO) and a planing stop.