Bench Vises? Face, tail, leg etc.

[pelligrini]

I've been needing to make myself a decent workbench for some time. Just recently, I procured a decent bench screw. I already had a cheap Big Lots 9" jaw 10" opening quick release (cheap import, just like the HF). I also have a 2" thick glued up 2'x4' slab of maple I rescued from a dumpster a while back. Yesterday I was given a pair of Wilton 7" jaw 9" opening 4" depth vises.

Before those Wiltons came to me I was thinking about using the screw for either a tail vise like Klausz' design or a leg vise. Just figuring out the tail vise in CAD wasn't easy. I think building it would be even harder. That screw isn't really made for that application either. My wife got it from an old welders bench where it was in service as a leg vise. It took me a couple hours with a wire wheel in my grinder to get it cleaned up.

I've been working with some designs to be able to fit my flip top planer cart under the bench, as there isn't too many other places for it to fit. Right now it could go on the end wall, but a mobile bandsaw and a rolling dust collector will be going in there someday.

My shop is tiny, as in 10x12 shed tiny. The space abailable for the bench will make it 5', maybe 6' long, probably 30-32" wide. I'm now thinking of mounting one of the wiltons as a face vise on the far left, a nice wide leg vise on the right leg face using the screw and putting the other wilton on the right end (a bit towards the front). I'd love to get one of the veritas twin screws for that end, but I can barely afford the money for the wood to do the bench as it is.

What are your prefrences for vise types and locations?

[dbhost]

Well... Since width is a problem for your application, as it will likely be for mine when I get set up in the upcoming shed, I would do a side mount vise...

I am having a pistol of a time seeing how you are possibly going to fit a honest to goodness workbench in that shed though... I'd love to know how to make that work...

FWIW, your little shed shop is an inspiration for those of us not blessed with huge lots, or agreeable HOAs... I am amazed at how much you, and Pappy both can do in such a small space. And yes I am aware that you wheel the TS outside to work... Heck 90 + % of the year here that is preferred anyway... It is plenty obvious why you have that EZ up in there...

[LarryG]

My still-under-construction Roubo-style bench will have:

Leg vise in the face position.

Twin-screw down at the tail end.

Wagon vise on the "head" end, adjacent to and around the corner from the leg vise.

I currently have the first and third installed on the rough mock-up of the bench that I built to prove the design. The leg vise and the wagon vise were both new types to me. After more than a year of experience with the leg vise, and six months or so with the wagon vise, I wouldn't be without either. The leg vise in particular is the shizzle. Incredibly versatile, and power to burn.

[dbhost]

Can you guys clue me in here. What is a leg vise? What is a wagon vise? Got pics?

[pelligrini]

Here's an example of a leg vise with a bench hook & wooden screw. http://www.bigwoodvise.com/gallery.cfm?cat_id=4

And another of a wagon vise. http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...ersion+40.aspx

[LarryG]

A leg vise is sort of like a face vise that runs down to the floor (or nearly so). There's one operable jaw, as usual, with a leg on the bench serving as the fixed jaw.

A wagon vise is simply a moving block containing a bench dog.

Both types are installed here, on my mock-up:

[dbhost]

Very interesting.

Never seen the leg vise, never knew that those were called a wagon vise either...

Thanks for the info..

Now for an even dumber question...

Why would somebody use either design? What are the advantages?

[jackellis]

Get "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis. At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Book...8512538&sr=8-1

Fascinating history of workbenches and a lot of discussion about the whys and wherefores of bench design. Well worth the price.

[Mr__Bill]

For anyone who is interested there are a lot of good bench ideas and plans here, all in sketch up.

Here is an example:


Bill

[LinuxRandal]

Get "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis. At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Book...8512538&sr=8-1

Fascinating history of workbenches and a lot of discussion about the whys and wherefores of bench design. Well worth the price.

Another recommendation, is Workbenches, from Design & Theory to Construction & Use, by Christopher Schwartz. I picked up this one via Albri, as the previously mentioned one is at a local library, and this one wasnt'.

Bench design depends on how you would use it. Both the above vises will be useful if you use handplanes.

[pelligrini]

Get "The Workbench Book" by Scott Landis. At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Book...8512538&sr=8-1

Fascinating history of workbenches and a lot of discussion about the whys and wherefores of bench design. Well worth the price.

I've been intending on getting that one.
I do have a copy of Schwarz's "Workbenches" Linkage It's a pretty good read. He really likes leg vises.

[pelligrini]

A leg vise is sort of like a face vise that runs down to the floor (or nearly so). There's one operable jaw, as usual, with a leg on the bench serving as the fixed jaw.

A wagon vise is simply a moving block containing a bench dog.

I like that bench design Larry. That's very much what I was thinking with my future leg vise. Exactly how is that screw working with your wagon vise? Where are the attachment points? Will it work as a spreader too?

[LarryG]

Dave, I like the leg vise because it has a greater usable depth than the typical iron face vise. The screw on mine is 10" down (top of bench to CL of screw), so I can clamp a ~9-1/2" wide board with its top edge roughly flush with the bench's top. Further, the long vertical jaw of a leg vise allows clamping the end of a door or panel across its entire width, rather than just the upper corner. It's also a very simple device ... all you need is a tail vise screw, the rest you can build yourself.

The only real downside to a leg vise is the need to stoop to set the parallel adjuster. Mine uses a large wooden nut that I can turn with my toe. More common is a wooden outrigger drilled with holes, through which a metal pin is inserted at the appropriate position. I will be switching to this type adjuster as I've found that the wooden nut gets in the way of the wide panels I was talking about above.

The wagon vise is a simpler alternative to the traditional L-shaped tail vise, which are fussy to build and tend to droop when opened. The wagon vise doesn't allow clamping a workpiece between the end of a moving jaw and the bench proper, as an L-shaped tail vise does, but if you don't do a lot of handwork and just need a way to move a bench dog back and forth, a wagon vise is the ticket.

+1 on the Landis book recommendation; and another +1 (or is it +2?) on the Schwarz book as well. The latter is actually the better title if you're trying to understand the pros and cons of various workholding methods. I think it's fair to say that Chris has almost single-handedly rekindled the interest in, and increasing use of, both leg vises and wagon vises over the last handful of years.

[LarryG]

Exactly how is that screw working with your wagon vise? Where are the attachment points? Will it work as a spreader too?

For the wagon vise, I used this shoulder vise screw from Lee Valley.

If you look closely in the photo below, you can just make out the threaded mounting flange, set inside the end cap of the bench. The end guide fitting on the end of the screw is attached to the traveling block with a couple wood screws.


There's also a guide on the underside of the bench, to keep the traveling block from drooping. (Remember, this is just a mock up, and is very crudely built.) The vise will indeed work as a spreader.

[LinuxRandal]

The only real downside to a leg vise is the need to stoop to set the parallel adjuster. Mine uses a large wooden nut that I can turn with my toe. More common is a wooden outrigger drilled with holes, through which a metal pin is inserted at the appropriate position.

Take the metal pin, and weld it onto a thin metal bar (handle), then you won't have to stoop.