Thread: mounting quick release vise through apron?

I put holes through the apron, works well. I also made up a template and routed a recess for the vise to sit in at the back.

I've taken a couple of photos and attached them as files. I haven't done it before so it may, or may not work.

thanks Glen, looks great, way to go.

I can't quite see on the photo, did you drill (ie make a round hole) for the quick release lever?

I was thinking of making a template on a scrap of wood so I could check measurements before drilling through the apron - is that the way you did it?

cheers

Tom

See the attached photo. As you see I didn't get the slot quite right.

From a quick measure it should be, measuring down from the bottom of the guide bar, 22mm to the top of the slot and 32mm to the bottom.

The width from the inner edge of the right hand guide bar to about the left side of the root diameter of the thread .

If I recall, I used the bracket holding the bars together at the back of the vise as a template for the guide bars and thread (you have to remove it anyway to install the vise). I measured as best I could for the release bar, but as you see it is tricky and with hindsight a mock-up would have been a good idea.

The other photo shows the completed bench, I've put the template I used to route the vise recess on the top. The bench is based on a design by Graham Sands in the AWR.

Looks great. Very similar to my idea, although mine is my first major project so I've kept it a lot simpler.

I think I'll try the slot that you've used for the release bar, if I don't cut it right I can always cut out a larger, triangular hole, to accomodate all four bars, and if THAT doesn't work I can always revert to the rectangle.

thanks for the help.

Someone kindly gave me an as-new Record 52 1/2 ED vice and I should like to mount it to my workbench in a fashion similar to that discussed above, so that the guide bars, screw and quick release lever pass through holes in the apron.

But first — how do I dismantle the vice sufficiently to allow me to do this? On the face of it, removing the pin at the inner end of the screw rod would seem likely to free the end bracket and allow the body and inner jaw to pass off the end. However, the pin is fairly firmly in place.

Any ideas? Moreover, any traps?

David

Hi David,

From the photos it appears that Glenet, (Glen) has done exactly what you want to do. And Tom is also planning on the same.

It might be best to send Glenet a PM, in case he does not revisit this thread.

Cheers
Pops

I did similar to what Glen did execpt I am not so tidy and just cut one large hole for the whole lot to pass through. To get the end plate off the guide and screw just remove the split pins and gently tap the plate off. My vice was the carbatec one and I think it is similar to the record.Good idea to get some new split pins to replace the bent ones. It is ok to have the top of the metal jaws a bit below the bench top and compensate with wooden cheeks that are flush with the top. You also get a bigger gripping surface by having the screws lower down.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by ROWLAD

Someone kindly gave me an as-new Record 52 1/2 ED vice and I should like to mount it to my workbench in a fashion similar to that discussed above, so that the guide bars, screw and quick release lever pass through holes in the apron.

But first — how do I dismantle the vice sufficiently to allow me to do this? On the face of it, removing the pin at the inner end of the screw rod would seem likely to free the end bracket and allow the body and inner jaw to pass off the end. However, the pin is fairly firmly in place.

Any ideas? Moreover, any traps?

David

I removed the roll pin from the end of the screw rod. It is a roll pin so it does tap out using a suitable punch (eg. a nail with the point removed) and is reusable. If you don't have a machinist vice you will need something to use as an anvil to rest the end of the rod on while you hit.

Then tap off the figure of eight plate, if I recall you need to be fairly assertive and I was a little worried I was doing the right thing but it did come off and go back ok. Again you need to support it so you are impacting fairly evenly across the diameter.

The trap is that the plate is not symmetrical so be sure to put it back the right way up.

The main problem I had was getting the quick release mechanism back together, but I think it was mainly because I tried to be too perfectionist and made the clearance hole in the apron too small.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, Glen

That's very helpful. I'll give it a go.

David

As requested, here are some pictures of my bench with a record vise fitted behind the front apron. I like the look of it, and find it useful (in combination with dog holes in the apron) for clamping long boards flush with the apron for planing - I use it like that a lot.

Attachment 93318

As its been a while since I did this, I can't recall every step that I took, but hopefully the photos and descriptions will make it reasonably clear.

Because the vise design to have bolts and screws running in three different directions, it took a lot of planning to work out how, and in which order, to fit this vise. I ended up essentially building the top of the bench around the rear jaw of the vise! Compared to this, my Veritas twin screw was a cinch to install Not that it was hard, it just took a lot of thought.

I also found that the position of holes in the rear jaw were difficult to measure, partly because the rear jaw itself wasn't machined entirely square. During construction I discovered a really easy method for locating those holes on the apron using a forstner bit - which would have saved me a lot of mucking around with a ruler.

1. First I dissambled the vise and measured the position and size of the 3 holes in the rear jaw with a ruler - they are imperial (msg me if you want the measurements). To check the measurements I made a template of scrap wood. This was particularly useful for the rectangular quick release lever hole, which doesn't really have a corresponding hole in the rear jaw.

Attachment 93327

2. Next I turned the benchtop upside down and assembled the spacers needed to keep the rear jaw at the desired height - as the benchtop is made up of a 38mm solid core door lying on two pieces of 19mm MDF, the plan was that the rear jaw would bolt to the MDF but not attach directly to the benchtop. This is solely to conceal the bolt heads. Another way to deal with this issue is to use lag bolts to fasten the rear jaw to the bench top, as is often recommended, but I was concerned they wouldn't hold in my benchtop, which has a core of MDF.

Attachment 93320

3. Next, still working upside down, the apron was laid in position alongside the rear jaw.

Attachment 93319

4. With the rear jaw in its (inverted) actual position, I discovered the forstner bits I'd bought to use to drill the end vise - being much larger than standard drill bits - were the perfect tool to position the holes in the apron. Just find the right size bit, slide it in through the rear jaw, and the point pricks the apron in exactly the right spot.

Attachment 93321

5. drilling - notice how the central hole (for the screw) is not exactly in line with the two guide rod holes. All three holes in the apron were drilled very slightly larger than the holes in the rear jaw (having these three holes fit snug was the main reason I took a long time with this project. Things would have been much quicker if I'd been prepared to make these holes larger, and been happy for them to perhaps not quite be centred around the vise rods - something to think about if you aren't concerned with how these look).

Attachment 93322

6. As there is no easy way to measure the rectangular slot for the quick release lever, that was marked out using the previous measurements as used for the wooden template, and then cut into the apron.

Attachment 93323

7. With the holes in the apron drilled and test fitted, the rear jaw was then clamped in position and the holes were marked and drilled for the 4 bolts and 2 screws that keep it in position. In this picture you can see that the rear jaw is only bolted to the MDF and spacer blocks, (see top of the picture), requiring four clearance holes for the top of those bolts to be drilled into the bottom of the benchtop. Finally, the rear jaw was screwed to the apron (see top right of picture). EDIT when drilling through MDF, it tends to 'bubble' on the rear face and will force itself apart if it is laminated - something to try and avoid.

Attachment 93324

8. now I turned everything right-way-up, and positioned the rear jaw (which is screwed to the apron), so that it could be bolted into position through the MDF. Notice the top of the rear jaw is 1mm below the top of the MDF - so it is 38+1mm below the top of the benchtop. This allows for any movement of the rear jaw as the vise is operated, or through seasonal timber movement (there is also some clearance on each side).

Attachment 93325

9. the front jaw unit, including the guide rods, was inserted through the apron and the rear plate was attached to the ends of the the guide rods. It took some squeezing to get the rear plate on, but the roll pin was not a problem, it went in with a couple of quick taps of a hammer.

Attachment 93326

10. Now I tightened the front jaw onto the apron, securing everything in place. I then bolted the whole front apron to the bench carcass. Doing it in this order helps everything stay true while the remainder of the bench top is built. As shown in the picture, I used a scrap piece of MDF for a temporary front jaw, and added a proper one once the bench was built (later I drilled the dog holes in the top of that jaw, which are not shown in the first picture, just in case anyone notices they are missing)

Happy to answer any questions - I'm sure the process would be less complicated for those woodworkers that have the more traditional one-layer benchtop.

cheers Tom.

Tom - That's a cool bench. Mounting the vise lower is a good idea I think. I also had to miss out a couple of dog holes on the bench where the vise would have made them unusable (another trap for David).

Hi Tom,

Great write-up on the vice. Will be very useful for others going down this track.

Thanks for the photos.

Cheers
Pops

Hi Tom,

This is my very first posting to this forum. Great vise. I was going to question if the dog on your vise is still useable, but I noticed you got around this by adding dog holes to the vise. I like your thinking !

I reckon that is how I will mount my vise. (just bought one the other day - similar to the Carbatec Brand 7" Quick Release, but picked it up from Gasweld).

Cheers
Winnie