Thread: Benchcrafted Leg Vise

Hi Zac

This will pain you as much as it pains me to say, but you need to scrape the oil on the top of the bench.

The bench is looking great, really Great! However, too much oil will create a slick surface, which is the opposite of what you want in a bench as a tool. A little oil is good to protect against glue spills, but not so much that it causes boards to slide around. I am due to resurface my bench shortly (it has not been done since I built it about 6 years ago), and I will not put on a finish. In fact, I plan to surface it with a toothing blade for extra grip.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek,

I took the photo just after the first application while it was still wet. This probably makes it look a little shinier than it really is. I'll take your advise and not put on the second coat I had planned to reduce the slipperiness.

Thanks for the update on Terry's vise, Fence. I agree that tools should be function first, form second and Terry's vise looks really cool too, I have to say. I've sent him an email about it and am waiting for a reply before I make any decisions.

Thanks,

Zac

To revert to your original question as to which vice, there is nothing to say you cannot have more than one vice on a bench. Really the restrictions are firstly so they are not in the way of other woodworking activity and secondly cost.

When I thought about it, which I had to as my bench is completely covered with timber for the moment and obscures almost everything to the point where I have to remember what was there, I have five vices mounted around the bench (and two more in the shed). Two of them are on top of the bench and are dedicated for making saw handles. These definitely get the way of almost anything else so absolutely not recommended.

I can easily justify two "face" vices and some form of tail vice and those should cover most activities.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I can easily justify two "face" vices and some form of tail vice and those should cover most activities.

Agreed.

The Hovarter X-Link works really well with inexpensive vice hardware (e.g. the approx $40 Carbatec or McJing Tail Vice Screw). At $US95 plus shipping (I think mine was about $US40 to ship) this will be a significant saving over the Benchcrafted setup.

See my thread where I used it on my bench renovation: New bench? NO - a renovation!

LegVise2.jpgLegVise1.jpg
Or if you want a hand-wheel rather than a handle, you can easily fit one to the same hardware. Hand wheels are inexpensive items (250mm should be about $50 or so). Some have made their own by converting dumbell weights picked up for peanuts second hand - or new for about $15 (I think 5kg is about the right size)

Or you could make your own wooden boss & handle while retaining the steel screw & nut, to give your "English" bench a more traditional look.

Some people have converted scaffold jacks to make their own vice screw, adding a wooden boss & handle or hand-wheel. (Scaffold jacks are somewhere around $15)

e.g these two examples (one with wooden handle, the other with a DIY handwheel)

Wow nice looking vise, RossM. I’ll have a look at the resources you have linked.

I've settled on my vise / work holding solutions for my bench.

I spoke with Terry Gordon today about the feasibility of mounting one of his face vises through my bench apron. It can be done quite simply, although not as easily as if it were a laminated top design with no apron. It will just require drilling a 75mm hole for the shaft, and recessing the mounting plate into the back side of the front apron.

Brett has kindly included me in a deal with Terry so I went all out and ordered one of Terry's face vises, tail vises and a couple of Gramercy holdfasts. I'm adopting the buy once, cry once approach to my vises but let's be honest there's no tears on my end at all.

Len Hovarter did get back to me, and I have to say the customer service of both of these men is impressive. The XV20 vise, X link and large handwheel would have been $390 USD which I would have gone for if not for the deal on Terry's vises.

I'll duly update everyone with some pictures of the installed vises when they have arrived and been put in.

Thanks again to everyone for their input and attention.

Zac.

Update:

I got a very exciting package in the mail today. Pictures of the unboxing below. Brett, you're a legend for getting this stuff from the group buy out so quickly and packaged so well!

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I'm very excited to install the vises and holdfasts to my bench. I've been using F clamps to hold stuff to the surface, but now I reckon I'll be set.

Terry has talked me through installing the front vise through the apron, but this will be the most challenging thing remaining.

Pictures of the finished workbench to come.

Thanks for looking!

I now have my face vise installed. I had to cut an upside down Omega shape through the apron to achieve it, although I *think* that this is the only way to do it, especially given the shoebox sixed space that I had on the other side to work in. Pictures below:
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I'm very happy with the vise, it's holding power and smooth movement. I currently have the end vise gluing in the end of the bench and will post photos of the end vise installation and finished bench with dog holes and holdfasts shortly.

Thanks again,
Zac.

Looks great Zac.

Regards
Paul

It's done. Well, almost. The end vise has been installed and most of the dog holes have been drilled for the bench dogs and hold fasts. The bench dogs are the brass ones from Veritas. Pictures below.

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And some shots of the finished bench being used.

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I love this bench. It doesn't wobble, is the right height and now can hold anything I want it to.

Thanks to all who contributed to this discussion. I think that this thread should be renamed but it reflects the journey I went on to leave it as it is.

Special thanks to Brett (FenceFurniture) for his sage advice and timely group buy and Richard Maguire (The English Woodworker) for his bench design and build video series. If you haven't watched it, it's approx $30 for about 10hrs of top quality content and discussion.

I haven't given up on a leg vise somewhere in my workshop, but it will have to be on a different bench. I'd like to go the route Jay Bates did in the videos above for that one I think.

Thanks again,

Zac.

Tis a grand job you've done on your bench Zac, congratulations! It will serve you well for many years to come.

There are a couple of things you could consider doing to make life perhaps a little easier and/or more flexible. I glued some non-slip rubber mat to my holdfast faces with polyurethane glue. Worked well for a while, but just recently I've noticed it's all a bit hard and slippery and isn't holding so well. I will scrape off the "rubber" and glue on either some non-perforated mat (because it's the PU glue that has gone slippery) or some cork, if I can locate some. That will obviate the need to put a block under the holdfast face to protect the job (and hardwoods should be ok without the block anyway).

The other thing you could do is to fit a timber face to the vise. It does mean that you lose (say) 25mm opening depth, BUT it also means that you can drill a couple of holes into the top edge of the timber face and drop some HNT dogs into it for job holding. Kinda like a traditional tail vise but across the bench, and it allows you to hold odd shaped pieces flat on top of the bench. You may find that perhaps a few extra dog 'oles in that area would be required.

To fit the timber face you can simply drill four holes through the alum (and countersink them on the outer face) and hold the timber face in place with timber threaded screws. Then line the timber with suede and it will hold the job very securely indeed.

Yes, there are a few finishing touches to be made. Someone gave me the suggestion to cut the ends off the fingers of a leather glove and glue them over the ends of the holdfasts. I also intend to line the face of the vise with leather sometime in the future, but it hold mightily well at the moment without it. I'll consider adding a wooden face if I find myself wanting more clamping area. I like that I get maximum contact area between the vise and the apron on this style of bench. I'll possibly look into castors at some point in the future, too.