Twin Screw Vice Fitting?

[Scally]

I have read the instructions and looked at heaps of pictures but I am still not sure where to start.
I am fitting a Veritas Twin Screw Vice to the end of my new work bench.
The instructions are clear on how far below the bench core to locate the main vice screws.

What I am trying to decide is:

How far from the edge of the bench do I put the main screws?

Where to I put the bolts to hold the rear skirt to the bench?
and
How far from the sides of the bench will I put the dog holes?

The bench dimensions are:
2045mm long by 725mm wide by 880mm high.

A wide skirt (160mm wide by 45mm thick) will be fitted to both ends and the front of the bench.

My thoughts are:
Locate the bolts to hold the skirt to the bench core, as close as possible to the edge of the bench. Then two more equally spaced between them.

Then locate the bench dogs a bit further from the edge. This gives me maximum width between the dogs and doesn't foul the skirt bolts. What would you suggest is the best distance from the edge of the bench?

Just inside the Dog holes I would locate the main vice screws. I don't want the dog holes in the vice jaw to be in line with the vice screws.
Will I end up with the vice screws too far from the edge of the bench?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Anglewood]

Hi Scally just installed a twin screw vise,but mine is on the front and happy with it so far. I used the full chain which gave me about 430mm centres on the screws,with 100mm in from the end to the screw gave me a 630mm front jaw. With the non racking nature of this vise and the size of the jaw the screw can be set say 150 to 200 in with dog holes 100mm in.
I set out my dog holes 100mm in and wouldn't go any more just for comfort when planing stock clamped between the dogs.
Maybe dog hole 80mm bolt 100mm and vise screw 150mm.
Bench looks great a lot of hours work there,I'll took out for pics of the finished job.

[Ben from Vic.]

Hi Scally, I've fitted a Veritas twin screw vice to my bench recently and all I can tell you is what I did, which will be partially helpful as my bench is different from yours. I also have a full Sketchup model of my bench which I can send, showing installation of the vise, if you PM me your email address.

My bench is 850mm deep and I mounted the screws 170mm in from the edge (533.5mm between screws). I was restricted by frame members already in place. However I don't think this will be a problem as clamping something in the edge of the vise will set up a pull/push effect on the two screws, and they can take it.

My first row of dog holes are 60mm from the edge of the bench. Works fine.

Making sure the screws, dog holes, mounting bolts/holes and bench construction work together can take a bit of thinking, which is why I did mine in Sketchup first.

Ben.

Ps. I have the 24inch extension kit.

[Scally]

Thanks Guys.
I will go back to the bench and have a look at your spacings.

It looks pretty congested with holes at the edges of the bench!

On my smaller bench I have the dog holes about 70mm from the edges and they work fine.

I get lost in Sketchup so stick with pencil and paper. I know I should spend more time with Sketchup as it seems very smart.

My design allowed enough room for the screws to fit under the top without reaching the base.


I think I can get the screws between 100 and 170mm from the edges and give me room for Dogs and bench bolt.

The left side of the skirt will be dovetailed to the side skirt so that gives me a good fix at that edge. I can move the bench bolt in a little further on that side.

[Scally]

I can put the dog holes 3" from the edge then another row a further 6" in from them.

The vice screws will be 100mm from the edges.
This should give pretty good pressure near the edges and the outside dogs.

Slow progress today but I got the end bench skirt groove routed and the Dovetails joining this skirt to the side skirt.
It was slow cutting the dovetails through 45mm of hardwood.


Here are a few pics of the base.
The joints are wedged through mortice and tenons.
The base is as wide as the bench so there is maximum support.

I was worried about the overhang on the ends but I needed it to be able to fit the vices without going through the base.
Eventually there will be a Front vice and a Tail vice.

I decided on the straight legs so it would be easier to level them if the floor is uneven.

The space between the top and the side stretchers will give access to the underside of the bench to push dogs back up.


A set of drawers will go inside the base.
The intention is to use them for the everyday tools I use most - tape measures, squares, hammers, chisel, block plane, 50 sharp pencils and sharpeners.

I have Bench and Wall cabinets for the main tools.


Tomorrow the plan is to trim the front skirt to length and cut the dovetails then trim the end skirt to length and drill holes for Screws, Bench bolts and Dogs.
Maybe.

[Ben from Vic.]

Looking good Scally, now you just have to get the role of carpet out of the way.

Drilling the 70ish dog holes for my bench took about a day with a forstner bit, it was race to see who'd overheat first, the bit (HSS) or the cheap Ryobi drill press.

[Scally]

I have just bought a house so will be packing for the next few weeks.

There is a lot of heavy stuff in the workshop to move!!

At this stage I plan to have a minimal number of dog holes so I shouldn't need your marathon effort.
Last time I did them with the router. They are nice and straight.

Cheers

[Scally]

It took a while but I finally got the vice fitted.

The first pic shows the basic layout of the Screws, Bench bolts and the dogs.

I clamped the vice face to the Bench Skirt after it was dovetailed to the side skirt.
The marked the location of all the holes and drilled the holes through the two boards.
I used double sided tape to hold the boards while the holes were drilled.

The boards were put back on the bench and the Screw's nuts fitted.

Then the Dog holes were drilled in the vice face board.

It was a bit of an effort separating the double sided tape.

Next , the bench holes were drilled at the drill press.
The Skirt face was clamped back to the bench and dovetails. Then the holes drilled into the bench.

The middle and outside holes in the skirt were elongated to allow for bench movement.


After cutting the dovetails in the hardwood by hand, I am pleased I normally use a router and jig!!

[Anglewood]

Looking good Scally what size is your front jaw ; are you going to put the taper on the inside of the front jaw?
I tapered mine according to the instructions and now finding some timber slips under pressure while planeing with the smaller surface area holding the work piece. Thinking of taking it off and planing it back a bit to give a larger surface area to hold with.
Dovetails look good on the corners..

[Scally]

I did put a taper on the front vice face. It is about 2mm.
I ran it over the jointer several times.
It will depend how much the jaw drops when it is extended. In a few days the top will be ready to use. So I will have to wait and see.

I need to do a bit of tuning on the vice to make the screws turn more freely.

The dovetails look better from a distance. I finally finished cutting the on the other end of the side skirt. Today I will glue and bolt the side skirt and the end skirt onto the bench.

After a day I will be able to turn it over and plane the skirts and vice jaws level with the bench top.

That will do for the time being.
I have an tail vice to fit and later I will get a front vice.

[Ben from Vic.]

I tapered the outer jaw about 2.5mm by using my steel rule to prop up one end as it went through the thicknesser, it seems to be working ok although it hasn't had a lot of work yet. Veritas said 3.2mm but I thought that would be to much.

The screws don't turn as easily as on my Record 52 1/2, but a good greasing, not just spray oil, has them running smoother.

Coming along well Scally, look forward to seeing the end product.

Ben

[Anglewood]

Getting the screws square to the face and parallel took up a bit of time. I found after drilling with the drill press through both pieces I still had to shim the screw nuts to get the vice running freely.

Used grease as well Ben it made a difference and takes the rattle out when winding.

Have you kept track of the hours it's taken ?

[Ben from Vic.]

Have you kept track of the hours it's taken ?

Hell no that applies to the bench as well!!

As far as getting the screws parallel and square, I just drilled the holes a little over size so that only the attaching plates contacted the jaws and relied on the squareness of their machining. Not having sampled one installed another way all I can say is it seems to work ok. Having two srews and no guide bars means that it won't run quite as smooth and a regular vise, but mine winds reasonably easily.

Ben.

[Scally]

A few more pics showing how I put the top together.

I fitted the end skirts to the bench then marked and cut the dovetails.

This was fitted back to the bench then the bolt locations marked on the skirt. I drilled the recess and holes through the skirts on the drill press. Then hand drilled them into the bench using the skirt holes as guides.

The Veritas recommended dowel jig was used to locate the lock nut for the bench bolts. I needed to adjust the holes a bit to get them to line up satisfactorily.
The holes near the dovetails were left tight and the other two were elongated to allow for any movement of the benchtop.

The Vice jaws and skirt were fitted to the bench. No glue used.

Then the same process for the other end of the bench.

Dry fit the side and end skirt. Get clamps ready. Mix epoxy.

I put a generous cover of epoxy on all the joins. Especially the rough dovetails. Some was used to fill the bigger cracks in the ends of the skirts.

I used plenty of clamps. Then put the bench bolts in.

After two days the clamps were removed and the benchtop turned the right way up.

[Claw Hama]

All looking very nice Scally!!