Thread: Doe's foot and bird's mouth - better than an end vice

I like the doe's foot and use it quite often. Such a simple thing but so handy. That said I am keeping the end vice too as it is also very handy. I like having another vice at 90* to the front one plus many other tasks. Its also how I mount the metalwork vice on the bench when required.
This guy has no vice at all on his bench.


Mike Siemsen, Workholding on Viseless Bench - YouTube

Regards
John

The more options you have the better - within reason of course. It only becomes a problem when one gets in the way of the others.

I find that my shoulder vise, tail vise and holdfasts take care of the majority of my workholding needs but a does foot or two on the shelf underneath come in handy when needed for sure.

I find my end vice gets in the way of sawing off the end (it's a Dawn quick release not an integrated HNT Gordon style device). I'll leave it there for a while and see if it finds a use, but since I tried the doe's foot it hasn't.

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Any sawing I do on the bench I use a bench hook. Bigger and longer bits I put on saw horses. The saw horse being lower than the bench lets you put more body weight into the cut and this helps with bigger cuts. At bench height its all arm work.
I still think you will find a use for the end vice given time. My end vice is just a small bench vice someone was throwing out so I made a dog for it and stuck it on the end.

Regards
John

I've done the same - an old quick release. It works well as an end vice, just not as well as the doe's foot. It's slower and has a tendency to deform the board under pressure.

The idea for the doe's foot was from Derek's excellent writing, but the real revelation for me was using a second one as a planing stop in lieu of a toothed stop or baton. Because the MDF is soft on edge, the workpiece bites into it and stays put without marking. And you can remove and flip the board without touching your bench appliances.

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