Thread: Vice Location On Workbench

Manix,

My tail vise I have found very handy as it has Pegs in it that can be raised above the bench height.
The bench also has these Pegs.
I am then able to grip, using the vice, Large flat sheets onto the bench.
This I might do for the purpose of sanding or planing a face.
I might do this when flattening a Table top or the like.

Hope this helps some.

lpg_falcon.

Well there's nothing stopping you having a vice at each end. This is what Driver did with his bench. There's a pic of it in the archives.

I think that if you only had one vice you'd find having it at the left hand end would be the most practical for long term use.

After all, this is where right handers have been putting them for centuries.

I can't comment on the tail vice as I don't have one.

Here's a photo of the bench that Craig refers to. As you will see, it has face vices at both RH and LH ends, - and a tail vice. I've added dog holes in a grid across the bench top to link up to dog holes in the tail vice and adjustable dogs in the two face vices. This allows for multiple clamping configurations.

Incidentally, one school of thought about LH end placement of vices says that if you use the vice to clamp a workpiece for sawing right-handed, the waste will project over the end of the bench and can be supported there by your left hand.

Hope this helps!

Col

As major and lpg inidcate a tail vice is very useful for for cross dogging/clamping. I also find it useful for holding stops at one end of the bench although most of the time it seems to be holding my inverted belt sander jig in place. I also used my tail vice to support an add on shoulder vice.

I prefer to hand saw small stuff all the way through by holding the timber using a bench hook rather than a vice. That way the timber is supported underneath and the bit being cut off only falls a very short distance onto the bench top.

However, don't let any of this put you off adding two vices to the front . For my next bench I would seriously consider two vices. If I were to make my bench over again I would make sure my LHS edge of my LHS vice was flush with the end of the bench.

Thanks guys, I'm starting to get it but it's taking time to sink in. I'm also starting to understand the tail vice (I'm not very smart...but I can lift heavy things! )

I definitely like the sound of two vices and my plan will probably allow for an end vice at a later stage.

Col

I like the look of your design, what was the rationale behind the placement of the RH front vice?

At the moment I have a Z-vise clamped to a door on two saw horses. I clamp the vice on the RH corner, 1, so I can operate the handle and 2, so when I'm sawing a board the waste hangs off the edge of the bench and I place my left hand of the board or vice for stability (stability for me and the board). This also allows me to sight the cut line. If I clamped a piece in a LH vice I could support the offcut with my left hand (but not myself) but I'd have my line of sight to the cut line obscured by the saw.

Am I looking into this too deep?

I don't often saw large pieces by hand but I have this mind set that the vice needs to be on the RH front while every other right hander on the planet seems to prefer it on the LH front!

I see the advantage in using a bench hook but I'd still need some means of cutting big stuff. I also see the advantage of placing the vice (wherever you put it) so one edge of the vice is on the edge of the bench.

I've been putting off building this thing too long but like I said before I want to get it right.

Originally Posted by Manix77

I'm not very smart...but I can lift heavy things!

That's fings, as in "I can lift heavy fings "

Originally Posted by scooter

That's fings, as in "I can lift heavy fings "

I'm obviously more articulate than I thought!

Originally Posted by scooter

That's fings, as in "I can lift heavy fings "

yeeeeh real big fings !......itul fings, huuuuuuge fings.....eshully nawty fings ........, me just luv fings, mista

I re-read the title of this thread ; "Vice Location On Workbench" . . . .

and prompted by ApricotT's "eshully nawty fings ....."

I wonder if it really refers to something like "what the lawyer and his/her assistant were up to after work last week" . . . .. .

Did Bill and Monica use a workbench?

Manix

I remembered wondering the same thing when I built my workbench. Because you're using saw horses, you need to saw on the right side so that your left hand can keep things steady. With a workbench and vise, you do not need to keep things steady, the bench and vise do that. So it is far easier to saw with the vise on the LH side of the bench, and use your free hand to support the waste piece.

With a good bench, you can hold the saw with both hands and go for your life, and the piece won't shake or rock like it would on sawhorses.

I have not noticed a problem with line of sight.

Tex

Originally Posted by Manix77

Col

I like the look of your design, what was the rationale behind the placement of the RH front vice?

Nothing too complicated. The RH front vice needed to be positioned so its screw and guide rails wouldn't foul those of the tail vice when both vices are fully closed. As it is, they clear each other by about 5 mm.

Originally Posted by Manix77

Am I looking into this too deep?

No, it's important to understand the whys and wherefores. I put off building my bench for probably 18 months while I read up on various designs and used the combined wisdom from the blokes on these forums to work out a design that suited me. Incidentally, my bench isn't complete. Far from it. No self-respecting woodworker would ever consider that his bench couldn't be improved. I've already got half-formed plans in my head for various improvements.

Originally Posted by Manix77

I've been putting off building this thing too long but like I said before I want to get it right.

Well, there you go! See? You're not looking into this too deep!

Keep thinking, mate!

Col

The stereotypical european wood working bench with a front vice and a tail vice and all sorts of other design specifics is very much designed from a dark side perspective, where heaps of hand planing of boards is done.
Mopst of the tasks that would have been once done at the bench would now be done with machines....... unless you have gone over to the ...... dark side

Personaly I have absolutely no use for a tail vice or a tool well or most of the features of a european style bench. so I don't have one.

I have a flat bench with a low backboard and two metal front vices one at each end. As far as I am concerned one of the primary functions of a bench is to hold up vices I do most work somewhere else.

There was an article in FWW years ago, about a low assembly bench. The author wrote about this fathers beautifull work bench that was primarily somewhere to put tools and eat lunch.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

There was an article in FWW years ago, about a low assembly bench.

Now that is a good idea. When I build my new shed, an assembly bench - probably around 450 - 500 mm high will be an early addition.

Col

Go here...
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ewpost&t=34739
On the 2nd post under workbenchs & follow the links.
You will find more stuff about vices on workbenchs than you can read in a year.