Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Need some ad-vise
Dale in Alabama
>Looking for some advise on vises. I just finished building a workbenchand want to add a side vise and an end vise. The workbench is nothing fancy, about $200 in materials (Workbench magazine plan). I'm a hobbiest with aspirations to move up to Executive Amateur Woodworker. Looking for a decent vise, but not wanting to break the bank. Any advise on brands, what I should look for, etc...?
Re: Need some ad-vise
JL
>I can't speak on side vises. I have the cheap one from Rockler, which works (but isn't anything to write home about).
I built an end twin screw vise using the hardware from Lee Valley. It works quite nicely. I have used it with my router and a myriad of other tasks. I like it. It all depends on the design of your bench. You may not have (or want) an end vise like this.
I use the Groz vice ...
Stephen Kirk in Quakertown PA
>Which you can pick up from Woodcraft. It didn't break the bank (around $125 I think) and it works pretty well. I haven't found any reason to complain about it yet.
I went 1 step farther...
Bob Fawcett
>down the do it yourself road and constructed a twin screw setup similar to the Lee Valley using a pair of screws from LV. There is no chain between screws, so you have to turn both. Cost was less than half.
Re: Need some ad-vise
Binen
>Just a thought, buy the best vice/vices you can afford. That way as you build new benches to better fit your work the vices can just be switched over. I'm on my fourth bench but still using the original vises I purchased. The pain of buying quality only hurts once.
Binen