Vises for my split-top

Re: Vises for my split-top

roger lance

Roubo style bench.....I'd go BenchCrafted.....get the X-cross hardware.....both vises BenchCrafted.

Damn the price.....you've been wanting this bench for 20 years.....you'll be enjoying this bench long, long after any memory of the cost has faded.

Re: Vises for my split-top

JL

I can't speak for Benchcrafted - I've never seen or used them.

I have used Veritas (and Lie-Nielsen) hardware. I have the Veritas and I like it. IMO - among the best values in hardware and tools.

That being said - buy once, cry once. Life is too short to have regrets about buying tools. If you want the product, buy it.

I will say that I have used Lie-Nielsen spokeshaves - and I prefer the LV Veritas spokeshaves. I have use Lie-Nielsen and LV planes - and it is about half and half. Some planes I like the Lie-Nielsen and some the LV. I wouldn't be unhappy with either.

why 5"

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Not questioning your decision but would like to understand it. What is the benefit of making a bench that thick?

PS

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

You understand that ash is now an extinct lumber species? When current inventories are gone there will never be any more available.

Re: why 5"

Cameron

That is where my narrowest ash board falls so I figured that I'd go with 5" instead of ripping them down further... Other than that no particular reason.

I think you already know the answer

Dick Coers

If you invested that kind of money just for the top, why scrimp now? I built my dream bench in the early 80s. Don't think I wrote the date down anywhere. A few hundred dollars over 40 years of use isn't an issue for me.

Re: Vises for my split-top

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Hi Cameron

I would re-think a 5" thick bench top. Unless you are planning on purchasing hold downs from Lost Art Press (Chris Schwarz), which have 1" thick rods, you may struggle with the standard 3/4", such as Gramercy. I use the Gramercy in my bench, which is 3 1/2" thick without any issues, but many have voiced problems getting them to grip in 4" thick tops.

I have much praise for the BenchCrafted hardware. Their wagon vise is a superior tool and very well-used in my bench, and one of these days I will likely swap out the wooden screw in the leg vise for their version. Mine works well enough, but it could be better.

At this stage of the game you know what you want, and why. It is not as if you are just starting out and are following fashion.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Vises for my split-top

Ray k

I had built a scandinavian style workbench 10 years ago. The open shoulder vise is great for things like dovetail sawing (no rods or vise parts to get in the way of clamping directly in the center of the vise). I was admiring all the Moxon vise YouTube videos and even thought it would be fun to build one and then I remembered there’s no need with my shoulder vise.

However, my tailvise was a different story. I like using it with dogs to hold things in place for face handplaning. But the tailvise sagged over the years. I think I bought the hardware from Lee valley-this is the traditional type-it has two steel plates, a big “nut” and screw. It was a bit tricky to install (I carefully followed a FWW article on how to install one of these-I think the article was written by Mike Dunbar). The install involved making grooves and rabbets in the benchtop and creatinf a recess for the wooden tail part. The tailvise worked well at first, but ultimately the sagging of the vise made using it less smooth and not that effective. Plus, I remembered how much I liked using the quick release feature on a record face vise I used to have and wished I had that feature here. Ultimately, I opted for the Veritas quick release tailvise. It was easy to install (I actually chopped up the parts of of my old wooden tailvise and retrofitted it with the new Veritas hardware. I haven’t regretted it a bit ever since and don’t even think twice about how much I paid for it.

Re: Vises for my split-top

William Duffield

I have been using the Taiwanese small Emmert clone pattern maker's vise for more than a quarter of a century. This is the vise currently sold by Highland Woodworking and Woodcraft (and maybe others as well), with one small difference: mine has AMT cast into the top of the rear jaw. I have found it very useful for a wide variety of tasks. For reasons that are totally immaterial at this point, I mounted it in the tail vise position on my bench. I don't find it especially useful specifically as a tail vise. It works much more efficiently as a shoulder vise. I would suggest you first consider the Veritas Wonder Pup for a tail vise.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/workshop/workbenches/benchtop-accessories/31129-veritas-wonder-dog-and-wonder-pup

If you find the Wonder Pup to be too slow and inefficient, I would recommend looking at a wagon vise, because they are much less obtrusive and more robust than a traditional German tail vise.

I also seriously question the utility of the Roubo style bench. To me, it is a fad, or at best a fashion statement. It reminds me a lot of the Hummer foolishment a few years back. There are much better bench designs out there, that require a lot less materials, and are a lot easier to build, not to mention move, if that ever becomes necessary. I also think sugar maple is a better choice for a bench top material than ash.

One more note on pattern maker's vises. I find mine so essential that this week I upgraded to an Oliver. I haven't figured out yet where I am going to mount the Oliver or where I am going to put the AMT. I might end up rebuilding my bench top from scratch, or building a new carving bench specifically for the vintage vise.

There is only one important feature missing from pattern makers' vises, the quick release. When I need that (e.g., when shaping and fitting significant numbers of tenons), I use a Record shoulder vise. I think mine is a 52-1/2D. If you never get into production mode on some project, you may not miss having the quick release feature.

Re: Vises for my split-top

Don Stephan

Many years ago I built the Frank Klaus woodworking bench with shoulder and tail vises using hardware perhaps from Lee Valley. That was after using a longer bench with just a quick release vise, Something broke on the QR vise many years ago after I had the Klaus bench for a couple years, and I've never tried to fix or replace the QR vise - the three bottom rods were always too much of an inconvenience. If the building burned down, my first action I'd take in the new building would be to build another Frank Klaus bench.

Re: Vises for my split-top

AZ in Colorado Springs

I built a roubo style bench in 2013. I included a leg vise and built it with a parallel guide, just as Chris Schwartz planned it in the first edition of his workbench book. I, too, thought about the bench crafted hardware and choked at the price.

The parallel guide is a piece of 1/2" stock the glides through a slot cut into the bottom end of the leg. It has a series of holes for a pin set to match the thickness of the piece you are clamping. It is not difficult to use. Most of my work is with 4/4 stock, so I don't change settings often.

When I work on a project with parts of a different thickness, I usually take an offcut and cut a 1/2" slot in it. I slip it over the parallel guide and it sits there while I finish that project. (It keeps the vise parallel to the leg instead of using the pin.)

The hardware for the leg vise is a "bench screw" from woodcraft. Absolutely no backlash in the mechanism. That is its best feature. Turn the screw a quarter turn in either direction and the vise responds accordingly.

I love the leg vise. It's the only vise on my bench. I've also thought about adding a shoulder vise, but that will make the bench kind of wide for my shop.

Enjoy your bench!

Re: why 5"

AZ in Colorado Springs

My bench is 3-5/8" thick. You'll need longer clamps to secure your work to the bench top.

Unless you're going to have a span of 20' between the legs, 5" is overkill. Might make it hard to use hold fasts. I'd recommend 4" thick. But it'll be your bench, not mine.

Is there a reason to go thicker than 2" ?

Re: Is there a reason to go thicker than 2" ?

AZ in Colorado Springs

1) A roubo style bench has no aprons, which facilitates clamping anywhere around the bench. So, the top needs to be rigid. Longer or wider and you need more thickness. More than 2"? Ask an engineer ...

2) If you use handplanes, the weight is a great stabilizer. My bench also has two bundles of shingles on the shelf beneath to keep it put (it's not located along a wall or in a corner).

My bench, at 3-5/8" thick -- it'll likely hold my Silverado