Lee Valley vise question
John Clifford
>I'm currently building a bench and I've bought the Lee Valley large front vise #70G08.02. The vise includes two support collets that get counter bored into the face of the rear jaw that the guide rods run through. My bench top when finished will be about 3 or 3 1/4 inches thick and will not have an apron/skirt. The plans call for a "half rear jaw" that attaches to the underside of the bench and flush with the front of the bench. The support collets go into this "half rear jaw. My question is this: are the support collets necessary? It seems like a lot of extra work to add the half rear jaw and counter bore the holes for the support collets. I'd like to attach the vise without the additional half rear jaw because the front of the bench at approx. 3 inches of surface seems like plenty of clamping surface. On Chris Schwarz's $175 bench I believe he used this vise and the picture shows he didn't use the half rear jaw. Has anyone installed this vise and if so did you use/need the support collets? Thanks in advance for any help with this.
Very excited about finally having a proper woodworking bench. John.
