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Veritas - Innovation in Tools

leg vise ?

Posts

leg vise ?

#1

leg vise ?

Mike Hamilton

>About ready to install a leg vise on my bench. I have the Veritas vise screw. I'm trying to get all the steps laid out in my head before picking up my brace.

Here's my conundrum: the 'nut' that installs on the back of the bench leg has countersinks for the screws that imply that the barrel of the nut is placed in the leg. That'd mean a 1.75 inch hole for the 1.125 inch screw.

This would cover a lot of plumb/square sins I'd likely commit in the boring but it seems like it'd create quite a bit of slop. Any experiences with leg vise hardware for me to leverage? Most leg vise pictures I've found don't show much of the back of the leg.

Regards and thanks,

Mike Hamilton

Plainfield, IN

Re: leg vise ?

#2

Re: leg vise ?

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>If your concern is that the hole would be 1-3/4 inches all the way through, is that really necessary? Are you equipped to bore that diameter partway and then finish up with 1-1/4 inches?

Leg vises tolerate quite a bit of slop anyway - they're not like your regular Record/Wilton/etc. vise. The nut on my grandfather's was held in place by strips of wood nailed on each side of it, with little strips of lath nailed on to hold it from falling off when you loosened the screw. You do, it's true, want the spindle (screw) to keep the moving jaw more or less aligned with the stationary jaw, but I would think the nut would do that.

Re: leg vise ?

#3

Re: leg vise ?

Mike Hamilton

>Yes Bill, I was concerned about drilling the 1.75 inch hole all the way through the leg. Since the barrel of the nut is 1.75 inches long, It will probably keep things pretty stable. It is also slightly tapered. I'm thinking maybe I'll drill a teensy bit undersized and use the screw itself to firmly seat the nut.

The problem for me with drilling a stepped hole is the ease of access to the back of the leg. There is a cross-bar that would force me to use the ratchet on my brace and that seemed like a bunch of work.

I think maybe I ought to shake off this analysis paralysis and just go drill a 1.75 inch hole.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: leg vise ?

#4

What we need here is a counterbored hole...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond,CA

>I'm designing my bench now and I'm planning on using the same screw. You need a stepped hole (counterbored) Start by drilling the largest hole to the depth required for the nut. Now finish off by drilling the hole for the screw diameter. Mark the square of the nut and mortice for it. Bingo, leg vise hole!

Re: leg vise ?

#5

Re: What we need here is a counterbored hole...

mike hamilton

>Scott,

The problem with the counter-bore was having to drill from the back of the leg toward the front. Space is cramped and would require using the ratchet. I also was worried about maintaining square and plumb by the time I got through to the vise board. I finally just set the expansion bit (Irwin #2) to a tad under the 1.75 and drilled through. Locked the bit down as well as I could and the darned thing slipped a smidgeon and was a hair oversized by the time I was through the leg. It turned out slop was no issue. four screws anchor the nut and everything is more than solid enough.

Regards,

Mike

Re: leg vise ?

#6

Oh, I get it now...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Your bench is assembled all ready. Sorry for the confusion.

Glad to hear it all turned out OK.

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