Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Emerson vise
McKay Sleight
>I do not see myself as finding a good Emerson vise, so is there any out there who have used the knock-off version that is offered from Woodcraft? Will it hold up under normal use, or do you think that it is a waste of money?
Emmert?
Jim Reed @ Tallahassee
>If it is the holy Emmert of which you speak, yes, buy the Woodcraft clone. I have one and love it. Only problem is that it was covered in Cosmolene and reminded me of a Christmas ham in a bag. Took several hours to clean the greasy thing.
Re: Emerson vise
paul womack
>I don't normally like cross-posting among multiple forums, but there was such a good thread on this topic about a week ago on woodnet, it seems sensible to do so now:
BugBear
Emmert Clone
Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX
>My "new" bench is now seven years old. I built it with the Emmert clone and have been reasonably satisfied with it. I will start with the negatives. The back jaw is attached to a plate which is screwed to the edge of the bench top. This is achieved with two pins that go through a hole on the jaw into a hole on the plate. One of my pins has the annoying habit of coming loose periodically and has to be hammered home. The various positions are maintained by tightening a hand cam clamp. (There are two of these if I remember correctly.) These come loose often. There is also now a little play in the vise from use and because of the above-mentioned problems. Obviously these aren't so bad as to cause me to take 20 minutes and fix the problems permanently. I figure if I wait long enough, something will break and be more expensive to fix, not to mention the increased time needed to take care of the problem. I believe you will all agree that's reason enough to put off til tomorrow fixing these minor troubles. I have yet to use the tapering jaw that fits into the outside jaw. I understand now why so many old Emmerts are out there with this part MIA. I got some sole leather and glued it to the jaws rather than use wooden jaws. After seven years they're still working like a charm. The four dogs are still a bit stiff. The fit and finish on the clones is course. But they work just fine. I've got no complaints about the vise lacking quick action. I also installed mine with the back jaw to be flush with the edge of my bench. That has been proven time and again to be a good decision. I don't use the vise's abilities nearly as much as I thought I would. I could get along just fine with a "regular" woodworkers vise, even now. With that said, I don't think I'd be getting rid of it any time soon. I've never used a real Emmert or Oliver, or Yost, or Tucker, etc., etc. I do believe these others would be built better than the clone. I'm an amateur and the clone does the job. If I were using it six to ten hours a day, five to six days a week I believe the cost would be justified to hold out for the "real thing". If I were building chairs or hand-dovetailing carcasses a lot than another vise would be more advantageous. The vise was developed primarily for pattern making which involves a lot of close hand shaping.
e-bay
Jim in Burlington On
>If you really want one they come up on e-bay usually go for big money. LV also has a modern one.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31143&cat=1,41659
Decent
David Miller from Iowa
>I have the Chinese knock off I bought from Woodcraft when they came out. Decent product, great for holding odd shapes, but I still use the Record 52.5 for anything that has parallel sides.
A guy "needs" both.
Exactly!
jim reed @ tallahassee
>I have vises all over my shop. Each has its own special purpose. I think a wwkr cannot have too many vises.