Hugh Howard Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 I'm upgrading my vise to a BC leg vise and am going to (for now) move my quick release vise to an end vise (something I've never had). Some day I'd love to build the split top and upgrade to a BC end vise, too. If you've done this do you miss your quick release vise at all? (I'm trying to figure out if it is worth trying to fit it on the bench somewhere or not - my hope is that the answer is no). All that said, I recognize that my bench is made of inexpensive material and was made when I was a relative beginner, and is not thing of beauty, but it is certainly fine, relatively functional, and not a major limiting factor in my woodworking even in its current state so mostly the Roubo would be about having fun and building something both functional and beautiful. In some sense I wonder if permanently attaching a QR vise would seem out of character and awkward on a Roubo even if it was something I'd miss. In that spirit I'd be tempted to attach it to a differnt part of the workshop (its small so there aren't a ton of great choices) or attach it like a moxon vise as a modular add on. Once the leg vise is finally in place this question may answer itself - I've seen comments that it is virtually as quick as a quick release, and I'm hoping I never look back, but that is still a bit away so I thought it would be fun to hear what others have to say. Any advise or input is most welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 I haven't had a quick release vise. But, I did have a veritas twin screw vise, and now I have the BC vises. I love the BC leg vise. Super smooth, quick and it has great holding power. I bought the tail vise at the same time, but haven't installed it yet. (Long story). I should get to it some day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 LEG VISE _ LEG VISE _ LEG VISE! I can only speak for myself, but I much prefer my leg vise to the quick release vise I used to use. I have the criss-cross and would recommend that to anyone. I have yet to find a disadvantage to the leg vise with the one caveat that you will need either a wagon vise or tail vise or some other method to hold your work pieces between two dogs. If you have a method for that, then I have no hesitation about fully recommending a leg vise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjeff70 Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think there's an article in the latest PW where Chris S. reviews the newest BC leg vise. It's supposed to be around $175??? No wheel on this one, and I thought there were some new features with it. Anyone read the article or am I completely off on this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 The BC vises ARE quick release...just not in traditional form. It takes zero time or effort to open and close them. But (resident curmudgeon here) I probably wouldn't bother putting a thousand dollars worth of hardware on an old shoddy bench. It'd be like putting thousand dollar rims on a 1997 Camry. Build yourself a new bench, and treat it with the appropriate bling. The amount of time you'll spend trying to retrofit the old bench for the BC hardware...you may as well spend that time on something new and better. That's how things work in my world anyway. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Howard Posted August 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Thanks everyone for the advice. Kiki, I get where you are coming from, but truth be told I'm going to have a hard time moving on from this bench because it was the first real woodworking project I ever did. It works pretty well other than the old vise and I smile when I look at the dovetails, for example because they a bit of my woodworking history. The vise is now on and surprisingly looks great even with the lesser bench. I just applied the suede 20 minutes ago so it hasn't really been used yet. Looking at the galleries I like people's benches that had accent colors so I did the chop out of nice local walnut and it will go on the new bench if (realistically when) I build it. You are right that the extension of the leg was a decent ammount of work that is lost if I do a new bench although perhaps not totally lost because I learned a bit about what I'd do next time in the process. sjeff70 you are right - I just saw that article, and I think it is safe to say that it was consistent with all past reviews in that PWW and FW have always raved about everything Benchcrafted has made and this is no exception. On the other hand remember this does not include the Chirscross and that drives the price up quite a bit (or you can make a parallel guide etc). One last comment - I haven't actually used it yet, but I've had fun spinning it around as if I were opening it and closing it, and I think it is true that I won't miss the quick release because this is relatively quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Here's the great thing about a quick release vise: it's super easy to add one if you miss it. With an end vise and leg vise in place, you essentially dominate the front left and front right quadrants of the bench. Assuming you have room around the sides, you can always add an additional vise to the side or back if you find yourself jonesing for the convenience of the quick-release. That said, I don't miss them at all. The action on the BC hardware is fast enough to keep me happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Howard Posted September 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I finished my install and loved the new vise. I think I won't miss my quick release (and I've installed it as an end vise for now and it seems to be fine in that context). The bad news is that while I loved it yesterday that lasted for about 24 hours before it became obsolete! They now have replaced the glide leg vise with a new version that looks like a captains wheel and the screw now works twice as fast so I no longer like my vise. (I'm kidding, of course, about not liking it). http://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/2014/09/now-in-stock-new-glide-and-more.html My one regret is that I was going to put off buying the wagon vise until I built a new bench (especially since I haven't 100% decided if I still want to upgrade the rest of the bench after installing the new vise), but Benchcrafted is going to change that one out too and I think I'd rather have the two vises match so now I have to decide if I'm buying a vise and leaving it on the shelf for a year or so or just going to accept that the two won't perfectly match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Howard Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I've had my leg vise long enough to now cast my vote for my own question and no I don't miss the QR vise at all. The BC leg vise is fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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