Dolmetscher007 Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 My Veritas low angle Jack plane came in the mail yesterday. My first hand plane ever. I am so pumped!!! I will be building my first work bench soon, and I need to decide on which Vice to buy. Here is roughly the exact bench I want to build. It has no tail or leg vice. It just has the one large wooden vice with suede on the inside. The only thing is... the vice shown in the picture is 100% wooden. The vice jaw(s) is wooden, the handle it wooden, and it even has a huge wooden screw that goes through the apron into a huge wooden "nut." To keep the jaw running true and not rack to one side, it has a massive square wooden "dowel" that slides in and out of a square hole, and it kept running true by wooden adjusters... all of which I'd have to build myself. I don't want to get into all that. I'm brand new to hand tools, and I feel like all of that would be a huge trick to get right, and even then, it would probably swell and contract over time and be a huge headache. I know nothing about vices, though. I know Veritas, because I've spent hours on their website reading all about all their tools. And I know Lie-Nielsen for the same reason, but I don't want to JUST buy Veritas evertything, and Lie-Nielsen doesn't seem to specialize in vices at all. Is there a company that make "the vice?" The industry standard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 If i had the disposable income 2 years ago that I have today, i wouldnt have cheaped out on bench hardware like i did. I ended up buying the lee valley large front vise. It works well, and i use it as a front vise/tail vise with dog holes drilled in the vise chop. It racks a bit, but that is because the 16/4 chop is 28" wide. I will absolutely buy benchcrafted stuff for the next bench build in 5ish years. Whats your budget? I think if you were to only have one vise, I would do the twin screw vise from veritas. The design should prevent it from racking, and it is affordably priced for the size. The problem with your bench plan and only having one vise is you lose out on most of the awesomeness of having dog holes. I would move the vise to the end cap and drill a dog hole in it to correspond with the bench dogs. This way you get a vise for sawing dovetails, jointing board edges, but you also keep the versatility of a tail vise for planing faces, sanding, routing, dadoes, etc. Just my thoughts on only having one vise, but realistically you want a tailvise and a legvise/shoulder vise. They serve two different purposes, so it is hard to get all the benefits from just one vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4square Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Think of your workbench as one big vise. Essentially that's what it is. Leg vise, shoulder vise, wagon vise and end vise. Dog holes with bench dogs can be vises as well. if the bench is built right expansion/contraction is not an issue. I built my bench using 2"X12" Douglas fir many years ago and other than the annual flattening of the top the bench is still as strong as it was when built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben_r_ Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 You know about the Split-Top Roubo workbench right OP? Benchcrafted? And that Marc has a 40% off sale on the build going on for this weekend only in The Guild? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Yes, go look at Marc's roubo build! Benchcrafted hardware is awesome but, it has a price to match. Buy once cry once! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Wooden vises are available, google is your friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 To me, when working with planes specifically, a vise isn't as important as good dogs, in the right locations, that both stay put, and are flexible for different operations; and well located hold fast holes. The bc hardware is superb, albeit bordering on overkill. I have considered dropping the Veritas inset vise to the left end of my bench since that's where I spend a lot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 10 minutes ago, Brendon_t said: I have considered dropping the Veritas inset vise I have this vise in my bench and I am extremely happy with it. It works real well, has a lot of holding ability and you can't go wrong with the price. Veritas inset vise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 28 minutes ago, Chet K. said: I have this vise in my bench and I am extremely happy with it. It works real well, has a lot of holding ability and you can't go wrong with the price. Veritas inset vise It would be a secondary vise as the bench wears a bc vise on the other end. That end happens to be on the end nearest the garage door that has the bad habit of being super hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 The Veritas and Benchcrafted vises are really the two high-end options, and there's an enormous jump between the two. If you're building the last bench you ever intend to build, I'd buy BC hardware. If it's just an interim bench, the Veritas will do. And you'll learn all the reasons why you pay the extra money for the BC vises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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