Who uses a tail vise?

[TerryMcK]

My bench has a tail vise but I very rarely use it. My new bench will not have a tail vise just a face vise.

If you do have a tail vise fitted to your bench how many of you use your tail vise? Be honest.

[Eric.]

Constantly. Probably more often than the leg vise.

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[gee-dub]

I did not vote since I am in transition.  Built a new bench but, got sidetracked with merging households and haven't got the "tail" vise on yet.  It will be a twin screw and so my not actually count ;-)  I do rail against the heavens every time I am doing something and have to gerry-rig as opposed to using the missing tail.  Soon, soon , soon I will have my life back . . . .

[Unknown craftsman]

I use mine a lot and I did vote.Some things in the shop you just don't know how useful they are till you have one.Like a Tormek or a tail vise.

Aj

[Just Bob]

1 hour ago, Eric. said:

Constantly. Probably more often than the leg vise.

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+1

[Chet]

Even though it is just the Veritas Inset Vise, I put it in almost as an after thought but I us it all the time.

[Mark J]

My bench is a mini version (commercially made) so it is not overall as useful as a big boy bench.  But the tail is still my first choice for sawing and I use the bench dog system for work holding.  The shoulder vise definitely sees some use, too.  

But then your not building the bench for me.  

[sjeff70]

Is it important to distinguish what kind of tools are predominate in your work, i.e., hybrid, hand tool?

[Pwk5017]

I dont have a tailvise, but i use my large front vise on the end of my bench like a tail vise. It is the full width of my bench and has 3 dog holes drilled in the chop. I can pop in a dog and use it like a tail vise, or pop in two dogs with two corresponding bench dogs and have a wide tail vise. Just yesterday i used this feature to clamp three 22" wide case sides together to cut them to final length with my track saw at once. They were too long to setup a stop on my MFT, and i decided this was the best method to ensure they were all the exact same length. The front vise is the only vise on my bench. Without the pseudo-tail vise capabilities, it wouldnt be nearly as useful. Honestly, performing an action on a board's face without a tail vise kinda sucks. Planing into a dog is fine, but your workpiece will slide slightly as you plane it. Tail vise locking it in place solves this problem. Same applies for routing mortises in a leg blank. Lock it in place with the tail vise and safely route the mortise. I use dogs, holdfasts, front vise in its intended operation, and I wouldnt want to do without any of them. There is a reason all this stuff evolved the way it did and is still around. If it sucked, prior generations would have thrown the device out. 

[Mark J]

11 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said:

I dont have a tailvise, but i use my large front vise on the end of my bench like a tail vise. It is the full width of my bench and has 3 dog holes drilled in the chop. 

Got a pic?

[Tom Cancelleri]

I use my tail vise as my primary vise. It holds work for sanding, routing, chiseling, planing, chamfering, and pretty much every possible operation I do. My leg vise is used the least. I use the leg vise mostly when shaping. 

[Pwk5017]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

Got a pic?

Photo is a couple years old, but gets the message across. Im actually surprised i have photos that go back that far on my phone. The first dog strip is about 2-3" in from the front edge, which means you can get a fair amount of racking on a 28" wide chop. You either deal with the racking because its inconsequential(this is what i do), or you put a board in the far end of the vise to counteract the racking(what i do when using one side of the front vise as a front vise). I say the racking is inconsequential in tail vise mode, because I dont find i need to crank down to sandwich a piece between dogs. I just want to hold it snug. It goes back to how i use my bench to hold pieces. If im chiseling, chances are the workpiece is held by two holdfasts. If im sanding a surface that is smaller or narrow, then it is lightly held between dogs. Same for planing a face, lightly held between dogs. If im sawing dovetails(rare), routing handles in a cutting board, shaping something then i have it smashed in the front vise as tight as it will go. My bench was built on such a budget that this was the most economical way to do it. When we move, i will probably build another with BC hardware and all that jazz, but this one serves the purpose. 

[Janello]

Order I use  most to least. Tail vise, holfasts, leg vise