workbench Design Question

Mike Gabbay

Member
Messages
180
Location
Herndon VA
Ok so I'm building my workbench from the FWW Tools plan from a few years ago. I'm down to determining the length of the stretchers and the final placement/type of the vise to be mounted on the end. I wanted to re-use a Record style vise that I have but I think it may be too small. The opening is about 10". If I place it behind the apron (1 3/4" thick) and use a 3" outside jaw to match my front vise then I'm down to 5 1/4" for the opening.

My overall need for the vise on the end is mostly to use it for planing and having an adjustable dog.

Some options that I have:

1. Leave it like I described above.
2. Mortise out the apron and set it in and maybe get another inch of travel.
3. leave it off and drill a pair of dog holes on the end and use the Veritas adjustable Wonder Dog.
4. Install a shoulder vise. I'm using a 64" ready made maple top so I guess I could extend the apron another 10" and build out a spacer for the shoulder vise.

Any thoughts? Do those who have a vise mounted on the end do you use it alot?
 
I have a Record, the biggest one, mounted on the corner of my work-table and I use it almost every time I'm in the Dungeon.

dollar_shavings.jpg

You can see it there.

I have it mounted so that the rear jaw is flush with the edge of the worktable, this way I did not have to give up any capacity.

I do not have any wooden faces on the jaws, if I need a piece of wood in there to protect something, I've got lots of scraps laying around.

I very much like my Record, I could use another one......... or two :D

Cheers!
 
I have the same vise as Stu, but with 1/2" oak on the inside of the jaws. I let the rear jaw into the bench far enough so the wooden jaw sits proud by a 1/16" or so. Loads of capacity, solid as a rock. My bench does not have an apron, though, it's 3 1/2" of Douglas Fir.

I see lots of setups where a modern quick-release type vise is buried in massive wooden jaws - seems to be a recent fashion. It gives a more traditional 'bench screw' look to a bench, but you pay for that in capacity. If I want to spread the force of my vise jaws around I just stick a couple of pieces of dimensioned lumber in there temporarily.
 
Stu / Ian - I guess my issue is that I will be mounting my vise on the end of the table. You have yours on the front. I'll be putting a front vise on the front left side. In the end the bench will have two vises front left and the end on the right.
 
Why not cut down the 3" block? I use a small Columbia vice with a block for a dog. Not sure what mine is but it doesn't have to anywhere near 3" thick to hold a dog if that is what your doing.
 
In the end the bench will have two vises front left and the end on the right.

I think I'll have to search FWW to see the model for you bench. 2 front vises and 1 end vise sounds like an odd configuration to me. A pair of end vises with dogs is much more conventional/useful IMO. But that's just me. Or have I misinterpreted and do you mean 4 vises in total ?

The opening is about 10". If I place it behind the apron (1 3/4" thick) and use a 3" outside jaw to match my front vise then I'm down to 5 1/4" for the opening.

If matching the front vise is the problem, then don't. You'll get various opinions, but I'm in the camp that says a bench is a tool and not a showpiece. One end matching the other just isn't a priority for me. And I agree with Jeff that 3" jaws are unecessarily thick. If it's just for aesthetics, ask yourself why you're building a bench.

Again, opinions vary and you're certainly entitled to yours.
 
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Ian - sorry to confuse... My design will only have 2 vises. One on the front and one on the end. The FWW design only has the front vise.

I'll probably only use a 1 " or 2" jaw instead of 3". That should make this work out right.
 
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