Bench vise

Dan Thibert

Member
Messages
183
Location
Leominster Mass
I am new to woodworking and even though I started in Janurary I have spent a ton of money on saws, router, and whatever.
What I do not have is a bench vise for wood, I do have a standard on the bench vise for metal ect.
My wife has cut me off so buying one at this point is out of the question :eek: so is there a way to hold wood ont he table for sanding, planing ect. witthout spending a more money? :dunno:

Thanks
Dan
 
Just screw a couple of blocks of wood to a piece of plywood, then clamp the plywood to a table/bench. Lay the piece to be sanded between the blocks and tap a wedge between the workpiece and one of the blocks to hold the workpiece against the other block and as long as the blocks and wedge are no thicker than the workpiece, you will have full access to the piece for sanding, etc.
 
I wouldn't know what to do if my wife cut me off from buying tools. Oh wait a minute I forgot shes the one that is buying all the tools:rofl::rofl::rofl:.
 
  1. Replace your wife.
  2. Buy a bench vise.

Dan,

Pay no attention to these guys. :rofl::rofl:

Your wife is worth her weight in gold! She *will* eventually let you spring for more tools again. ;) Patience, I've been told, is actually a virtue... ;)

In the meantime, wonder dogs are not, technically, tools. They are innovations! Dreams realized! Creativity incarnate!

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31129&cat=1,41637

If those are too much, you can buy the materials you need to fake some for about $3.97 at the borg!

.



Replace wife! Geez, Frank. ;) It's not exactly a seller's market out there right now. Why, if I tried to sell Doorlink anytime before Q3, I bet I wouldn't even make the cost of a powermatic 3250b, much less a robust! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Thanks,

Bill
(don't worry, Doorlink's off at choir practice. There's no way she'll ever see this... ;)
 
I run a couple of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94386

Here's a pic of the bench during construction:

Waiting-on-Cabinets-1.jpg

I have two Lee Valley's to replace them with. I even have the new jaw blanks glued up. These just haven't annoyed me enough yet to change. I got them on sale for about half what they are now but, I notice they have a non-QR version for $30. It's under-sized but, for that much, use it till your tired of it and then use it for a wheel chock.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42494
 
Replace wife! Geez, Frank. ;) It's not exactly a seller's market out there right now. Why, if I tried to sell Doorlink anytime before Q3, I bet I wouldn't even make the cost of a powermatic 3250b, much less a robust! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Thanks,

Bill
(don't worry, Doorlink's off at choir practice. There's no way she'll ever see this... ;)

Um Bill, darling...may I have a word with you?
whipit.gif
:D
 
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I second the Lee Valley wonderdogs. But, if they're not in the budget, you can hold just about anything to the bench with simple wood dowels in the dog holes, shims, and cawls made from scraps. Set the piece on the bench against a bench dog (3/4" dowel set so it extends above the bench top to grab the piece), measure the distance from the opposite edge of the piece to the next closest dog hole, find a scrap that will bridge the gap and cut it 1/4" short. Then, set the other 3/4" dowel in the next closest dog hole, and, using a pair of shims coming in from oposite sides, tap the shims in to snug up the grip.
This works, but you'll need to make a new cawl for each different sized piece.
I also use clamps to hold a piece down if it's near an edge of the bench.
For a lot of my hand planing, i don't use any clamps. I just set one bench dog so that it projects 1/4" or so up from the bench surface, lay the piece against it, and plane so that i'm pushing the tool towards the bench dog. This is called a plane stop. Sometimes it's nothing more than a clamp set on the edge of the bench and use it as the plane stop.
I also have used a Workmate for an impromptu planing bench - it's easy to hold a wide variety of work pieces, but it lacks the size and mass to be an ideal planing bench.
I've also seen people use a pipe clamp or two and wood scraps to make very effective bench vises. I think there was a thread in the past day or two showing this approach.

For making your own woodworking vise, it's hard to beat the leg vise for economy, versatility, and holding power. If you can come up with an acme threaded rod and a couple of nuts, you could make the rest quite cheaply if you can cut, drill, tap, and maybe braze or weld metal. McMaster Carr (www.mcmaster.com) has acme threaded rod - the last time i bought some i was really surprised at how inexpensive it was - something like $8 for a 48" x 5/8" rod. You'll spend as much (or more) on the nuts as you will on the rod. If i were looking for a cheap way to make a strong, versatile, time tested, and permanent vise, this would be the way i'd go. My next bench will have a leg vise.

One other thing you may want to consider, if you have bench dog holes in your bench top, would be to use some sort of hold fast. The cast iron ones tend to be brittle - forged iron ones seem to work better, but they're expensive. I like the Grammercy ones made from thick wire. You could also fashion your own hold down with some threaded rod or long bolts, fender washers, scrap wood, and a wing nut or two. The idea would be to clamp down to the bench top. The fender washer and nut would be on the bottom side of the bench top, the threaded rod / bolt would extend through the bench dog hole and the wood scrap. The scrap extends over the work piece like an arm and is snugged against it by a fender washer and wing nut on the top of the clamp.

You may want to look at Christopher Schwarz's book on workbenches. He discusses ways to stoutly hold workpieces without elaborate vises, clamps, etc. You might want to check out www.woodworking-magazine.com for some more info. There are other good sources, but it's hard to go wrong with this.

Have fun with it.

Paul Hubbman
 
I have a Record vice, that largest one, with the quick release, I like it because it uses a little lever to activate the quick release, not the 1/4 turn back, which I've used and found could activate when you did not want it to.

The thing I like about the quick release feature is in my shop, things are a bit tight, space wise, so I can quickly close the vice all the way, getting it out of the way in a jiffy.

Cheers!
 
I'd really like to get some hold fasts for my new bench, but online I've only found one guy that sells forged steel ones, most are cast iron.

I did find this >> great idea << might have to make a few of these myself :D

>> HERE << is the smith who is selling hand forged hold fasts, $50 for a pair, free shipping in the US..... :dunno:

Anyone have another online source for forged steel hold fasts?

Cheers!
 
Thanks all for your relies, for now I picked up a couple of inexpensive bench dogs that should do the the trip until the purse strings and loosened up a bit :rofl:
That along with clamping the wood to my bench should get me by for a while, it is not like I am doing this for a living.

But I am having fun and making some simple but nice peices. I have made a toy box for my dog, book case, shop cabinate and base cabinate and an oak coffee table. I also just finished a bunch of tool boxes for gifts and of course a couple for me.

This hobby is addictive.:D

Thanks
Dan
 
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