Mounting a vice

[linusw]

The vices I remember in woodwork class were mounted with the back steel jaw against the front of the desk, with the wooden liners added, it left the pieces clamped slightly out from the desk.

I am considering buying a vice and a lot of the instructions for installing and pictures of vises have it mounted so that the back jaw is the front of the desk and the piece is clamped up against the desk.

Sorry I am not describing this well, but I am thinking is this a UK/US thing or were the vices I remember mounted wrongly.

What is the best way to mount a vice, what do you all do and why?

The Veritas Front Vice, for example, (I can't post link) can you add a second jaw and have it protruding from the edge of the desk or do you have to use the desk as the back jaw.

Any good vice recommendations in the price rage of £1 - £100 would be great.

 

[Bigbud78]

The vices I remember in woodwork class were mounted with the back steel jaw against the front of the desk, with the wooden liners added, it left the pieces clamped slightly out from the desk.

I am considering buying a vice and a lot of the instructions for installing and pictures of vises have it mounted so that the back jaw is the front of the desk and the piece is clamped up against the desk.

Sorry I am not describing this well, but I am thinking is this a UK/US thing or were the vices I remember mounted wrongly.

What is the best way to mount a vice, what do you all do and why?

The Veritas Front Vice, for example, (I can't post link) can you add a second jaw and have it protruding from the edge of the desk or do you have to use the desk as the back jaw.

Any good vice recommendations in the price rage of £1 - £100 would be great.

Horses for courses on the mounting options, I'm about to fit mine ala Paul Sellers https://paulsellers.com/2014/01/flush-vises/

As for a Vise, buy an old used Record or similar. I picked up two Parkinson Perfect 15's for less than £30, bit of a clean up and they will last longer than me

 

[Bm101]

Good thread on fitting a vice here. vices-fitting-a-record-bench-vice-t25365.html Some great tips. If you can wait there's some great deals on old vices like record etc. Paid about £15 for mine. You can certainly get them cheaper than that if you don't need one right away. I'm just starting to build a bench, glue arrived today.... I want to mount mine with a wooden plate sunk into the end of the bench flush with the top and the front jaw protected by more timber. ie, the vice jaws will be lower than the top of the bench pretty much exactly as PaulM did in that link. Seems to me its a more intuitive way. You can replace the wooden face plates on the jaws as you need to and your tools stay safe.
Cheers
Chris

 

[James-1986]

You can't go wrong with a Record quick release vice. I don't think I would want mine so that the wooden cheek is flush with the bench, it is useful to be able to use other clamps on the work piece in the vice and you need a gap to do it. The only downside compared to a leg vice is the lack of depth, but that can be solved with a sliding 'dead man' and dog holes in the legs, you can then work on assembled joinery such as front doors.

 

[linusw]

I'm in Ireland so it's hard enough to find an old Record 52 1/2 Quick Release.

I spotted a record for sale, but it is not Quick Release, I don't think. It is a 52 1/2 P and has no lever for quick release.

How would I even tell whether a Record is one of the good old ones, or the newer ones? Is it just the round shape of the thing on the end of the screw?

 

[worn thumbs]

I have worked with vices mounted both ways and for my own workshop I had no hesitation in fitting the vice in front of the apron.I have never found a better vice than a quick release Record 52 1/2,but a well preserved Parkinson is no bad thing.

 

[James-1986]

I wouldn't bother with anything that is not quick release for this style of vice. I've got a Woden vice somewhere but cannot remember if it is quick release, it is a little on the small side but I wouldn't mind parting with it.

I've used Chinky vices from Rutlands and thay are OK, a quick release is £50, perhaps fine tools will be more reasonable on cost and postage for Ireland? they sell veritas quick release vices.

 

[JJ1]

When I made my workbench just over a year ago I fitted a Record 53 as a front vice. I decided to mount the rear jaw into the bench's front apron. A year on and I'm very pleased I did it that way as it maximizes the vice's usable capacity, although not a major consideration as the capacity is huge and more than adequate for my uses. More importantly when working with longer lengths of wood it allows me to hold it in the vice and have it sat flush against the bench's front apron with the other end easily clamped. The front apron is wide enough to also allow items to be clamped to the bench top.

 

[DTR]

When I made my workbench just over a year ago I fitted a Record 53 as a front vice. I decided to mount the rear jaw into the bench's front apron. A year on and I'm very pleased I did it that way as it maximizes the vice's usable capacity, although not a major consideration as the capacity is huge and more than adequate for my uses. More importantly when working with longer lengths of wood it allows me to hold it in the vice and have it sat flush against the bench's front apron with the other end easily clamped. The front apron is wide enough to also allow items to be clamped to the bench

+1, the ability to use the whole of the front of the bench as a clamping surface can be very useful.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Most people go for a quick release, but there isn't much wrong and indeed a lot to be said for an ordinary one. They spin up quickly with an acme thread and there's nothing to go wrong. Unless you are regularly shifting from very small to huge pieces of work it doesn't matter much - is a few seconds once in a while that important if one comes your way? Watch your local small adds, you might get lucky as their weight goes against long distance sales. I sold a pre 1961 52 1/2 and 53 both in excellent condition for £40 last week to the same guy - a retired joiner who couldn't believe his luck.

 

[jdeacon]

I fitted a Rutland Dakota quick-release vice (Part No. DK2020) with two faces yesterday. I've never used a single face vice (mostly metal work up until this year) and it didn't even occur to me - I went straight for a two face. I am comforted that Paul Sellers prefers them. I like his point about holding the piece and then getting your hand or fingers out of the way.

I'm pleased that blog entry of Paul's was mentioned above. I'd not read it. I was vaguely thinking about drilling the dog holes today; but I think I'll try his clamp-in-the vice technique before I go ahead with that. If it works I shall be somewhat miffed as I spent considerable effort getting the vice's hardwood support blocks all the way to the back apron so that the dog holes weren't just in a couple of thicknesses of MDF.

[Later: Oops, I probably meant jaw rather than face. ]

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wondered what you meant by single faced for a moment, then I realised. Of course if it is important for the vice to grip before your grip is released you could always sit a piece of 4" x 2" between the work and the bench to start with. I think on balance I'd rather mine near flush.

 

[DTR]

Most people go for a quick release, but there isn't much wrong and indeed a lot to be said for an ordinary one. They spin up quickly with an acme thread and there's nothing to go wrong. Unless you are regularly shifting from very small to huge pieces of work it doesn't matter much - is a few seconds once in a while

+1 to this too. I've never missed having a quick-release. A quick search on this forum shows that the quick-release mechanism is normally the first thing to fail on those vices.

 

[James-1986]

Personal preference I suppose, I vice without quick release gets my blood boiling quite quick :lol:

To OP, My woden vice is quick release but is quite small, It needs a little bit of work but I'd let it go cheap as its been on my store room floor for three years doing pipper all.

 

[Beau]

Mines much the same DTR being flush with the apron and no quick release. Not used anything else but always been happy with this set up. When I was choosing between quick release or no QR the general consensus in the workshop was no QR. The argument was you might tighten them up when the mechanism wasn't fully engaged so they would occasionally slip as it did engage dropping your work to floor.

 

[John15]

The inside jaw of my old Record vise is proud of the apron and works OK for me. Regarding the quick release, it developed a fault some time ago so I don't use it and to be honest I don't really miss it.

John

 

[Droogs]

I recently managed to buy 2 quick release vises off gumtree, a 151 and a 52 1/2 for £25 all in. So hang in there and what you want will come up. They are goin into my new bench and will be mounted with the rear jaw morticed into the bench front and side with a 6" wide 1/2" thick piece of oak being used as face trim for the bench and as the rear surface of the vise.

 

[SammyQ]

Linus, welcome to ukwoodchat'n'gossip. I'm in Belfast too and an avid scanner of Gumtree, radius 75 miles. That picks up ads in Fermanagh and north Derry, so If you're prepared to go pick summat up, bargains are there to be had. My Record with quick release cost me £25 from a disenchanted joinery apprentice, moving on to mechanicing. He hjust wanted sponduliucks quickly for his Snap-on toolbox! I also landed a nearly new Axi 250 saw for half price and a Jun Air compressor for £50... :shock:

The bargains are out there, but patience is needed. It took me a LONG time to locate my Wadkin AGS.

Sam

 

[bugbear]

Ah, the old flush versus proud question.

Flush is better for by far the most common task, holding a long workpiece (plank) for edge planing.

Proud is more versatile for almost all other tasks.

Robert Wearing's book Making Woodwork Aids and Devices has a fascinating whole section dedicated to useful "slip on" supplementary
jaw faces for a vice, which rely on the vise jaw not being flush.


BugBear

 

[DennisCA]

Got my rutlands vise in the mail today. Am not sure how to mount it either, I think Paul Sellers has something of a point in not having it flush, mostly because of what he showed with mounting clamps in the vise. That was quite clever.