Workbench Vice

jaggiebunnet

hi all, just built a workbench in the shed from scrap pieces of wood and am looking to put a vice on it - was going to get the one in lidl @ 20euro but thought I would check to see if anyone has any recommendations first?
thanks.

ennisa

jaggiebunnet,
Can you post a pic of your workbench? I'm always facinated to see other peoples benches.
I'm a big fan of the leg vice. The hardware is cheap and it has better depth than a woodworking vice and grips like a gorilla. Also you can make it to the spec that suits you and your bench.

You can see mine on the front of my bench here;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055467696&highlight=workbench
I have prettied it up a little since, that is basically a piece of 2x6 that I had spare about the shop.

Chris Schwarz is a big fan of them and based on his experience and observations I put it on the bench;
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Im+A+Leg+Vise+Man.aspx

The screw I got from axminster for £20 here;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/2/product-York-Tail-Vice-Screw-22373.htm

but my eyes were bigger than my belly and I don't need anything even half as long, if I was to do it again I would get either this;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/3/product-York-Universal-Vice-Screw-22376.htm

or this;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/1/product-York-Front-Vice-Screw-22374.htm

although that last one may need to have a garter added to it.

I do have a regular woodworking record vice as well that I use as a tail vice after I put the leg vice on the front.

Hope this helps.

jaggiebunnet

ennisa wrote: »

jaggiebunnet,
Can you post a pic of your workbench? I'm always facinated to see other peoples benches.
I'm a big fan of the leg vice. The hardware is cheap and it has better depth than a woodworking vice and grips like a gorilla. Also you can make it to the spec that suits you and your bench.

You can see mine on the front of my bench here;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055467696&highlight=workbench
I have prettied it up a little since, that is basically a piece of 2x6 that I had spare about the shop.

Chris Schwarz is a big fan of them and based on his experience and observations I put it on the bench;
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Im+A+Leg+Vise+Man.aspx

The screw I got from axminster for £20 here;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/2/product-York-Tail-Vice-Screw-22373.htm

but my eyes were bigger than my belly and I don't need anything even half as long, if I was to do it again I would get either this;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/3/product-York-Universal-Vice-Screw-22376.htm

or this;
http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/1/product-York-Front-Vice-Screw-22374.htm

although that last one may need to have a garter added to it.

I do have a regular woodworking record vice as well that I use as a tail vice after I put the leg vice on the front.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that - will post a pic up when i get a chance, not much to look at just some old pieces of of wood ontop of a frame - pretty basic but it gets rid of the old cuts lying around and I have worktop to work on now too.

Didn't have a plan for it maybe I should have, just cut some lengths and put it together, might explain a few things

The leg vice looks pretty cool - might make myself one, or destroy some wood trying I should say. Think I would want a regular vice too so is there any brands I should go for or are they all pretty much the same (as you can tell I have no experience here - think this is the first sign that I am getting old - I want to make things from scratch !!)

ennisa

Record are pretty much the most popular woodworking vice company, that I know of, there are others but a decent record should last a life time, you are talking about €80-€100 euro for a good one. Not sure where in Cork would stock them but I would imagine that any good hardware store would have a couple to choose from. In the meantime the one in lidl might do the job. You will probably find though that the casting is not great or that if flexes or the quick release is not great. When it comes to aldi and lidl I have bought tools etc.. there but I have never been really happy with them and they never live up to what they are supposed to deliver. But that is what you get for the price you pay.

quigo

I bought two record vices of ebay for £15 each but the postage was expensive.

Try to see if any schools are refurbishing or closing down their woodwork rooms. The kit they remove can go cheaply.

On the more expensive end of the scale there is this crowd
http://www.toolsireland.com/xcart/product.php?productid=51641&cat=817&page=3

very pricey.... I'd say second hand will be your best bet.

SpitfireIV

quigo wrote: »

I bought two record vices of ebay for £15 each but the postage was expensive.

Try to see if any schools are refurbishing or closing down their woodwork rooms. The kit they remove can go cheaply.

On the more expensive end of the scale there is this crowd
http://www.toolsireland.com/xcart/product.php?productid=51641&cat=817&page=3

very pricey.... I'd say second hand will be your best bet.

When I think back now, I remember the store at the back of our woodwork room, and under the timber racks was two or three big cardboard boxes full of the old wood planes (molding planes, hand routers, smoothing, jack, fore etc etc), plane parts and a load of bench vices!! I bet if I had of asked the woodwork teacher he would have given me a few, damn my quietness!!

To the topic on hand, I got a 9" bench vice off Rutlands, they were having a sale at the time so I got it a little cheaper, damn heavy thing and surprisingly the postage was fairly cheap, about €15 (standard shipping to Ireland), considering the weight of the vice and other bits I got that day, big sash clamps and all.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/work-holding/vices---bench/DK2020/9%22-quick-release-vice
There ya're, £35, its a copy of the Record vice I believe.

Failing that try a few local markets, you might get lucky.

ttm

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

When I think back now, I remember the store at the back of our woodwork room, and under the timber racks was two or three big cardboard boxes full of the old wood planes (molding planes, hand routers, smoothing, jack, fore etc etc), plane parts and a load of bench vices!! I bet if I had of asked the woodwork teacher he would have given me a few, damn my quietness!!

To the topic on hand, I got a 9" bench vice off Rutlands, they were having a sale at the time so I got it a little cheaper, damn heavy thing and surprisingly the postage was fairly cheap, about €15 (standard shipping to Ireland), considering the weight of the vice and other bits I got that day, big sash clamps and all.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/work-holding/vices---bench/DK2020/9%22-quick-release-vice
There ya're, £35, its a copy of the Record vice I believe.

Failing that try a few local markets, you might get lucky.

That rutland one looks a good deal, not as good as a Record 52-1/2ED but for the price and that postage you'd have to go a long way to beat it on price.

BUT I'd always try and have the vice BEFORE I built the bench and build the vice around the bench. Depending on the bench a record might be a bit tricky to fit - I have some setting instructions for every bench type somewhere I'll see if I can find them.

I found this which towards the end has a bit about fitting a record clone and the front vice. Nice bench

ttm

Nearly forgot, I should have asked what sort of woodworking do you do? If its all machine work and very little hand work then the traditional Record type vice may not be the most useful?

SpitfireIV

ttm wrote: »

That rutland one looks a good deal, not as good as a Record 52-1/2ED but for the price and that postage you'd have to go a long way to beat it on price.

BUT I'd always try and have the vice BEFORE I built the bench and build the vice around the bench. Depending on the bench a record might be a bit tricky to fit - I have some setting instructions for every bench type somewhere I'll see if I can find them.

I found this which towards the end has a bit about fitting a record clone and the front vice. Nice bench

Just as a side note also, that vice is damn heavy, as I'd image the Record would be, thus it needs a good, solid sturdy bench with a good thick top to be able to mount it too. If the bench is lite, narrow, or not bolted to a wall such a heavy vice may topple it over.

jaggiebunnet

Thanks for the advice guys, really appreciate it - that bench in the link above really puts my effort to shame though

ttm wrote: »

Nearly forgot, I should have asked what sort of woodworking do you do? If its all machine work and very little hand work then the traditional Record type vice may not be the most useful?

Going forward I am going to try and do a lot of hand work but there will obviously be machine work in there too for just general DIY tasks. Really will be a mixture of both I guess, I am not experienced enough to go one way or the other I don't think.

jaggiebunnet

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Just as a side note also, that vice is damn heavy, as I'd image the Record would be, thus it needs a good, solid sturdy bench with a good thick top to be able to mount it too. If the bench is lite, narrow, or not bolted to a wall such a heavy vice may topple it over.

That's a good point - as i said I made the bench out of old bits lying around, so the top is actually decking turned around to the flat side, seems solid enough but it would be a good idea to try and test this before hand.

ttm

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys, really appreciate it - that bench in the link above really puts my effort to shame though

Don't worry about it you have to build one bench to start with so you have a bench to build your next bench on . I still keep making new benches, recently found the most useful is my "assembly" bench just a 8x4 sheet of good 3/4 ply on a very low (2ft) 6x2 frame. I can make a complete ark type chicken run on it and slowly useful bench stops are getting bolted on here and there to make it more useful, problem is my assembly bench is now becomming my main work bench so might need to build another

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

Going forward I am going to try and do a lot of hand work but there will obviously be machine work in there too for just general DIY tasks. Really will be a mixture of both I guess, I am not experienced enough to go one way or the other I don't think.

Hand work - the Record type is what you need, so much so that some people put two on the same bench. Only other thing you really need for traditional work is a bench stop.

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

That's a good point - as i said I made the bench out of old bits lying around, so the top is actually decking turned around to the flat side, seems solid enough but it would be a good idea to try and test this before hand.

The off cuts of decking I'm hording for a project would be fine for making a bench that would take a Record type vice. You may need to add a bit something like 18 inches of scaffolding plank crossways under the bench to make it the right thinkness to take the vice but that will also strenghten the bench.

Alun

The Lidl vice is just a small engineering vice really, not a woodworking vice per se. I have one, and for what it is, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

ttm

As mentioned earlier I was looking for this http://www2.woodcraft.com/pdf/77A01.pdf for setting a Record vice plus a good link to vice stuff (sorry US but still handy - links on left are gooooood ).

As mentioned in the pdf the Record stuff is from the Scott Landis book The Workbench Book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Workbench-Book-Craftsmans-Workbenches-Woodworking/dp/1561582700/ which I'd 110% recommend and perhaps suitably priced to hint at for a Xmas/Birthday present :):) you won't be disapointed - had my copy about 20 years and still go back to it.

jaggiebunnet

ttm wrote: »

As mentioned earlier I was looking for this http://www2.woodcraft.com/pdf/77A01.pdf for setting a Record vice plus a good link to vice stuff (sorry US but still handy - links on left are gooooood ).

As mentioned in the pdf the Record stuff is from the Scott Landis book The Workbench Book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Workbench-Book-Craftsmans-Workbenches-Woodworking/dp/1561582700/ which I'd 110% recommend and perhaps suitably priced to hint at for a Xmas/Birthday present :):) you won't be disapointed - had my copy about 20 years and still go back to it.

That's brilliant - thanks ttm - lots for me to look at there and that book definitely is going on my Christmas list!

ttm

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

That's brilliant - thanks ttm - lots for me to look at there and that book definitely is going on my Christmas list!

In case there is any confusion and I can see someone asking how do I have a book for 20 years when it was only published a couple of years ago the copy I have is this one Taunton Press Inc (Oct 1987). Cover is very different but I'm 99% sure they are the same book pictures from the eBay lookinside are the same.

Also if you don't have any of them, richer relatives might like to buy you the set Workshop Classics [Box set] (Hardcover)

Hmmmmm havn't bought any good books in a while ...... looks for credit card

btw if you didn't check it out earlier the http://www.workbenchdesign.net/index.html really is worth a look, cheaper than a book and I can't believe I haven't seen it before.

@Alun I also took a look at the Lidl vice and neeeeeeearly bought one, engineering vice yes, but also quite handy to hold a lenght of timber when power plaining or similar, but then I though two would be nice one for each end of the timber to hold it well and to keep the levels but finally decided Lidl have had two much of my money recently and promptly bought two office there chairs instead. LOL LIDL Office Chairs the instructions say ......unsuitable for commercial purposes???

recordhandplane

ennisa wrote: »

Record are pretty much the most popular woodworking vice company, that I know of, there are others but a decent record should last a life time, you are talking about €80-€100 euro for a good one. Not sure where in Cork would stock them but I would imagine that any good hardware store would have a couple to choose from. In the meantime the one in lidl might do the job. You will probably find though that the casting is not great or that if flexes or the quick release is not great. When it comes to aldi and lidl I have bought tools etc.. there but I have never been really happy with them and they never live up to what they are supposed to deliver. But that is what you get for the price you pay.

Record (C & J. Hampton) made the best woodworkers bench vice but now that they are cast in China under the Irwin name they have lost a lot of there quality. If you can pick-up a good second Record vice you will have a great vice. But I am not bias not half as I have a web site on Record Tools
Regards
David
www.recordhandplanes.com