Use a straightedge to ensure the face of the jaw is flush with the edge of the bench. Fitting a woodworking vise key can hold and support both small and large pieces of wood because of its durable metal construction and wide jaws. It is for holding a variety of objects and materials, which includes square and rectangular-shaped workpieces. Glue the block to a hooked standoff that registers against the edge of your bench as shown in the photo. Shift the top if necessary to accommodate the vise.

Home Articles Installing a Bench Vise. This article is from Issue 41 of Woodcraft Magazine. Vises provide the muscle for securing workpieces for planing, sawing, routing, and other tooling operations. Similar vises may differ in features, but attachment is similar. The first is a simple approach, perfectly appropriate for an end vise application. The second involves recessing the rear jaw flush with the edge of the bench. This is the best approach for a face vise, because the entire length of a board secured for edge work will contact the bench edge for support and additional clamping, as shown in the photo above.

Regardless of the type of mounting, have your vise s in hand before you start so you can determine the size of the spacers, jaws, and hardware needed for Fitting A Woodworking Bench Vise Map a trouble-free installation. Face vises are attached on the front, or face, of the bench; end vises are installed on the end. Southpaws will want to do the opposite. Shift the top if necessary to accommodate the vise. Because a face vise is used for general work as well as for planing edges, I recommend investing in a larger vise at least 10".

The easiest installation entails making spacer blocks to set the tops of the metal jaws below the bench surface while screwing the vise to the underside of a bench. To begin, drive the roll pin from the end of the vise screw, remove the connecting bracket and the front jaw, and then degrease the vise of its protective coating. To determine the thickness of your spacer blocks, place the rear jaw upside down on the inverted benchtop and measure how much the top of the jaw projects beyond the underside.

The former is necessary for better dog height on the smaller vise. Countersink the holes in the rear jaw Photo A , and then attach the rear cheek with flathead wood screws and the front cheek with roundhead screws and washers. Make your spacer block s. Use two for an end vise to provide dog clearance.

Plane them to your determined thickness, and size them in length and width to suit the mounting hole surfaces on the rear jaw bracket, as shown in Photo B. Sandwich the blocks between the bracket and the bench, trace the locations of the mounting holes, and drill clearance holes through the spacers.

Reattach the connecting bracket, washer, and roll pin. After turning the benchtop upright, hand-plane the tops of the wooden cheeks flush to the benchtop. Because most vises include an integral dog, it makes sense to incorporate a row of dog holes into your benchtop.

Glue the block to a hooked standoff that registers against the edge of your bench as shown in the photo. Make sure to align the hole with the dog on your vise. Draw a centerline down the rear face of the block for positioning reference. Use a square to lay out the dog hole locations on the bench, spacing them 6" apart starting from the end of the bench.

Guide a circular saw along a secured straightedge to rip the length of the notch up to the crosscut. A flush-mounted face vise offers the most versatility, but it requires more work to install. As with the previous method, handling is easier with the vise disassembled. First, lay out the notch in the benchtop. Its length should be the width of the jaw plus 1". Make the crosscut into the benchtop edge with a backsaw. Then clamp a straightedge to the bench to guide a circular saw to cut the length of the notch.

Rip the notch until you intersect the previous crosscut Photo C , and then finish up with a handsaw. Attach the rear cheek with 10 flathead woodscrews after countersinking the holes in the jaw. Center the block along the width of the notch, with the edges of each aligned flush at the front. Clamp the block in place, and then attach it to the benchtop with lag screws and washers, as shown in Photo D.

To make the wooden cheek for the rear jaw, first measure the thickness of the jaw. Crosscut the piece and bandsaw the interior to make the U-shaped cheek filler. Then crosscut it to fit the benchtop notch. Countersink the holes on the rear jaw and attach the cheek as shown in Photo F. Position the vise on the spacer block with the cheek nestled in its notch.

Mark and drill pilot holes, and attach the vise with washers and lag bolts Photo G. Use a straightedge to ensure the face of the jaw is flush with the edge of the bench. Make the front cheek, and attach it with washers and roundhead woodscrews, reassemble the vise, and turn the benchtop over. Hand-plane the cheeks flush with the benchtop Photo H. My bench had radiused edges, so I chiseled away the sharp point at the corner of the cheek.

A metal-jaw vise is ready to go right out of the box. A wood-jaw vise requires assembly. Make your own jaws and turn a handle of any length or buy one. The front of the bench doubles as the upper half of the rear jaw. Squeeze the lever on this quick-release mechanism to slide the front jaw in or out. We prefer this type of quick release.

Reverse the handle one-half turn for another type of quick release. This action releases the nut. To engage the nut, turn the handle clockwise. One metal-jaw and two wood-jaw vises have this feature.

Hold a board on top of the bench with a vise dog. All metal-jaw vises come with dogs. Make your own dog hole in a wood-jaw vise. Large-diameter handles are comfortable to grip. Long metal-rod handles give you more leverage and a more sensitive adjustment below, right. We find short metal-rod handles or those with capscrew ends below, left less comfortable.

Raise up the pivoting jaw to make a huge dog. You can place your workpiece very close to the screw, minimizing side-to-side racking. The channel also protects the screw from Wilton 10 Woodworking Vise Keyboard damage. A and D.

Some amount of racking is present in every vise, but some suffer more than others. Vise manufacturers have two tricks up their sleeves to combat racking Figs.

B and E. Just as good are the solutions that woodworkers have used since the days of sloppy fitting all-wood vises Figs. C and F. Product Recommendations Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.

By American Woodworker Editors. In American Woodworker Blog. All About Vises Add clamping power to your workbench. Features Vises are built to last. A: The Problem Fig. C: The Shop Solution Fig. D: The Problem Fig. Types of Handles Large-diameter handles are comfortable to Eclipse 10 Woodworking Vise Key grip.

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