Quick bench

[Tom Godley]

Last year I picked up Jorgensen 41012 in anticipation of making a workbench and then the opportunity came up to take a class where we made proper maple benches with both a shoulder vise and a face vice - I went with the twin screw LV.

So I had the 41012 vice and I picked up that small end/face vice from Peachtree that was two for one two weeks ago. I also noticed that Rockler had a set of bench legs on sale (37535) around the same time. I spent a couple of hours out in the shop today putting the legs together and planning the top and vice layout.

This kit exceeded my expectations. The maple is both high quality and milled beautifully and the hardware heavy duty. It went together is a snap and is very heavy and unbelievably ridged.

A few people have asked about buying a bench - these legs are nicer than the legs on most I have seen. I am going to go the quick and easy route on this and use a maple butcher block top and band it so I can have the front vice flush with the face. I have a maple top company not to far away that I was told sells cosmetic seconds -- hope this is correct. For someone looking for a quick bench this IMO is a good way to go.

[John Jendro]

Tom a couple of quick questions. Do you have all three vises on your bench?
If you did go with the twin screw for the face vise. How do you like it?

John

[Tom Godley]

Sorry for the confusion:

My original plan was to build a bench using the Jorgensen vice - so I ordered one. Just before my bench class started I talked with the instructor about wanting to use the bench for dovetailing so we substituted the larger LV Twin Screw vice - using it as a face vice on the left side of the bench. So that bench has two vises - the LV and a shoulder vise with a German carriage on the right. I ordered the larger of the two vices because I was not sure what size I really wanted or needed -- my bench ended up being 7 1/2 feet long so I had the room for the 24" vice. You can make the vise narrower by removing links from the chain and cutting the center cover section -- some in the class did this. I have found no problems with the larger vice clamping smaller stock

I had the Jorgensen left over from that project --- that and the opportunity to purchase the Peachtree vice for 1/2 price demanded a second bench! I am going to use the Jorgensen as the left side face and the Peachtree as an end vise on the right -- once I get it all figured out!

The LV Twin Screw is nicely designed, of heavy duty construction and surprisingly straightforward to install - it is made in Canada. Having the chain positioned in the front made the initial adjustment very easy - it is all hidden by a three section metal cover. The other widely available twin is the LN -- They previously outsourced the vise -- now the literature indicates that they make this hardware in house. My only experience was with the old hardware and found it to be of high quality -- I am sure that the current stuff is also. The LN hardware has the chain mortised into the front vice block - quite elegant but a lot more work - they do sell a front block pre mortised $$.

The LV is a very nice vice -- at half the price of the LN. I'm not sure the latter is worth the extra money. This is only my opinion, as I said I have not seen the new product. Honestly, the LV is overkill. If you decide to go with one make sure you have the vice before you start the bench - so that you build in the proper clearances

[John Jendro]

Thanks Tom,

I have a Twin-screw and a Jorgie. I was planning on putting the twin-screw on the end of the bench, but since the bench is against the wall. I've been thinking of mounting it on the front and using the Jorgensen on the end.

John