Creative woodworking workbench vise

[John Petsche]

I am looking at building a workbench and looking at a less expensive version for a vise. I came across this website and saw this pony clamp version being used as a vise and wondered why i don't see more of these used on benches. Has anyone used this type of vise and what pros an cons are there. Please use the link below to view the vise/workbench. http://www.blumtool.com/pages/fullsizeworkbenches.html

[Larry Browning]

I have never seen that idea. It looks pretty cool to me. I would think I would want to have that in addition to a traditional vise. Maybe as a tail vise. Very interesting.

[Ben Hatcher]

Looks interesting. I wonder how easy it is to access the releases to slide the clamp bars in and out for holding larger pieces.

[Eric DeSilva]

Those benchtops don't seem cheap... Or should I assume you are trying to make one yourself? Their design seems interesting, but could be expensive to execute and get right--brass bushings with steel rod inserts, pre-drilled with holes for adjustment pins, spring loaded pins... You might be able to do something with pipe clamps, but I think I'd want to rethink their QR design if I was doing it myself. This sort of highlights the drawback--pipe/cabinet clamps don't seem to have a long throw for the actual crank adjustment (final tightening), and rely on some slide/lock mechanism for gross positioning. You'd need to figure out how to make that work in a convenient way on a bench.

[Steve Kohn]

I used a similar idea on my TS outfeed table/workbench/downdraft sanding table. I simply drilled a couple of holes in the pipe and mounted them to the underside of the top. It only gives you the adjustment of the threaded portion of the clamp but with bench dogs that fit into the many holes of the sanding table I haven't had a problem yet.

[Brian Loucks]

I have had a similar vise for many years. Nothing fancy underneath, just 2 ft long pipe clamps mounted thru holes in a couple of pieces of oak 2 x 4. I used a piece of oak 2 x 4 as the front piece. Works great and the price was right. I just reach under the front of the bench to unlock. No big deal.