Woodworkers Bench Face Vise

[Michael E. Smith]

I have been trying to decide what type of face vise that I want to install on my workbench. I have been looking at the Jorgensen # 41012 10"
face vice.But was wondering if anyone has used the Rockler 12" End vice (#37180) as a face vice? I have spent a years worth of time on this project and don't want to make a mistake and try to install the wrong face vise. By the way my top is 4 inches thick so no matter what I am going to have to plow out the bottom to mount what ever I use.

[glenn bradley]

Dad has that one and has recently begun to admit his mistake. He kept asking my opinion but, when my recommendations kept NOT including this vise he just kept trying to talk me into how nice it was. He finally bought one a year or so ago and has never really been happy with it. It has taken him until recently to admit his dislike for the vise. If you like to control your vice in both directions, you may not care for this one either. I prefer the lever release function in a QR vise but, that's just me.

I like to be able to back my vise off just a bit to readjust my work. Some reverse-to-unlock mechanisms allow this to a point. The Rockler seems to just 'pop' loose from a tensioned position. I believe this is due to the slop in the mechanism; you can back the handle off but the threads don't engage. Once they do they toggle the half-nut and . . . pop. The QR mechanism is also not covered and must be blown out frequently to avoid jams in the mechanism. I was steering him toward the Wiltons so you may want to take a look at the 79A or the 63144. All that being said, for my next vise selections, I will not bother with the QR feature as I do not use it much in practice. I have been happy in the past with both vise hardware (like the Rockler) or a vise (like the Jorgie) with wooden faces added.

[Michael W. Clark]

I agree with Glen about the QR function. I have vise hardware with wooden faces. If I had to do it again, I would buy nicer vice hardware (tighter tolerance for less racking), or a record vise, or wilton. I would also add a tail vise. I've started doing more hand planing and this would be better than the end vise I have across the entire end of the bench. I hardly ever use the end vise, but it could be useful to you depending on your work habits.

[Jim Stewart]

I just replaced my Jorgensen vice with a Eclipse which is made with the old Record molds. Very good vise. These are available at several places. Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Highland hardware. I love the new 10" Eclipse that I just installed. It is tight. No racking. Jim

[Michael E. Smith]

I do have an end vise already installed. It is from Benchcrafted. It was not easy to install and It took me a good three or four times and a liitle extra help to get the job done. But it was worth it.It is a very good vise. I highly recommend it. I am leaning towards the Eclipse because of the fact that it is made from the old Record molds. From what I have read it was a very good vise. I think the Wilton would be good as well but I don't think I could get it mounted without a lot of problems for the fact that I have a 4" thick top. I built it out of Oak and Maple with Walnut trim.

[Jim Stewart]

Michael, The Eclipse was easy to install. It assumes a very thick bench. My bench of Maple and Beech is three inches thick. I used a piece of 3/4" plywood as a spacer underneath my bench and it came out that the top of the vise was about 1/16" below the grade of the bench. I considered that perfect. I don't remember the plywood actual thickness but it was a scrap of high grade 5-ply plywood left over from an old cabinet. The Eclipse that i have has a retractable dog that when retracted was close to 1/2" about grade. I just cut that dog off flush with a sawsall and filed it down smooth. I don't have dog holes in my bench but should I decide to go that route I still have enough to use the vise benchdog if I put the dog in the up position. Jim ps woodcraft has a $10 off coupon on their website now which makes it $149 I think.

[Michael E. Smith]

Thanks Jim, I think you have talked me into the Eclipse. I have spent a lot of time and sweat, and a few bucks on this bench. So I want to put the right vise on it. I don't know if you can post pictures on here, but if so I might do that.

[Andrew Joiner]

I like to be able to back my vise off just a bit to readjust my work. Some reverse-to-unlock mechanisms allow this to a point. .

I like this in a vise like Glenn. I have the Jorgensen # 41012 and it does this fine. It's a well made,solid vise. Mine is 2 years old and made in the USA. Jorgensen has been switching some production to China so you may want to verify the vises origin.
I have an 40 year old USA made Craftsman quick release I use for an end vise now. It works fine ,but not as quite as precise as the Jorgensen.

[Dave Burson]

Michael, The Eclipse was easy to install. It assumes a very thick bench. My bench of Maple and Beech is three inches thick. I used a piece of 3/4" plywood as a spacer underneath my bench and it came out that the top of the vise was about 1/16" below the grade of the bench. I considered that perfect. I don't remember the plywood actual thickness but it was a scrap of high grade 5-ply plywood left over from an old cabinet. The Eclipse that i have has a retractable dog that when retracted was close to 1/2" about grade. I just cut that dog off flush with a sawsall and filed it down smooth. I don't have dog holes in my bench but should I decide to go that route I still have enough to use the vise benchdog if I put the dog in the up position. Jim ps woodcraft has a $10 off coupon on their website now which makes it $149 I think.

are you having any racking issues with that eclipse Jim?