Leg vise question

[Phil Stone]

Phil, I can't remember exactly which bit I used to drill the screw hole, but I do know that I cut it too close -- maybe I tried 1 1/8? There should be no contact at all between the screw and the leg, or else it won't run as smoothly as it should. I, too, used the Veritas screw. I ended up doing quite a bit of filing of the hole and refitting of the screw to get it to run smoothly. As long as the nut is held securely in the back of the leg, you can give yourself a little clearance with the screw hole.

[ian maybury]

Hi Brian. I think i must as my old primary school teacher used to say be a Philistine. (as opposed to a Neanderthal) It's a bit like the old tool versus new tool thing.

It's not that i can't see the beauty/attraction of an old style wooden screw like that. I can even appreciate that it does a perfectly acceptable job, and that it's mostly a case of getting used to its vagaries. (that it wobbles side to side, that using a strip of tapered wood on the floor as a spacer causes the chop to tip sideways and either twist or at least apply uneven pressure side to side of the jaw, that the bench has to be heavy enough and the floor flat enough that the chop can't rotate as a result of the friction from the collar under the screw, that the extra bit of friction isn't a big deal anyway, and that there may even be times when a bit of slop is useful when clamping tapered work and the like...)

I'm less keen on the loose handle - having spent years as a kid with blood blisters on my hands caused by getting skin pinched between the boss and the knobs at the end of the handles when a similar example of the latter dropped down on an old metalworking vise.

It's just that in my personal value system (and each to his/her own) i can't see the point in not going the extra 1/10 mile to install a criss cross or parallel and a hand wheel - and get everything lined up carefully so that it all works smoothly and predictably...

[Jason Lester]

I drilled mine 1 3/8" since that's what size bit I had. It seems to work fine.

[Phil Mueller]

Ian, can't argue with you. It's just that that extra 1/10 mile is the difference between $40 and $300....well over my bench budget. If I find this set up frustrating, I can always upgrade.

[Prashun Patel]

And its not 1/10 mile. Imho its less of a marginal improvement. i had the idea to add a proper guide to mine, and i have never felt it would improve things. The vise does not spin. Its heavy enough to stay true.

phil, adding a bell and whistle lower guide after the fact is always possible. Your instinct and plan in this case is not a bad one.

Ian, i respect your posts and have learned a great deal from your knowledge, but on the leg vise, i humbly suggest u try it this way before suggesting its not optimized for the things the average leg vise user would want. Benchcrafted and other proponents of those great guides may be creating a false perception that without the bells and whistles, performance suffers.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hi Brian. I think i must as my old primary school teacher used to say be a Philistine. (as opposed to a Neanderthal) It's a bit like the old tool versus new tool thing.

It's not that i can't see the beauty/attraction of an old style wooden screw like that. I can even appreciate that it does a perfectly acceptable job, and that it's mostly a case of getting used to its vagaries. (that it wobbles side to side, that using a strip of tapered wood on the floor as a spacer causes the chop to tip sideways and either twist or at least apply uneven pressure side to side of the jaw, that the bench has to be heavy enough and the floor flat enough that the chop can't rotate as a result of the friction from the collar under the screw, that the extra bit of friction isn't a big deal anyway, and that there may even be times when a bit of slop is useful when clamping tapered work and the like...)

I'm less keen on the loose handle - having spent years as a kid with blood blisters on my hands caused by getting skin pinched between the boss and the knobs at the end of the handles when a similar example of the latter dropped down on an old metalworking vise.

It's just that in my personal value system (and each to his/her own) i can't see the point in not going the extra 1/10 mile to install a criss cross or parallel and a hand wheel - and get everything lined up carefully so that it all works smoothly and predictably...

This is not from personal experience, but from what I have gathered from others;

Some prefer this method because they can choose a pinch clamp or bias the clamp to hold tapered objects.

[ian maybury]

Hi Phil. Sorry if i seemed to be negative about one or other approach, i didn't mean to be. It really is a horses for courses sort of deal. I certainly wasn't suggesting that everybody rush off and buy the Benchcrafted kit - it's very nicely made, but boy is it expensive.

It's beyond my budget too. I for example couldn't resist buying a crisscross on its own (although a wooden parallel would have done fine), but all of the rest of the hardware i've prepped for my own bench is DIY - built from modified parts pilfered from a face vise, and various bits of industrial scrap. That's a leg vise, and a wagon vise. A friend did a little milling for me. The handwheel was bought from a tooling supply place. Hopefully it'll work out OK.

What i guess i was pointing at more is that it's possible to DIY build in many of the features that give the BC its ease of operation. Perhaps because my personal instinct is typically to head off down that sort of route.

An engineering conditioned background means I hate to give away precision, because while it may eliminate a certain versatility in the finished item it tends to mean that it does a better job on those tasks it's optimised for. I'll usually trade time for money in this regard - although if you are working commercially that may not be a great option either. It's relatively easy for example to buy or dig up a block of 3/4in acetal or UHMW on the cheap (mine came from the scrap bin of a toolmaking outfit), and the rest is labour. (setting it in the face of the bench leg)

It's clear Brian that there will be situations where lots of clearance may be very useful - no question. So some will prefer a looser set up. I've not yet used a leg vise, so at this stage my actions are truly down to the instinct mentioned above...

[Phil Mueller]

Ian, didn't take it that way at all. I enjoy this forum because I can get a good variety of input. I appreciate the time you put into your posts.
Phil

[ian maybury]

Spot on Phil, not always sure since i don't really speak American...