Leg Vise - Will This Work?

[Clay Zimmer]

<p>
I will be building a new workbench soon and I have been thinking about workholding. I have never used a leg vise before but I believe the idea behind the pin/parallel guide is to lock the lower part of the vise to act as a fulcrum and allow the top to close tight against your work? Could I use something like this http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/Pag...mp;cat=1,41659 along with a pipe mounted to the chop instead of the traditional guide and pin? I was thinking I could run a wire from the i hook on the base, through another one on the rear leg, and attach it to a foot operated pedal (similar to what is suggested on the Lee Valley site.) I am in my 20s so I am not opposed to stooping down every so often to change a pin. But it seems this could be even less work to build, cost less than a crisscross or chain mechanism, and have the small benefit of not needing to bend down to move the pin. Am I way off base? Thanks for entertaining my curiousity</p>

[Jim Ritter]

Here are my thoughts. Once the criss cross or the chain in installed little to nothing needs to be done ever. There is no fussing with each use. They just work. What you are suggesting will require some attention each time you use the vise, and possibly more than if you just used the pin.
the product you linked is designed to resist a pull force and the leg vise generates a push force easily #400 pounds or higher depending on where you place the screw and guide. I guess you could mount that clutch plate backwards so it might work but would need some thinking for the release.
Lets us know if you try it.
Jim

[Bill Houghton]

I have my grandfather's leg vise, which uses a screw even simpler* than this one:
70g0152s2.jpg
and a hardwood stick at the bottom of the jaw running through a hole in the bench leg, with a 20d nail through holes in the stick to set the bottom pivot point.

Setting the vise for a board takes an extra, oh, 15 seconds to put the nail through the hole. I'm experimenting with other vises at the moment, but if I wind up reinstalling Grandpa's vise, the extra steps will probably reduce my shop efficiency by maybe an hour for my remaining years in the shop.
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*There's no collar at the handle end, just a washer. When I opened the vise, I sometimes had to pull back with one hand.

[Don Dorn]

I have my grandfather's leg vise, which uses a screw even simpler* than this one:
70g0152s2.jpg
and a hardwood stick at the bottom of the jaw running through a hole in the bench leg, with a 20d nail through holes in the stick to set the bottom pivot point.

Setting the vise for a board takes an extra, oh, 15 seconds to put the nail through the hole. I'm experimenting with other vises at the moment, but if I wind up reinstalling Grandpa's vise, the extra steps will probably reduce my shop efficiency by maybe an hour for my remaining years in the shop.
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*There's no collar at the handle end, just a washer. When I opened the vise, I sometimes had to pull back with one hand.

While I gave up my leg vice years ago in favor of a Record style without regret, - in your case, I would definitely use my Grandfathers vise if I had it.

[Mark Gibney]

Clay, I'd also like to know how your system works.
If you go ahead and make a vise like you proposed, please come back here and let us know how it is.

[Clay Zimmer]

Jim, I would trust your thoughts re a leg vise above my own any day of the week. I wasn't opposed to the pin so I will probably take that route and get on with getting on, instead of tinkering on my vise. If I find it becomes a problem I guess you'll find yourself another customer. Thanks for the input.

Bill, so you're telling me you have to move a pin AND manually slide the chop back?! You poor, poor fellow. How do you manage to get anything done? ��

Mark, once I have the bench built I might revisit the idea. I'm guilty of enjoying tinkering as much as I do woodworking so I'm sure my curiosity won't let this one go. However, I will have a working leg vise before going down that rabbit hole. I will be sure to post an update if/when I give it a shot.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Clay,

Take a look at the Benchcrafted Criss Cross. It can be retrofitted to an existing leg vise and makes the vise a joy to work with. No bending, no adjusting when you go to a different size board. Well worth the price.

Cliff

[Prashun Patel]

If you're lazy (read, like me) you don't even need a pin. I use shims on the floor between the leg and the chop. I have 12 1/4" mdf shims wingnutted together. 90% of the time I have it shimmed to 1". I can handle between 1/2" and 1 1/2" with that. I did this as a temporary fix until I could get around to install a proper device. A couple years later, I still see no need. The bigger pain isn't stooping to pick up the shims every so often, it's stooping and having to tighten/untighten the vise handle. The preoccupation with and over-engineering of all the anti-racking devices really puzzles me.

[Mike Holbrook]

Derek Cohen offers some thoughts on vice jaws etc. http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...uideGuide.html
Derek built a bench relatvely recently and wrote about that challenge. Derek builds many tools himself and may be a good source of info. Derek used a chain system, developed by Jim Ritter (above), to handle slack in his vice. I have Jim’s chain system for my bench too. It is a relatively economic, reliable system for making a vice. Veritas’s tail vise screw is an economical way to get a reliable screw system, then all you need is wood. Bench Crafted came out with a “more economical” set of leg vice hardware not long ago, for their Classic Workbench.

[Bill Houghton]

Incidentally, Clay, straying from your question, but staying within the subject "leg vises": one of the reasons I don't have Grandpa's vise mounted on my bench at the moment is that he built it so that much of the pressure comes against the top of the bench, which is held to the legs with screws (he violated every danged modern Good Bench practice with that bench, which served him as a maker of furniture and kitchen remodels for much of his working years). The top tended to move back under pressure, so the actual clamping would be 1-1/2" below the benchtop. Consider bringing your rear jaw up to just below the benchtop - say, 1/8" to allow for wood movement, rather than creating the pressure against the benchtop.