Reply To: I need a vise
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The vise is one of your most important tools. If you cannot hold your work, you cannot do your work. I tried faking without a vice using various wedges, etc., and wasting my money on benchtop gizmos, none of which do the job. You go in and out of the vice so many times, it just needs to be quick and easy. It is also a matter of safety for work using chisels. Finally, we agonize over tool costs, but if you look at how much wood costs, you will realize that if you cannot afford a vice, you cannot afford to buy your wood. Get a real vice and use it to make small items until you’ve saved enough money to buy more wood for larger projects again.
You have two basic choices, the Jorgensen style vice and the Record style vice. The former has a quick release in which you spin the bar a partial turn in one direction to release the vice and then pull the jaw open and closed. Spin the bar the other direction and it re-engages and screws tight. You *cannot* use the screw to open the vice a bit to adjust. The record has a squeeze lever to release the vice. You must hold it to slide the vice open and closed. You *can* use the screw to move the vice both open and closed. I’ve used both vices. Both work. The Jorgensen is faster and may be better if you have small hands that cannot reach over to the release easily, but it does have the issue of not being able to be “unscrewed.” I would not hesitate to buy one, but I prefer the Record style because my hands are big enough and I like to be able to “open a little’ at times.
In my opinion, you want the largest vice you can manage that is still small enough to let you put a typical drawer or carcase into. This last requirement rules out many of the fancy vices you see on the market that have really long faces or have multiple guide bars. If the face is too big, and especially if there is more than one guide bar, it is hard to get a bottomless drawer into the vice without using extra clamps. (At least, I’ve been frustrated in this regard when using another person’s bench with such a vice.)
I bought the 10″ at Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/product/152635/eclipse-10-quick-release-vise.aspx) and ordered it at the store to avoid shipping charges.. It is a Record style 10″ vice and currently is about $160. Finding a real Record was too expensive and impossible. For me, I would not buy the Veritas QR _front_ vice because of the double guide bar. Instead, I’d consider the QR Steel _Bench_ vise (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=49980&cat=1,41659 ). Again, I’d get the 10″ if your bench will accommodate it. The Lee Valley vise is a Jorgensen style vise and I think is the vise we used in Paul’s class in NY.
So, in a nutshell, my advise is the 10″ Eclipse if you want a Record style vise and the 10” Lee Valley steel bench vise if you want a Jorgensen style. If you worry about your hands being large enough or strong enough to manipulate the release lever on a Record style, then consider the Jorgensen style strongly. I would not buy a vise without a QR of some kind.
To elaborate on the hand size thing…You cannot see it in the Eclipse photo in the link I gave, but there is a lever below and to the right of the main screw that you squeeze towards the screw to release the vise. I use it by draping my right thumb over the screw and my fingers over the QR lever and squeezing them together. I’d guess that the typical male hand will work, by design, but if your hand is on the small size or not strong, you may not be able to reach or squeeze and you *absolutely* must be able to do this one-handed because your other hand is holding your work in the un-tightened vise. I can’t decide if left hand vs. right hand matters.
I’ve randomly spelled vice or vise. Sue me. 🙂
- This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by Ed.