Advice on vises
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Hello, I am very new to this forum and woodworking. I was wondering what are the best vises to use? I am planning to build a workbench based on Paul’s design, but don’t have any idea what even to look for in a good vise. I am thinking I want to pay about $300 to $400 for both, previsioned for bench dogs.
Walter you should be able to get a good vice for that amount. I picked up one at an antique store for $25 and it works great. As far as brand names, I couldn’t say which would be better. The first one I put on my bench had a lot of flex in it. I was not happy at all. I’ve heard people say that they like the vise to be at least 7″ long. Mine is a little less than that but works fine for me. So I could only suggest making sure you get one that is hefty enough to clamp down and not flex.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Walter, you say 300 to 400 for both vice and bench but you didn’t say how much for each. I built my bench (small 4 ft long) out of 2×4. Total was about $50-75 for the wood and I put a medium steel vice on my bench purchased at Lee Valley, cost was around 130. If I were to do it all over I’d go with a 5 foot bench and the large steel vice they sell which is around 40 dollars more. After using the medium vice I think the larger jaws would be a positive step.
-Canada
I agree with @dave I bought the large vise and a friend bought the medium one from leevalley http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=49980&cat=1,41659 and he’s regretted it. The 15″ opening is AWESOME!! And for such a long term investment, it’s worth the extra $20.
Cheers!
@mexiquite, wanna trade vices? 😉
It’s not that the medium is a bad vice, I’ve pounded the heck out of and it’s still going strong but that extra jaw opening would have come in handy many times.
-Canada
I would like to say I built Paul’s style of bench with nothing more than Home Depot 2 X 4’s and incorporated a Record 52 1/2 Vise in it which I have had for 25 -30 years and never really used it. What a mistake that was, I love Pauls’s bench and the vice, you will not in my opinion find a better combination. Also the 38″ + height is a real back saver and for me is very comfortable, I am 5′ 11″ with a bad back.
Steve
Steve Massie, I live in the great State of Florida, US
Thanks for all the great advice everyone. Also I am glad you mentioned the height of the bench. I wasn’t thinking to make it that high but now it looks like I better put more thought into that as well.
Well, I am planning to buy lumber at Home Depot this weekend. It seems like one of my best options might be Yellow Pine. Does that seem like it would be good? Better than whitewood? I am not really sure what whitewood is.
Also, I have been looking at a Jorgensen 41012 because it is relatively inexpensive for a front vise. Any thoughts?
I plan to put a tail vise on later, but I am thinking I will just get the hardware for that and build it out myself.
I’m not sure what whitewood is either, is it regular construction grade 2×4’s?
Can’t help out on the vice as I’ve never used one.
-Canada
Yep – they sell it as regular construction kiln dried 2X4 lumber. I like the yellow pine better though – mostly because I am more families with it and think it will look nice.
I have never used a vise before either – or at least not a woodworking one. I was pretty much taken aback at how much they want for them.
Waltnutt, yeah the most expensive part of a bench is the vice unless you have luck and find a used one locally. The pine you are referring to is probably the same stuff we have up here. It is very soft, although knot free it may be too soft for the given application. The whitewood is probably what we call SPF (Spruce Pine Fir) and construction grade. It is very good for a workbench as it is much harder than the select pine but it does have knots, they can easily be worked around however. Although the pine looks nice it may be on the soft side.
From experience, I’d put the money into SPF 2×4 and a large metal bench vice.
-Canada
Ok, so I talked to the pro-desk at Home Depot here in Magnolia TX. They said the “whitewood” is just fir wood (at least down here in South TX). It is a little softer than the yellow pine they carry, but it is a lot cleaner and straighter. He actually highly recommended it over the pine which surprised me because I figured he would think a workbench should be hard wood. He is correct in that the wood does look a lot straighter. They are the same price. I am thinking I might go with that, but am a little worried that it might be a little too soft.
Waltnutt, I guess we are in lumber limbo 🙂 , I have no idea what kind of wood you are looking at, up here, Douglas Fir is a much different wood to pine and is a good wood for a work bench. It’s not softer than pine.
It’s likely you are dealing with a different species of fir than what I am familiar with. I’d just go with what you want, if its construction grade lumber it’ll work just fine I’m sure.
-Canada
Isn’t whitewood just a mish-mash of various low grade pines? Regardless, I have used some of those 2×4’s and they are fine.
Whitewood is typically an S-P-F product. Stands for spruce-pine-fir. It could be any of those woods depending on local availability. For 2×4 it seems that the whitewood boards are consistently straighter.
If you want to use yellow pine I’d recommend looking at the wider boards (2×6, 2×8, 2×10, 2×12) because they are typically a little better quality. I made my bench top out of 2×8 ripped down. The yellow pine 2×4 selection was horrendous.
If you’re worried about spf being too soft you can always top with a hardened sheet good. I think that’s what Paul has on top of the bench he uses in the videos.
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