Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

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BillK
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Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

As previously mentioned, I'm building a new workbench for woodworking from a solid maple table top that I'm recycling.

I'm making a tail vise for the bench, following along with one I saw in Fine Woodworking magazine. I wanted something a little fancier for the vise front, still had some of that spalted curly sugar maple from the woods of Maine, so off to Aspire I went.

This piece is 4.5 high, 18.25 long and 1.5" thick. With all the curly flames in this wood, I decided to add waves similar to what I did on the previous plane box post. This time and for the first time I used the Create Vector Texture tool to generate a sine wave instead of drawing ones from curves. Cool tool, thanks Vectric.

Here are some photos, from board to oiled part. CXK is my logo. The large dovetails will attach this part to the chop.

Thanks for your time!
the board in my shark
the board in my shark
after carving
after carving
after oiling
after oiling
left
left
right
right
different light
different light
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mtylerfl
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by mtylerfl »

Wow - Fancy!!
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scubanimal
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by scubanimal »

Very Cool, not something you see everyday. Hope you'll post a pic once its fully assembled.

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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

Thank you both! And yes, I’ll keep post under this topic as I complete this.
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scottp55
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by scottp55 »

Wow!!
You're certainly getting a lot of mileage out of that $10 board Bill!! :)
Haven't seen too many boards with such tight Curl with spalt for special effect.
NICE when I see a board so Figured that there's a Brain/Eye disconnect...and you HAVE to run your fingers across it just to KNOW it's a smooth surface! :D

Even without your logo...It's going to be a "Signature"...and don't think very many people will ask you which store carries this bench!! :D :D
Good thing you went oil finish..so many people will be touching it, you'll have a hand rubbed finish without touching it yourself:)
NICE touch on a piece that will last generations ! :) :)
Well Done Bill!
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by WNC_Ed »

That looks amazing!
Hopefully you will share pictures as you progress!
Thank you for sharing & congrats!
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

Thanks Scott, Thanks Ed. I really do appreciate it.

Started working on the chop. My set up to cut the pins for the dovetail. 10" laminated block. A few gaps showed up that I'll fill in with some tinted CA glue. But how do you cut in the end of a 10" block when your max Z is 5"?

Here's how I do it on my Shark:
parts for my jig
parts for my jig
set up in place. I indicate the front parallel to X. The rest is just with a square afterwards.
set up in place. I indicate the front parallel to X. The rest is just with a square afterwards.
The next part you can skip if you have a dust quota to maintain or have an investment position in router bit makers :lol:

I cut the end to check the fit, the circles a for forstner bits to clear out most of the waste with shavings instead of dust.
chop3.jpg
chop4.jpg
Good glue fit
chop5.jpg
A little more fitting to do, but coming along for sure. Have toCarve the chop a little then the top plate, laminate it all together and add the dog holes.
chop6.jpg
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

I finished the assembly on this today. Next is drilling the dog holes in the vise and the bench.

This is the first tail vise I've done. Thought it might me interesting for some to see some of the innards of this in case you want to give this a try sometime.
fbv1.jpg
This is the back. As you can see, this is built up of many blocks laminated together. The screw goes through the hole and then travels in the cavity. The green bars on the top and bottom have a groove machined in them. (This hardware is from Woodcraft if you're interested, small tail vise)
i
i
This black plate gets bolted to the bench and the green bar is riding on the top and bottom. You need to cut a groove on top so you can slide the assembly on. You also need to put a relief hole behind the "nut" for the screw as a bolt head sticks out there.
fbv3.jpg
The top bar sits in a rabbit, so you need to add a top plate. This is it glued and clamped up. Leave a little extra thickness to plane off flush with the bench top.
fbv4.jpg
This is everything planed flush and oiled up. Besides the front the other wood parts are significant to me. The inner boards are from my late parents bedroom furniture which as maple. The outer boards are from my wife's late uncle, also a wood worker, from his left over stock.
fbv5.jpg
I was going to CNC the the chop, but the quilted maple was beautiful by it self and since this is a hand tool bench, I put the chamfers and radius in with a Stanley No. 4 smoother.
fbv6.jpg
Top plate is also curly maple.
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

Guess I'll sweep up now. Drilling dog holes next.
fbv7.jpg
Thanks for checking it out
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by mtylerfl »

Awesome!
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by scottp55 »

Coming along Beautifully Bill!! :) :)
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

Thank you Michael and Scott!

Well I finished drilling (9) 3/4" holes spaced 6" apart through 3 1/2" thick maple and (4) 3/4" holes spaced 4" apart through 4" of tail vise maple. That's 47 1/2 inches of Maple. The forstner bit got me about 3 1/4" down so I finished off with a bit and brace by hand. So drilling through 4 feet of Maple is fun.
holes1.jpg
holes2.jpg

Pretty much done with the top for now, onto the base. Wasn't going to do any more carving until I thought about the front vise and I saw this:
frontvise.jpg
some one said the old timers wouldn't want so much decoration on a tool. Hmmm.

Thanks!
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by gordread »

Wow. This is fantastic. I good workbench is something I still don't have in my shop after 15 years.

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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by BillK »

Thanks Gord!

So I was going to just make knobs for the ends of the vise handle, but then I though about the use of it. This is not a quick release vise, so if you have one like that you know there is a lot of cranking, spinning the handle like a baton to get it open or closed. This is what I came up with. Fun to use, also made out of a curly maple piece of firewood. Eventhough this protrudes past the surface of the bench, I don't think it will bother anything in operation. The other end will have a small knob, so If I'm laying a long board on the bench and not using the tail vise it will be out of the way. I'm willing to experiment to see.

Used the two rail sweep tool here.
handle1.jpg
handle2.jpg
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Re: Is it a vice to want a nice vise?

Post by scottp55 »

Sweet, useful, and made out of firewood! :) :)
It just keeps getting better and more personalized all the time Bill!!
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