In the new year I'll be building a workbench. That's not unusual except that this particular workbench will be forming part of a lengthy chapter within our book. 'The French Bench' (not the Roubo) is where the design will be based and I've come to a bit of a head...
Vices & Work Holding
Does Your Workbench Need A Vice?
Of the many types of woodworking vice that are available, few are more suited to the hand tool user than the traditional variants.
For the face vice give some thought to a leg vice, or the horizontal variant that’s often seen on English style benches.
Much of the work held down to the bench top was traditionally held without a tail vice though.
Alternatives such as working against a planing stop, &/ or using a holdfast are generally far more efficient and encourage better techniques with your hand planes.
The Stick With A Notch Cut In It.
The first time we took our benches to see the public I was a bag of nerves. We took along a huge fancy Roubo type thing, but it was the other, simple bench we took that was my favourite. I hoped to focus on the idea that a good bench could be simple so the tail vice...
Oh So Tempting!
I am now fully committed to using a wooden screw in this workbench but oh... the temptation! I had Mr Arnold's beautiful old metal screw looking at me from across the workshop as I started to assemble the bench this morning, so I just had to poke it in! I'm very much...
Fitting The Inset
I've decided to write a full review on the Veritas Inset vice shortly since the idea was kindly recommended in a comment by Bill (Billy's Little Bench) last week. For now though I'd like to share a quick extra step that I take when I'm fitting one of these vices....
New Vice
This is to be our first vice to go in to the new (yet to be named) range of sensibly priced, well made hardware. It's a pinless leg vice with St Peter's cross mechanism. The steel screw has a nice rapid thread which is custom made to be coarser than normal to give a...
The Holdfast and the Batten – VIDEO
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNrof3cd1cA] This has been a very popular video since we published, and the method has been further explored in use and in it's possible historical roots by Chris Schwarz at Lost Art Press. Check this video if you need...
Maguire Wagon Vice – Every One’s A Spinner!
So apologies for the cheesy title and product promotion post but I thought it was about time that we had a further look at the MKII Maguire Wagon Vice. As explained earlier in the year we've given it a bit of an overhaul to tweak and make further improvements and...
Holdfasts – Get A Grip! VIDEO
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7lnfW4iT6o] Extras: Use Your Holdfast As A Tail Vice Shown In This Quick Video Bench Dogs - Round or Square? Improve The Grip Of Your Holdfasts for better work holding In this quick video I demonstrate my method for...
When It Has To Be Pinned
With leg vices back in popular use there’s a lot of desire to go pin-less. If you’re sticking to the good old fashioned parallel guide and pin though then we say it should be done in style! For our Little John Workbenches we’ve had these tactile pins forged to fit...
Bench Dogs – Wood vs. Metal
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my preferences when it comes to the shape of a bench dog and now I’m going to elaborate a little and cover some points about the choice of material. I’d thought about comparing the options with a list of pros and cons but then...
Related Posts:
Why Your Workbench Needs One Vice (Or Less)
A workbench is only a success if it can keep itself still and provide means to hold your work. A woodworking vice is not an essential feature of this. Typically though we can expect to see two vices on a workbench today. One will be installed on the front of the...
Choosing Timber – The Best Wood For Building A Workbench
If you're going to build yourself a chest of drawers, what wood would you build it out of? You'd build it out of whatever you fancy building it out of. What you like, what's to hand, what's cheapest. Who, bloody cares? It's the same when you're building a workbench....
Holdfasts – How Should You Be Using Them?
When I started building workbenches, I pushed my way of working on to my customers. I wasn't aware I was doing this. But my cave's a small place, and I forget there's other people out there. Every workbench went out complete with sliding board jack, large planing...