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.
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...
Our wagon vice has been undergoing a bit of a make over and today I’d like to share the first photo of the prototype. The handle, its most recognisable feature remains the same. I’ve always loved it’s balance and size and certainly didn’t want to loose any of it’s...
When I posted about suede a couple of weeks ago a great suggestion was made by Paul Chapman. I'd written about just how effective suede can be for adding grip to any vice though I've never really come across anywhere that sells it in small quantities - we always have...
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. Both round and square bench dogs will hold effectively. After a short time of working with both shapes though I must say that I soon came to favour the round ones. Many, many bench builds later and that opinion still stands. As...
If you’re building a workbench then you’ll likely spend a lot of time pondering over which vices are going to suit you the best. There’s a lot of choice out there so it can be a big headache but whatever you opt for there’s one step that I definitely recommend you...
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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...
Can't be Bothered to Read? Click Play: https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Nice-Rack.mp3 Without a reliable way to hold your work for woodworking we'll quickly become frustrated. Whilst I'm a firm believer that a lot can be achieved with an...
A planing sleeve is a work holding method for things such as assembled drawers and open carcases, so you can plane or work on the outside faces. These are enormously handy when the carcase is too big for your vice, and knocking one up is as easy as fixing a couple of...
