"This video was supposed to be...easy!" Rex, you should know by now that NOTHING is easy, especially the thing you thought would be. I built this bench and bought this vise and I can say with confidence that I probably wouldn't have been able to mount it properly without this video. Thanks again for the great work! Like most mistakes, those you made in this project will be instructive to us all.
Couple of things; The back of the vise should be up against the rear jaw/apron so it has better support and cant move forward as the vise is used. When it's set back its relying purely on the screws fixing it to the bench to hold it in place as the vise is clamped. Those D shaped collars are supposed to go on the outside of the back jaw/apron, not behind it. In use this type of vise will tilt the jaw when its clamped tight with work in it. To help counteract this; plane a slight taper into the front jaw so that it is thinner at the bottom (top touches the rear jaw/apron first) This makes sure that the work will always be gripped at the very top of the jaw when its tightened, and as its tightened the bottom will contact too. If not you may find when its tight it pulls away in the top and is only gripping at the bottom when the jaw tilts, meaning your work will wobble a bit when you're workin (this is vexing). It doesnt really make sense to me that it does this; it just does for some reason, make sure to taper the front jaw a little. A front jaw of 60-80mm (2 3/8 to 3 1/4) makes the vise much more sturdy and will also help with the jaw tilting, a hardwood jaw will help even more. Another factor in the tilting is the depth of the vise (bench top to guide bars) usually this style vise works best at around 75mm (3inch), 100mm (4inch) is around the upper limit. There are detailed instructions online, I think Veritas might have instructions for this style vise too; I know they used to make one like this so I presume the instructions are still around....... they make instructions for everything, even for a saw 🤔😂
Arguably, installing them outside is slightly more difficult for beginners. I strongly believe its fine to put them on the back size. On thick top, this is mounted with five #10 2 1/2 inch screws, so its very sturdy already. But its easy enough to add a support block between the collets and the main body. This way, when you squeeze hard, you endup squeezing wood and metal, rather then pulling on the screws. I made the mistake of placing the collet proud of the main body, thinking I'd preserve the wide opening, I don't recommend that, you kind of loose the benefit of having the collet in the first place, and endup with a bit more racking.
Came here to say this. Your authenticity and desire to genuinely be of service to the community are why I’m a patron. Happy to support what you do, and I know I’m more than getting my money’s worth!
I made your English joiners bench about 6mo ago and I installed this exact vise on it. Installation on that specific bench is very easy, I opted to use it on the end, so I didn't need to disassemble it at all. Simply clamped it to the bench top, extended the jaw out so it didn't have to be disassembled, retract the jaw so the guide bars hit the trestle, pencil around the bars so I knew where to drill, center punched the screw holes in the vise body under the bench top, take it off, remove the bench top, drill drill drill, put the bench top and vise back on, realize I forgot to mark the screw, do thar a second time, screw it to the bench top, add your vise faces, plane them flat to the bench top, drill a dog hole in the outside face, good to go. Very easy and only should take an afternoon to install!
I (narrowly) avoided the screw-alignment problem by disassembling the vise and creating a template on a scrap of plywood before drilling into the apron. Then I just placed the template on the apron with double-sided-tape and drilled out the apron holes. Just make sure your template is placed in correct alignment on the apron. The screw is off-center, so if you place the template on the apron flipped around, you'll get a screw hole that is completely wrong.
The honesty of this channel is unbelievably refreshing in this era of absurdly polished self-promotion. Good on you, Rex. Your channel might just be my favorite source of woodworking media of them all.
Rex something I did to combat racking was intentionally install my vise parallel but plane my vise jaw board to slightly taper so that when it racks the jaw straightens out. Seemed to help some.
Same here. I used this vise on my Paul Sellers plywood bench for about 1.5yrs. I found the vise would unevenly grip boards placed above the screw (when edge planing, etc.) when tightened. The fix was to taper the vise jaw a bit. Mine was ash and about 1-5/8" thick. I tapered it so it was 1-5/8" at the top but about 1-1/4" at the bottom. After tapering, the face of the jaw would contact the face of the board being planed evenly across the jaw when tightened.
@@RexKrueger the face was the same as yours and if I'd used a store bought oak dowel for which I had a matching drill bit rather than a long rectangle it would have been easier than trying to get all the holes to line up like you did here.
8:10 I was like "oh boy, it really looks like the screw is loose and gravity pulling it down, don't mark it like that Rex!". 😢 Also: "...a square of MATCHING wood..." 🤣
At 9:01, the error goes back to 8:07 where the threaded rod sagged out of line with the guide bars. Disassembling the front seems unneeded when you could just use the back end of the vice or your initial drawing to get that center hole spot on. This is a a great video, and I've always appreciated your candor in showing and explaining the errors and obstacles along the way. This really helps prepare someone for the reality that there will always be errors and obstacles in woodworking. As a tattoo artist friend of mine once said, mastery comes from recovering from your mistakes, not the absence of them.
I literally just finished installing this Yost vice last week from your plans…😂. Makes me feel better to know I’m not just a dumb dumb as it took me a few days and several fixes to get it right.
Man, you ain't kidding. I didn't install this type of vice, but the kind with the metal jaws that you line with wood. I had designed my whole bench in my 3D software, and I wound up measure and modeling up the whole vise as well, as designing that into the front of the bench was a major task that I didn't want to get wrong. I had to cut out notches for the guide bars and screws, and reinforce the wood, and space everything just so it would wind up right where I wanted it. Then the vise itself was rather heavy (and greasy) so dry fitting it over and over was a job. In the end though, it works well, so it was worth it to me.
I made a version of your low Roman workbench that was 2 boards narrower to make it more portable to take outside and had to install a 7" vice on the end, without running afoul of the legs and had to carve out a large recess on the underside to do it and drive the lag bolts in an awkward way, but it got done, even though I had never installed one before. Not easy, but totally worth the trouble.
I had trouble with my install. The bolts I used were undersized so I used washers like in this video. But the vice would move when clamping since the holes had some play. I'm currently looking for bolts with a bigger screw shaft.
Isn't is always harder than it looks? I think you will find that very few of us are dissuaded by the difficulty. I am not alone in finding the video inspiring and I can't wait to get to my vice installation. This is because you solved two problems I was having. First, you specified that the vice pad be no more than 4 inches above the support the vice affords it. Now I know that I can install the vice where I wanted to and not worry that the vice pads will break. Then you also demonstrated the DIY transfer punch. Buying tools, at retail prices, that I don't expect to use much is a deal breaker for me. Now I can custom-make the transfer punches I will need and I won't need to delay while I wait for a lucky find at an estate sale. Keep on filming those false steps, mistakes and unexpected problems. They are the hallmark of the best teachers. They are your hallmarks. They are why I will be watching your videos as long as you continue making them.
Your videos haven't been showing up in my YT feed for the last few months. Good to see you back front and center. That's a fine looking bench for sure.
Just added the exact same vise about a month ago. Jointer's bench with a 2x10 apron. Just flip the bench on it's top it made it so much easier. A little trouble with the mounting hardware and filing for the handle. All said and done mine works great. Good and cost-effective!
When i mark water points when installing a vanity, i have in the past put a bit of tap grease on the points where they punch out of the wall amd just push the vanity back till they touch Leaves a removable mark right where i need, then drill am oversized hole. Never missed yet
I didn't know I needed this video so thank you Rex. I built a decent first bench and am not ready too build a 2nd. My biggest issue right now is work holding. Now time too go down a rabbit hole of vice installing!
I installed this vice on my bench; the instructions come with a template for the guide bar and screw holes. You don’t need to knock the roll pin out to get the placement correct. You could also take the under-top hardware, place it on a piece of paper, and trace out the holes for guide bars and screw. When drilling with a spade bit, I found clamping a piece of scrap to the back side of the face was very effective at preventing blowout.
Nice video. As a not-quite-beginner-anymore, vise installations are challenging and terrifying. Thanks for taking some mystery out, and for not glossing over the tricky bits.
One quick thing, I have this vice and learned the hard way that they work A LOT better if you use a 3" thick front chop with the holes drilled very accurately. This takes a ton of racking pressure of of the three silly screws that are supposed to hold the chop. Once I did that I started loving this vice. Also, consider facing the chop with leather, it makes a big difference.
@@jarroddavis4025 in the video Rex uses a 1.5" piece of wood for the moving jaw of the vise. By making that 3" thick the thicker wood in the moving jaw will put the twisting force on the guide rods rather than the three screws that hole the front jaw on the vise. There is a lot of twisting force when something small is clamped near the top of the vise (which is a very common scenario). Hope that helps.
Clear and very useful video Rex. I have installed my vise so that the left side (for left-handers, right side) of the wooden jaw is flush with the side of my workbench. That way your piece of wood is well clamped to shorten it and you can hold the piece that falls off with your free hand. Greetings from Flanders (Belgium)
I'm in the middle of building a 2800mm continental workbench with face and tail vice from the dead ash in the area . Boy, I wish you could have made all the mistakes first! Thanks for the video.
Look at 8:15, when the mark for the center hole is being made. Note that the center, threaded rod is clearly sagging - not parallel with the two smooth rods. I was not surprised that it was too low! Note also that the part you already attached would make a fine template. So would the paper template you showed in the first place.
Thank you!! I have been watching a BUNCH of your videos the last couple of weeks, while planning my own workbench for handtools. I bought one of these vises and made a quick install on my temporary bench. Now I understand why it's so wiggly, and I have some exciting ideas for my "real" benchtop design. Your videos are FANTASTIC! I want to do allll the things for my new workshop - shooting boards, squares, marking tools... It's gonna be so much fun!!
Rex, thanks for the "Heads up!" On my second try, I removed the guide bars from the vise, drilled the 1 3/8" hole for the screw and then could press the plate against the jaws for as the alignment template. I'll build the anti-racking jig soon - the vise is not precision. The Quick-stack is my first workbench, a solid start to quality shop work. Thanks!
after a tons of videos i finally went with a paul sellers bench based on the scraps i had laying around, but its so similar to your benches I happy to see yet another proper budget bench series coming out soon!
Excellent! It was great to see "Rex figures it out" again! Thanks for the honest appraisal of the level of difficulty. I suspect I'll be doing a leg vice when I build my Quick Stack! Glad to, also, be a new Patron. Thanks for all you do!
Thanks Rex! I installed this vice into my bench a few years back and yes, it's tricky. About a year in, I split the front jaw in just the manner you warned about, as I had to clear a welded steel frame underneath and was forced into mounting too low. The split was pretty clean, so I broke it apart by hand and glued it straight back in place, using 100mm bugle screws straight up the guts of the piece, because there's no such thing as over-engineered. :-) So now it's got 6x6mm steel rods reinforcing the front jaw and has been fine since.
Awesome looking new bench Rex. It’s similar to Paul Seller’s more recent bench version with the tool well. When I built your English joiner bench, I used this 10” Yost vise and a quick release Yost 10” vise instead of the leg vise mainly due to the cost of the leg vise screw. There was a Yost version and a knock off within $10 on amazon. The scaffold screws were easily the same or more unless I bought them in 4-7 unit bulk and paid $75 of shipping directly to a construction equipment supplier at the time. Throw in the coat of lumber, and it didn’t make sense with prices at the time to spend similar or more for more work to make a leg vise compared to the Yost 95% ready to go vises. I used the red oak versions of the stair treads from your leg vise video for the chops and glued them 3 layers thick. They’ve worked well for me for a year now, and my main issue when installing was that I somehow put the vise from this video on out of square. It closes with about a 1/2” difference from right to left. I’d recommend those to beginners before trying to adapt equally priced leg vise hardware to be honest. Thanks for the great content man. Looking forward to what your new shop opens up for you in 2023
I’ve worked with and installed several of these over the years, and I totally agree they are a pain. All that would be needed is a paper template, but no manufacturer that I know of has bothered to include one. The other thing of note is that is that chop needs to be at least 2 inches thick, 2.5 - 3 is ideal. This will help a lot with racking. I also plane a slight taper on the gripping face so that the top contacts the bench first, and then the bottom flexes in under pressure. This improves grip strength TREMENDOUSLY, and makes the vise so much easier to use.
I have the same vice, and I traced the collets and routed inlays for them into the back jaw, to give the rods maximum support. But I had the same feeling when I was done. Lots of work just for a vice.
Rex, I used a very similar vise for years. One handy location consideration - not everyone will see this the same, is to set the jaws flush with the END of the bench as well as the top. That makes it very easy to cross cut pieces without indulging positioning gymnastics or a bench hook. Sadly the cheap hardware I had tends to wrack badly without a spacer. I decided to spring for a Wilton 10-inch bench vise. No guide bars at all. But expensive.
Cannot agree more, while there are work-arounds such as larger face plates and shims, its a pain when all you want to do is to quickly crosscut a board with a hand saw without having it wiggle all over the place. The key is planning ahead when you design your bench. Wish I had thought of that with my current iteration.
That's one of the reasons I worked for more than a decade with up to four wood-jawed screw clamps before I even bothered getting a personal vice. I started with an 8 inch clamp... and eventually ended up with a pair of 8's and a pair of 12's... Worth their weight in GOLD. ;o)
Rex, thank you as always for the amazing and honest walk through of woodworking tools! As a side not, as someone who gets motion sick/vertigo from movements on screens, the small sliding/bouncing transitions played havoc with the vertigo on a cellphone screen.
I have two of these installed on my Roubo style bench, and they are amazing, and weren’t that much of an issue installing with the flat, thick benchtop. But of courae I don't have an apron to worry about, as is the case with your Nicholson
You may be able to transfer the screw location without disassembly if you drill a slightly oversized hole in some scrap, place the screw through it when you run your guide rods into the apron, then secure it to the apron temporarily (clamp/screw/pin/blue-tape+CA). Remove the screw and guide rods, leaving the drilled scrap in place and use it as a guide bushing for drilling the screw hole in the apron.
Just finished putting this same vice on my bench a few weeks ago. Good to see this noob figured out on his own some of the same tricks you used. Still have to put a handle on it so it was good to see I should round out the holes a bit. I hadn't stuck my fingers in there yet to feel the sharp edge.
Thanks for sharing your suffer. I've installed this a month ago and would have found nice to see someone installed it before end. Mine is a very different bench design (and my first ever workbench), top is 3 inch thick pine (made of 2 slabs), no epren, flush 6x6 legs. I've placed the vice on the left of the leg, flush with the edge and overlapping the leg. I must admit, I really like this placement. I like to saw passed the end of my bench, holding the waste side in my left hand rather then crossing harms like I often see. One thing I should have done better, just highlighting that as you do mention in your video, is to leave space between the two little support and the main body. I endup with some horizontal racking where the jaw slides a bit downward, creating a slight angle between the jaw and the bench edge. I can certainly fix it by creating a slight angle in the wood jaw, maybe I'll do that someday, got a be motivated, its made of a waste of curly maple they had at the mill were I by my rough lumber.
I was so happy to see that you had this, much more comprehensive than the others on TH-cam. Building a table, and next is this very installation. Thanks!
I have that vice on the end of my joiners bench that I built from your plans. It was hell to put on. Now that I've watched your video. I think I will redo it so I can get it more precise.
Well, this would have been handy to have watched before I went about installing the smaller size of that exact vise to my Harbor Freight workbench, but I'm very happy to see that the decisions I made doing it were good ones. It wasn't as easy as I had expected, but I got it done, and learned a lot doing it.
Very nice. I bought the plan for the minimal bench. I'm thinking about making a second one and cutting out a recess in the middle for my small but handy chop saw.
I am very much looking forward to seeing that new bench, Rex. I'm about to build a bench. I was going to go for your English jointer's bench, but I really wanted to include a tool well on it. I'm thinking I will likely copy your new one, but use lamented 2x4s for the top
I also have this vice and doing the transfer of hole location takes detail. I would suggest the collet washers be on the face of the bench for additional alignment support. we found the best hole aligner was using the base in reverse at the front of the bench, also if you have a lathe, the vice handle can be made with a smoother rounded keeper on the ends. I added a rubber grommet to cushion impacts of the handle on the lead screw
Hey Rex, Great video. The title really caught my eye because I made the Quick Stack work bench and added the 10 inch and 7 inch quick-release bench vises. The vise installs were a bit more involved than expected and the larger of the two vises chatters a lot but does the job. The video gave me a bit of vindication and it prompted me to go clean and lube the vises so they operate way better now. I have used the QuickStack bench a lot. 90 plus percent of the time I have the tool tray upside down as an extension of bench top work surface. Eventually I will replace it with solid bench top and will store the tool tray below. The tray is also handy apart from the bench. Btw, regarding the handle for the large vise: I used 1/4 inch dowels as handle stops, up near the ends of the handle like you showed, but found them uncomfortable there. I recently moved them much further in to get them away from my hands; which more or less keeps the handle centered thus giving up a bit of leverage and it may cause interference (handle being proud of bench top when clamping something). Will see how it plays out; there are workarounds for both.
I installed this vice on my Roubo Bench 5 years ago and still using it. Made several changes:1- ground off the upside-down cast CHINA off the front and painted it the same color as the Record Vice on the end. 2.replaced the wood screws holding the chop with recessed bolts. The screws loosened every use. 3-disgarded the additional guides and use a small collection of inserts to balance the racking otherwise the throat is shortened if I used the additional guides. 4-added leather lining.
Rex, awesome video that helped me figure out how to attach a vise to one of your bench plans sets. Making a template to drill four sets of holes to fit between cross pieces was essential. Also attaching it before the top is installed made it much easier since I could see everything without lying on the floor looking up like you had too. A drill press ensured straight holes that were slightly oversized for tolerances and wood movement.
I have this same vise and you're right that it isn't easy but got it done and love the vise. What would have helped is if the company that makes it also included a template for the holes.
I installed a very similar vice several years ago. It wasn't even on a proper workbench, but on a cabinet in the garage that I use as a workbench. Your video has some great tips which would have made the installation easier.
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Your vice recommendation sparked my interest. I'm planning on a new workbench and the vice i currently use is top mounted. This vice i a good solution for freeing up my precious real estate of my workbench. Thank you for reminding this kind of setups. 👍
Very timely, Rex. I am building an English style bench and just a few minutes ago ordered that same vice. I was going to use a hardwood for the face but seeing you use yellow pine will save me a few bucks. My bench is sort of a hybrid between yours and Paul Sellers.
Hello, Mr. Krueger; I think I'd have done that (drilling the screw hole) a bit differently. In my experience, when held level the screw will sag at the unsupported end. I would have secured the vise, w/ the screw level. Then I'd raise & lower the unsupported rear end to determine the range of movement. Half that from the bottom should give a close enough center when the screw hole is 1/4" larger than the screw (1/8" clearance all around). Even more clearance prolly wouldn't hurt, say 3/16" clearance (3/8" larger than the screw). Just an idea, I have *not* tried it but it should work. Great job, & IMO the vise is still a good deal. If building the bench just compensate for the vise before the bench is completed. I do like the way you chose to hide the hole but I wonder if it bothers you. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Rex, I recently built your quick stack bench and had pretty much just as much "fun" as you installing the face vice! I must see I was massively impressed by the design and the overall approach in making the bench approachable for beginners and hobbyists. Really solid, really satisfying! One thing about using the construction lumber though was the quality of what I could get was reeeally suspect (lots of knots, lots of twist) and it was all rough sawn so I spent hours with a hand plane trying to get surfaces I could use. Good practice though
Nice! I bought a Chinese made quick release vice at a yard sale. My bench has multiple uses so modifications to it for the vice have not been an easy decision. It may have a motorcycle engine on it next week. You just proved my hesitance.
I don't know how the price differs, but I've found that a piece of black pipe with two end caps makes an awesome handle for vices. I have it on both of my leg vices and my face vice, and I love it. Disassembly is a breeze!
@@benjamingiese841 Haha all I can say is I'm getting pretty good at stopping the vice when the handle isn't in a vertical position, or I make sure my hand gets out of there in a hurry. I've only smashed my thumb web once so far with that handle, but that left one hell of a blood blister.
Been there, done that. 😒 It was early in my woodworking experience (3 years ago). My bench was different, but I still had, um, "fun." Very similar fitment problems as you had, but the ugly holes remain un-beautified. But it LOOKED like it would be so easy! Dandy video once again! 👍
I installed a very similar vise on my table. I found that installing it flat made it close at the bottom first leaving a small gap at the top. I installed it with a deliberate slight upward slant to allow for it to sag down and still close parallel. That made it even more difficult to install, of course. LOL It works great! Maybe I 'm just crazy, but another addition that I would suggest is to make a friction device inside the main screw t-nut that holds the wood handle. What I did was to make a small wooden disc that is the diameter of the central hole where the screw goes. The disc had a curve carved into one face to get more contact with the side of the dowel The back side of the disc was flat with a small circular rebate to hold a spring captive. Since the screw does not go all the way to the wooden handle there is space for this disc and a small spring which applies pressure to the disc and up against the wood dowel. I hope this makes sense. The installation of this friction device was simple. Insert it into that unused space with the spring up against the hidden end of the screw and press against the wood disc and the spring while sliding the wooden dowel into place. This modification makes the wooden handle flop around a lot less. I also found that if I spin it too fast the dowel could sometimes slide over and almost clock me in the face. With this small amount of friction, the dowel is less likely to slide in and out so fast.
I made a twin screw vice with a long, thick threaded rod that I cut in half, two nuts, and some scraps like a 4x4. Total cost? About $4. It works great!
Also if you have a torpedo level, after you’ve drilled the first two holes for the bars you can put your level on it to see how level it is then try your best to mimic the same on the screw before you mark it. From the video you can kinda see it is low before it’s drilled. Thanks for the video Rex always appreciate it
Great video on the pro's of getting a vice and the various struggles of installing one... At the same time, for a lot of basic work needs, the old-school wood screw clamps are still among top performers for the space taken and money invested. Wood jaws don't mangle work pieces, while the twin handles and size of 8 and 12 inch clamps allows work-holding that should satisfy most uses for a modest home wood worker... Don't have a vice or money? Clamp the thing right to the end of the bench... Don't get me wrong... A good vice can make for a GREAT bench! At the same time, at least in the beginning, those old-school "aggravating bastards" are surprisingly useful for as wobbly as they first appear, and that wobbly nature actually becomes their greatest feature as you get used to them. AND for the beginner, the "easy way" to get started is really simple. Just get the larger one! You might not really NEED it so much now for the size, but on a budget, you'll be thankful not to go hunting a bigger clamp later on when you DO need it. ;o)
Boy, you weren't kidding. Not much room for error here, I screwed up nearly every step. Make sure the receiving piece inside the bench is absolutely parallel to the apron face. Drill oversized holes. Also, make sure you install it in the right location the first time! I learned a lot through trial and error, but I hope never to do this again.
I was going to say this too! (I think he said his paper template was rough, but I still think acurately measuring out the paper template would take less effort than disassembling the screw and tracing it directly?)
@@tegaki-tegaki disassembling the vise isn't hard to do and it is a perfect template. The best way to make more work for yourself is to try to avoid doing the work you need to do. Making that template was ultimately a complete waste of time.
I made and installed my leg vise onto my planer’s bench (both from the bench video you made) and it works great. 2 years now and strong as ever. So, with all do respect, it’s much easier and more approachable then this video. What I like about the bench vise is it is easy and forgiving. If you were to look at it you’d see about 76 areas where I made mistakes but the thing works great. I have to guess if I put this vise on, I’d make a giant mess out of it.
It took me almost 5 hours to install my vice in my bench, post build. I built your own English Joiner’s bench and flipping it upside down, by myself was a real treat.
for your new bench, include the tip to buy 2x12s instead of 2x4s. The lumber is usually better, less knots or SYP instead of whitewood, and the cost is usually the same or less. Well worth the money for the "upgrade".
@@eloscuro704 For sure I would use a table saw to rip them. Howerver, you do have to put a ton of work planing the 2x4s or the ripped 2x12 (or 2x10s) so I don't see "accurate" as a requirement. If you have a great love of hand ripping saws that will work, but a jig saw or circular saw will also work. Even if you get the straightest construction lumber, they have rounded corners (you don't want a ribbed workbench) and are never that straight anyway. Honestly, the SYP is an enromous upgrade over whitewood, and that's worth it just from that perspective. I like to plane it better, and if you're spending time planing you might as well plane something you like.
I bought the plans and the video for the quick stack workbench. This was the vise suggested to buy. This video will surely help when I am ready to install it. I have a thought about your video and plan products if you don't mind a little feedback. I think the quality of the plans was very good! I would love it if you would include a certain number of e-mail questions with the video series. Maybe you could set up a special e-mail that is mentioned in the video series alone to limit junk e-mail. For example: I'm having a terrible time finding Southern Yellow Pine in Connecticut and would have loved being able to simply ask what a good replacement would be. I wouldn't mined paying an extra bit for that. Maybe you could have that as a "premium" package since your time is worth paying for. Who knows it might even lead to a few more patreons? :) I am learning a lot from your videos and probably more importantly they are giving me the courage to try doing some of the stuff you're showing us. I look forward to more.
If you do a bit of planning ahead you could make a template of the hole pattern for the screw and guide bars while the whole thing is assembled and the fixed half of the vise keeps the screw and bars aligned.
I installed this very same model on your Joiners Bench, and man did I struggle… at the time I thought I was a complete idiot for finding it difficult, at the end It turned out alright, great Video! Wish I could post a picture of my bench
Bought a similar vice not even thinking about the installation. It's a MASSIVE pain to put on since I didn't plan ahead with my bench. Now I'm awkwardly trying to mark, measure and drill accurately upside down in places that I can barely reach. I've honestly given up on installing it well and am just going to slap it on in a way that barely functions and use this as an excuse to build a new bench planning around the vice.
I found a dremel to be extremely handy when installing on my workbench. It fits in tight places to drill pilot holes, then I could come back from the other side with the spade bits.
WARNING - the alignment on this is critical. Drilling the holes in the apron must either be oversized or perfectly perpendicular or the rods will not match with the cast iron body of the vise. You have to use the dowel trick to mark the centers of the rods on the apron and even that might not be precise enough. Since there is no room between the 4x4 braces on the Kruger joiners bench for this vise, I mounted it 2 inches lower to the underside of the 4x4, NOT on 2x4 spacers attached to the table top. I added another 4x4 block on the left end side of the bench and mounted the vise to the underside of the 4x4 brace and this added 4x4 block. Despite best efforts, holes were slightly off and had to be enlarged with a rasp. Also the vertical placement of the vice body must perfectly match the vertical height of the holes in the apron - any angle and the rods will bind. Even the round guides have to be perfectly positioned on the apron or again, the rods will bind. Things may seem to work, until the bolts are tightened and things begin to bind.
My exact problem. Tried three times and none of them aligned. Going to try making a plywood template (suggested above). Maybe oversize the holes a bit more. Off to buy more wood
@davidozab2753 Yes. If the vise is not exactly perpendicular to the apron, even aligning the holes to the rods will not prevent binding as the vise is opened. So if you drill the holes perpendicular to the apron the rods could pass through the holes at a slight angle causing binding especially with the metal guide bushing that have zero tolerance. I think mounting the vise to the 1-1/2" table top may also cause problems if the top warps slightly over time. So far, mounting the vice to the underside of the 4x4 cross brace has worked fine and gives a deeper jaw.
Recently installed a similar vice, what looks like a simple install was trickier than I imagined. Took a bit of adjustment of the vice face so it clamps parallel
The easiest way to find and drill the screw location is to clamp a block of wood below it and ensure it is level with the guide rods. Then, do as you did and trace around the screw.
Installing this vise was the hardest part of my bench build. It took four tries, but I finally got it. (I'm building the Quickstack bench, so not all these steps will apply to the Minimum Timber Bench). After three tries with the witness stick failed, I took a day trip to the coast with my family (most important step--getting away). When I returned I cut a new rear jaw from a spare 2x4, planed a reference face and edge, clamped it above the fully assembled vise with the edge flush to the edge of the bench, and carefully measured the distance to the left edge of the vise, and locked that in on my combination square. I struck a line on the rear jaw, dissasembled the vise and clamped the front part on the jaw with the left edge on the line. Then I found the paddle bits that presisely matched the width of the holes and drilled down just enough to get a center point. Once those were set, I switched to the larger paddle bits Rex recommened and drilled the holes based on the center points (from each side to avoid tearout, of course). And it worked. I slipped the rear jaw onto the rails and the front part of the vise lined up perfectly. With a touch of paste wax it turned smooth as silk. Now I just need to cut a new front jaw and use the rear jaw as a template. Once I'm done, my bench is complete! Sorry for the long post. I hope some of the steps are helpful to others struggling with this vise.
Using the rear jaw as a template didn't work (more wood in the scrap pile) so I had to go through the same process again 🙄 All I had on hand that was wide enough was a strip of plywood. It's only 3/4 thick so I either need to laminate more wood (and drill more holes) to make it thicker or buy more wood and go through the process again. Ugh. I've grown to hate this vise, but if I can get it to work I might forgive it.
I installed a vice like this onto my bench 18 years ago. I had the benefit of a 3" thick beech bench top and a 1 1/2" thich beech vice jaw, and no front apron. It served me well and still does even though I have a second Record quick release vice at the other end of the bench. I was wondering, you made a paper template with the holes marked, and taped it to the front of the apron. Why didn't you use that to mark the hole positions to save getting the screw hole in the wrong place? Aside from that, it is a good video to show that it isn't always as easy to do as some channels, using CAD and CNC routers, might suggest.
Love your videos Rex, but I do have a question. It looks like you are still using a pencil for basically every thing you are marking. I get your videos are geared toward new craftsman, mostly considering budget, but a marking knife of some kind be thrown in somewhere. A pencil has its uses but a knife is better for accuracy. Considering the concept of your channel, why not grab an X-Acto knife and use that as a marking knife. The #11 blades are widely available and cheap, and the starting knife itself is only a few bucks. Maybe give it some thought, I think it fits perfectly with your concept and a marking knife would really elevate accuracy in the projects you show us. Rant over. Love your work and look forward to your bench build!!!
Great video, love the fact that you've found the possible mistakes for us ahead of time and shown on video how to fix it if it happens. That's huge. Also, at the beginning of the build you had the piece of paper as a template... why couldn't you just use that as a guide to bore the holes for the rods and screw?? Not accurate enough? Thanks
Hah, wish I'd had this when I installed that vise on my quick stack bench 6 months ago! I made most of these mistakes and more. Now that I know how easy it is to remove the roll pin, I would have done that and made my install much easier. Hardest part with mine was lining up the support collets, because I mounted it directly to the underside of the 3-1/2" thick slab, so there was almost no clearance to get the collets screwed in. If I did it again I'd add a 1/2"-1" spacer. Only trouble I've had with this is that the jaw can get a bit loose when clamping a piece at the top. My jaw is laminated red oak, held to the vise face with #14 screws. If it gets loose again I might try countersinking some nuts on the work side to get a better hold on it.
I should update! The screws on the vise jaw eventually stripped out. I replaced them with threaded inserts and secured with machine screws, big washers, and lock washers. No problem since!
Liquid oil and grease on the screw will attract dirt and sawdust. Your paste wax will also lube the screw, but since the screw is lower than the guide bars, dry graphite powder is your friend.
At 08:10 I yelled at my monitor "Rex! Stop it! It's not aligned properly!!" ... well, I did my best but he obviously couldn't hear me and so fate took its course ... 😂
Hi Rex. As coincidence has it, my new vice arrived this morning. It's a fairly large (9.5" width) and very heavy type (16.5 Kg/36.37 pounds) with quick release and a slide up dog, which I will use as a face vice. I got it for £69 brand new in a sale because (get this) it arrived from the manufacturer to one of my regular online suppliers in 'an obsolete box', which saved me almost 50%. Having unboxed it and finding it to be excellent condition (who cares about the box labelling?), I will order another to use as a tail vice (two for the price of one). Anyway, as soon this video started, I thought to myself "I don't recognise Rex's bench there; it has angled leg top joints, which I don't remember seeing on any of his benches before" (proof of how close I watch your vids). So, I'm looking forward to watching that video when it arrives because, unlike many people, I decided to get the vice(s) before making the bench, so I will know sizes and so on before hand, rather than pull a pre-made bench apart to adjust. Nice work, keep it up!
Update; I could not resist that discount and have just ordered another to have matching face and tail vices - for whatever bench I finally decide to make. Rex, you have too many good bench designs to choose from, I mean...wow! I've always liked your traditional English bench...but for where it will have to go, I still prefer the quick stack bench - maybe until this new bench design of yours proves otherwise. It's worth hanging on to see; after all this time, what's another month or so...? Either way, this video above has given me an eye-opener into what to consider when I come to fit the vices into the bench that I eventually build, even though they are not the same type.
8:14 if you look at the angles you can see that the screw is sagging... a lot. Using cardboard to make a template like uuu that lines up with the bottom or top of the bars and screw would have helped a lot.
"This video was supposed to be...easy!" Rex, you should know by now that NOTHING is easy, especially the thing you thought would be. I built this bench and bought this vise and I can say with confidence that I probably wouldn't have been able to mount it properly without this video. Thanks again for the great work! Like most mistakes, those you made in this project will be instructive to us all.
Couple of things;
The back of the vise should be up against the rear jaw/apron so it has better support and cant move forward as the vise is used. When it's set back its relying purely on the screws fixing it to the bench to hold it in place as the vise is clamped.
Those D shaped collars are supposed to go on the outside of the back jaw/apron, not behind it.
In use this type of vise will tilt the jaw when its clamped tight with work in it. To help counteract this; plane a slight taper into the front jaw so that it is thinner at the bottom (top touches the rear jaw/apron first) This makes sure that the work will always be gripped at the very top of the jaw when its tightened, and as its tightened the bottom will contact too. If not you may find when its tight it pulls away in the top and is only gripping at the bottom when the jaw tilts, meaning your work will wobble a bit when you're workin (this is vexing). It doesnt really make sense to me that it does this; it just does for some reason, make sure to taper the front jaw a little. A front jaw of 60-80mm (2 3/8 to 3 1/4) makes the vise much more sturdy and will also help with the jaw tilting, a hardwood jaw will help even more. Another factor in the tilting is the depth of the vise (bench top to guide bars) usually this style vise works best at around 75mm (3inch), 100mm (4inch) is around the upper limit.
There are detailed instructions online, I think Veritas might have instructions for this style vise too; I know they used to make one like this so I presume the instructions are still around....... they make instructions for everything, even for a saw 🤔😂
Here are the Veritas instructions, in case anybody is looking for them: www.veritastools.com/Content/Assets/ProductInfo/EN/70G08.01EN.pdf
Arguably, installing them outside is slightly more difficult for beginners. I strongly believe its fine to put them on the back size. On thick top, this is mounted with five #10 2 1/2 inch screws, so its very sturdy already. But its easy enough to add a support block between the collets and the main body. This way, when you squeeze hard, you endup squeezing wood and metal, rather then pulling on the screws. I made the mistake of placing the collet proud of the main body, thinking I'd preserve the wide opening, I don't recommend that, you kind of loose the benefit of having the collet in the first place, and endup with a bit more racking.
I really appreciate the honesty of you videos. Your retrospection, mistakes, and problem solving really shows what it is like to be a maker.
Came here to say this. Your authenticity and desire to genuinely be of service to the community are why I’m a patron. Happy to support what you do, and I know I’m more than getting my money’s worth!
I made your English joiners bench about 6mo ago and I installed this exact vise on it. Installation on that specific bench is very easy, I opted to use it on the end, so I didn't need to disassemble it at all. Simply clamped it to the bench top, extended the jaw out so it didn't have to be disassembled, retract the jaw so the guide bars hit the trestle, pencil around the bars so I knew where to drill, center punched the screw holes in the vise body under the bench top, take it off, remove the bench top, drill drill drill, put the bench top and vise back on, realize I forgot to mark the screw, do thar a second time, screw it to the bench top, add your vise faces, plane them flat to the bench top, drill a dog hole in the outside face, good to go. Very easy and only should take an afternoon to install!
I (narrowly) avoided the screw-alignment problem by disassembling the vise and creating a template on a scrap of plywood before drilling into the apron. Then I just placed the template on the apron with double-sided-tape and drilled out the apron holes. Just make sure your template is placed in correct alignment on the apron. The screw is off-center, so if you place the template on the apron flipped around, you'll get a screw hole that is completely wrong.
Wish I saw this earlier. Been struggling with screw alignment. I'll try this.
The honesty of this channel is unbelievably refreshing in this era of absurdly polished self-promotion. Good on you, Rex. Your channel might just be my favorite source of woodworking media of them all.
Add a leather lining too. Improves grip and also lessens potential damage to wood from overtightening
Or cork
Rex something I did to combat racking was intentionally install my vise parallel but plane my vise jaw board to slightly taper so that when it racks the jaw straightens out. Seemed to help some.
Same here. I used this vise on my Paul Sellers plywood bench for about 1.5yrs. I found the vise would unevenly grip boards placed above the screw (when edge planing, etc.) when tightened. The fix was to taper the vise jaw a bit. Mine was ash and about 1-5/8" thick. I tapered it so it was 1-5/8" at the top but about 1-1/4" at the bottom. After tapering, the face of the jaw would contact the face of the board being planed evenly across the jaw when tightened.
@@JimHester good tip, thanks. 👍
I bought just the screw and made a face vice for it. Uses a shop made wooden guide bar morticed throught the skirt and works really well.
That's a great style of vise and I totally approve. I think you have to already be a pretty decent woodworker to make one.
@@RexKrueger the face was the same as yours and if I'd used a store bought oak dowel for which I had a matching drill bit rather than a long rectangle it would have been easier than trying to get all the holes to line up like you did here.
8:10 I was like "oh boy, it really looks like the screw is loose and gravity pulling it down, don't mark it like that Rex!". 😢
Also: "...a square of MATCHING wood..." 🤣
....that was the best :D
At 9:01, the error goes back to 8:07 where the threaded rod sagged out of line with the guide bars. Disassembling the front seems unneeded when you could just use the back end of the vice or your initial drawing to get that center hole spot on. This is a a great video, and I've always appreciated your candor in showing and explaining the errors and obstacles along the way. This really helps prepare someone for the reality that there will always be errors and obstacles in woodworking. As a tattoo artist friend of mine once said, mastery comes from recovering from your mistakes, not the absence of them.
I literally just finished installing this Yost vice last week from your plans…😂. Makes me feel better to know I’m not just a dumb dumb as it took me a few days and several fixes to get it right.
Man, you ain't kidding. I didn't install this type of vice, but the kind with the metal jaws that you line with wood. I had designed my whole bench in my 3D software, and I wound up measure and modeling up the whole vise as well, as designing that into the front of the bench was a major task that I didn't want to get wrong. I had to cut out notches for the guide bars and screws, and reinforce the wood, and space everything just so it would wind up right where I wanted it. Then the vise itself was rather heavy (and greasy) so dry fitting it over and over was a job. In the end though, it works well, so it was worth it to me.
I made a version of your low Roman workbench that was 2 boards narrower to make it more portable to take outside and had to install a 7" vice on the end, without running afoul of the legs and had to carve out a large recess on the underside to do it and drive the lag bolts in an awkward way, but it got done, even though I had never installed one before. Not easy, but totally worth the trouble.
I had trouble with my install. The bolts I used were undersized so I used washers like in this video. But the vice would move when clamping since the holes had some play. I'm currently looking for bolts with a bigger screw shaft.
Isn't is always harder than it looks? I think you will find that very few of us are dissuaded by the difficulty.
I am not alone in finding the video inspiring and I can't wait to get to my vice installation. This is because you solved two problems I was having. First, you specified that the vice pad be no more than 4 inches above the support the vice affords it. Now I know that I can install the vice where I wanted to and not worry that the vice pads will break.
Then you also demonstrated the DIY transfer punch. Buying tools, at retail prices, that I don't expect to use much is a deal breaker for me. Now I can custom-make the transfer punches I will need and I won't need to delay while I wait for a lucky find at an estate sale.
Keep on filming those false steps, mistakes and unexpected problems. They are the hallmark of the best teachers. They are your hallmarks. They are why I will be watching your videos as long as you continue making them.
Your videos haven't been showing up in my YT feed for the last few months. Good to see you back front and center. That's a fine looking bench for sure.
Just added the exact same vise about a month ago. Jointer's bench with a 2x10 apron. Just flip the bench on it's top it made it so much easier. A little trouble with the mounting hardware and filing for the handle. All said and done mine works great. Good and cost-effective!
When i mark water points when installing a vanity, i have in the past put a bit of tap grease on the points where they punch out of the wall amd just push the vanity back till they touch
Leaves a removable mark right where i need, then drill am oversized hole. Never missed yet
...nice 👍
Insane timing i literally just finished my new bench and received my yost vice yesterday.
I didn't know I needed this video so thank you Rex. I built a decent first bench and am not ready too build a 2nd. My biggest issue right now is work holding. Now time too go down a rabbit hole of vice installing!
I installed this vice on my bench; the instructions come with a template for the guide bar and screw holes. You don’t need to knock the roll pin out to get the placement correct. You could also take the under-top hardware, place it on a piece of paper, and trace out the holes for guide bars and screw.
When drilling with a spade bit, I found clamping a piece of scrap to the back side of the face was very effective at preventing blowout.
I didn't get instructions or a template. Just parts.
Nice video. As a not-quite-beginner-anymore, vise installations are challenging and terrifying. Thanks for taking some mystery out, and for not glossing over the tricky bits.
One quick thing, I have this vice and learned the hard way that they work A LOT better if you use a 3" thick front chop with the holes drilled very accurately. This takes a ton of racking pressure of of the three silly screws that are supposed to hold the chop. Once I did that I started loving this vice. Also, consider facing the chop with leather, it makes a big difference.
I wish I knew what you were saying because I'm about to install mine. guess I'll google some of your terms.
@@jarroddavis4025 in the video Rex uses a 1.5" piece of wood for the moving jaw of the vise. By making that 3" thick the thicker wood in the moving jaw will put the twisting force on the guide rods rather than the three screws that hole the front jaw on the vise. There is a lot of twisting force when something small is clamped near the top of the vise (which is a very common scenario). Hope that helps.
@@tompossin5883 thanks. I will incorporate that.
Clear and very useful video Rex.
I have installed my vise so that the left side (for left-handers, right side) of the wooden jaw is flush with the side of my workbench. That way your piece of wood is well clamped to shorten it and you can hold the piece that falls off with your free hand.
Greetings from Flanders (Belgium)
I'm in the middle of building a 2800mm continental workbench with face and tail vice from the dead ash in the area . Boy, I wish you could have made all the mistakes first! Thanks for the video.
Look at 8:15, when the mark for the center hole is being made. Note that the center, threaded rod is clearly sagging - not parallel with the two smooth rods. I was not surprised that it was too low!
Note also that the part you already attached would make a fine template. So would the paper template you showed in the first place.
This was interesting Rex, and kudos to you for keeping in the mistakes and work-arounds !
Looking forward to the bench build !
Thank you!! I have been watching a BUNCH of your videos the last couple of weeks, while planning my own workbench for handtools. I bought one of these vises and made a quick install on my temporary bench. Now I understand why it's so wiggly, and I have some exciting ideas for my "real" benchtop design. Your videos are FANTASTIC! I want to do allll the things for my new workshop - shooting boards, squares, marking tools... It's gonna be so much fun!!
Rex, thanks for the "Heads up!" On my second try, I removed the guide bars from the vise, drilled the 1 3/8" hole for the screw and then could press the plate against the jaws for as the alignment template. I'll build the anti-racking jig soon - the vise is not precision. The Quick-stack is my first workbench, a solid start to quality shop work. Thanks!
after a tons of videos i finally went with a paul sellers bench based on the scraps i had laying around, but its so similar to your benches I happy to see yet another proper budget bench series coming out soon!
Excellent! It was great to see "Rex figures it out" again! Thanks for the honest appraisal of the level of difficulty. I suspect I'll be doing a leg vice when I build my Quick Stack!
Glad to, also, be a new Patron. Thanks for all you do!
Welcome to the community!!
Thanks Rex! I installed this vice into my bench a few years back and yes, it's tricky. About a year in, I split the front jaw in just the manner you warned about, as I had to clear a welded steel frame underneath and was forced into mounting too low.
The split was pretty clean, so I broke it apart by hand and glued it straight back in place, using 100mm bugle screws straight up the guts of the piece, because there's no such thing as over-engineered. :-) So now it's got 6x6mm steel rods reinforcing the front jaw and has been fine since.
Awesome looking new bench Rex. It’s similar to Paul Seller’s more recent bench version with the tool well. When I built your English joiner bench, I used this 10” Yost vise and a quick release Yost 10” vise instead of the leg vise mainly due to the cost of the leg vise screw. There was a Yost version and a knock off within $10 on amazon. The scaffold screws were easily the same or more unless I bought them in 4-7 unit bulk and paid $75 of shipping directly to a construction equipment supplier at the time. Throw in the coat of lumber, and it didn’t make sense with prices at the time to spend similar or more for more work to make a leg vise compared to the Yost 95% ready to go vises. I used the red oak versions of the stair treads from your leg vise video for the chops and glued them 3 layers thick. They’ve worked well for me for a year now, and my main issue when installing was that I somehow put the vise from this video on out of square. It closes with about a 1/2” difference from right to left. I’d recommend those to beginners before trying to adapt equally priced leg vise hardware to be honest. Thanks for the great content man. Looking forward to what your new shop opens up for you in 2023
I’ve worked with and installed several of these over the years, and I totally agree they are a pain. All that would be needed is a paper template, but no manufacturer that I know of has bothered to include one. The other thing of note is that is that chop needs to be at least 2 inches thick, 2.5 - 3 is ideal. This will help a lot with racking. I also plane a slight taper on the gripping face so that the top contacts the bench first, and then the bottom flexes in under pressure. This improves grip strength TREMENDOUSLY, and makes the vise so much easier to use.
I have the same vice, and I traced the collets and routed inlays for them into the back jaw, to give the rods maximum support.
But I had the same feeling when I was done. Lots of work just for a vice.
Rex, I used a very similar vise for years. One handy location consideration - not everyone will see this the same, is to set the jaws flush with the END of the bench as well as the top. That makes it very easy to cross cut pieces without indulging positioning gymnastics or a bench hook. Sadly the cheap hardware I had tends to wrack badly without a spacer. I decided to spring for a Wilton 10-inch bench vise. No guide bars at all. But expensive.
Cannot agree more, while there are work-arounds such as larger face plates and shims, its a pain when all you want to do is to quickly crosscut a board with a hand saw without having it wiggle all over the place. The key is planning ahead when you design your bench. Wish I had thought of that with my current iteration.
Sadly, the leg is in the way on this specific one.
That's one of the reasons I worked for more than a decade with up to four wood-jawed screw clamps before I even bothered getting a personal vice. I started with an 8 inch clamp... and eventually ended up with a pair of 8's and a pair of 12's... Worth their weight in GOLD. ;o)
Rex, thank you as always for the amazing and honest walk through of woodworking tools! As a side not, as someone who gets motion sick/vertigo from movements on screens, the small sliding/bouncing transitions played havoc with the vertigo on a cellphone screen.
I have two of these installed on my Roubo style bench, and they are amazing, and weren’t that much of an issue installing with the flat, thick benchtop. But of courae I don't have an apron to worry about, as is the case with your Nicholson
You may be able to transfer the screw location without disassembly if you drill a slightly oversized hole in some scrap, place the screw through it when you run your guide rods into the apron, then secure it to the apron temporarily (clamp/screw/pin/blue-tape+CA). Remove the screw and guide rods, leaving the drilled scrap in place and use it as a guide bushing for drilling the screw hole in the apron.
Just finished putting this same vice on my bench a few weeks ago. Good to see this noob figured out on his own some of the same tricks you used. Still have to put a handle on it so it was good to see I should round out the holes a bit. I hadn't stuck my fingers in there yet to feel the sharp edge.
Thanks for sharing your suffer. I've installed this a month ago and would have found nice to see someone installed it before end. Mine is a very different bench design (and my first ever workbench), top is 3 inch thick pine (made of 2 slabs), no epren, flush 6x6 legs. I've placed the vice on the left of the leg, flush with the edge and overlapping the leg. I must admit, I really like this placement. I like to saw passed the end of my bench, holding the waste side in my left hand rather then crossing harms like I often see. One thing I should have done better, just highlighting that as you do mention in your video, is to leave space between the two little support and the main body. I endup with some horizontal racking where the jaw slides a bit downward, creating a slight angle between the jaw and the bench edge. I can certainly fix it by creating a slight angle in the wood jaw, maybe I'll do that someday, got a be motivated, its made of a waste of curly maple they had at the mill were I by my rough lumber.
I was so happy to see that you had this, much more comprehensive than the others on TH-cam. Building a table, and next is this very installation. Thanks!
I have that vice on the end of my joiners bench that I built from your plans. It was hell to put on. Now that I've watched your video. I think I will redo it so I can get it more precise.
Well, this would have been handy to have watched before I went about installing the smaller size of that exact vise to my Harbor Freight workbench, but I'm very happy to see that the decisions I made doing it were good ones. It wasn't as easy as I had expected, but I got it done, and learned a lot doing it.
Very nice. I bought the plan for the minimal bench. I'm thinking about making a second one and cutting out a recess in the middle for my small but handy chop saw.
I am very much looking forward to seeing that new bench, Rex. I'm about to build a bench. I was going to go for your English jointer's bench, but I really wanted to include a tool well on it. I'm thinking I will likely copy your new one, but use lamented 2x4s for the top
I’m installing the Rockler version of this vise currently, and this gave me some ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Good stuff, as always, Rex. I've had this vise in my wish list for a year. This helps a ton.
I also have this vice and doing the transfer of hole location takes detail. I would suggest the collet washers be on the face of the bench for additional alignment support. we found the best hole aligner was using the base in reverse at the front of the bench, also if you have a lathe, the vice handle can be made with a smoother rounded keeper on the ends. I added a rubber grommet to cushion impacts of the handle on the lead screw
Hey Rex,
Great video. The title really caught my eye because I made the Quick Stack work bench and added the 10 inch and 7 inch quick-release bench vises. The vise installs were a bit more involved than expected and the larger of the two vises chatters a lot but does the job. The video gave me a bit of vindication and it prompted me to go clean and lube the vises so they operate way better now.
I have used the QuickStack bench a lot. 90 plus percent of the time I have the tool tray upside down as an extension of bench top work surface. Eventually I will replace it with solid bench top and will store the tool tray below. The tray is also handy apart from the bench.
Btw, regarding the handle for the large vise: I used 1/4 inch dowels as handle stops, up near the ends of the handle like you showed, but found them uncomfortable there. I recently moved them much further in to get them away from my hands; which more or less keeps the handle centered thus giving up a bit of leverage and it may cause interference (handle being proud of bench top when clamping something). Will see how it plays out; there are workarounds for both.
I installed this vice on my Roubo Bench 5 years ago and still using it. Made several changes:1- ground off the upside-down cast CHINA off the front and painted it the same color as the Record Vice on the end. 2.replaced the wood screws holding the chop with recessed bolts. The screws loosened every use. 3-disgarded the additional guides and use a small collection of inserts to balance the racking otherwise the throat is shortened if I used the additional guides. 4-added leather lining.
Rex, awesome video that helped me figure out how to attach a vise to one of your bench plans sets. Making a template to drill four sets of holes to fit between cross pieces was essential. Also attaching it before the top is installed made it much easier since I could see everything without lying on the floor looking up like you had too. A drill press ensured straight holes that were slightly oversized for tolerances and wood movement.
I have this same vise and you're right that it isn't easy but got it done and love the vise. What would have helped is if the company that makes it also included a template for the holes.
...brilliant! 💥
I installed a very similar vice several years ago. It wasn't even on a proper workbench, but on a cabinet in the garage that I use as a workbench. Your video has some great tips which would have made the installation easier.
Your vice recommendation sparked my interest. I'm planning on a new workbench and the vice i currently use is top mounted.
This vice i a good solution for freeing up my precious real estate of my workbench.
Thank you for reminding this kind of setups. 👍
Very timely, Rex. I am building an English style bench and just a few minutes ago ordered that same vice. I was going to use a hardwood for the face but seeing you use yellow pine will save me a few bucks. My bench is sort of a hybrid between yours and Paul Sellers.
Bought it last week. Haven’t had time to install it. Thanks for the video!
Hello, Mr. Krueger;
I think I'd have done that (drilling the screw hole) a bit differently.
In my experience, when held level the screw will sag at the unsupported end.
I would have secured the vise, w/ the screw level.
Then I'd raise & lower the unsupported rear end to determine the range of movement.
Half that from the bottom should give a close enough center when the screw hole is 1/4" larger than the screw (1/8" clearance all around).
Even more clearance prolly wouldn't hurt, say 3/16" clearance (3/8" larger than the screw).
Just an idea, I have *not* tried it but it should work.
Great job, & IMO the vise is still a good deal.
If building the bench just compensate for the vise before the bench is completed.
I do like the way you chose to hide the hole but I wonder if it bothers you.
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Rex, I recently built your quick stack bench and had pretty much just as much "fun" as you installing the face vice! I must see I was massively impressed by the design and the overall approach in making the bench approachable for beginners and hobbyists. Really solid, really satisfying! One thing about using the construction lumber though was the quality of what I could get was reeeally suspect (lots of knots, lots of twist) and it was all rough sawn so I spent hours with a hand plane trying to get surfaces I could use. Good practice though
I'm so glad you built the bench and had success with it! Thanks for letting me know.
Nice! I bought a Chinese made quick release vice at a yard sale. My bench has multiple uses so modifications to it for the vice have not been an easy decision. It may have a motorcycle engine on it next week. You just proved my hesitance.
I don't know how the price differs, but I've found that a piece of black pipe with two end caps makes an awesome handle for vices. I have it on both of my leg vices and my face vice, and I love it. Disassembly is a breeze!
The webbing between my index finger and thumb turned to hamburger just reading this!
@@benjamingiese841 Haha all I can say is I'm getting pretty good at stopping the vice when the handle isn't in a vertical position, or I make sure my hand gets out of there in a hurry. I've only smashed my thumb web once so far with that handle, but that left one hell of a blood blister.
@@notreallymyname3736 you're a faster learner than I!
Been there, done that. 😒 It was early in my woodworking experience (3 years ago). My bench was different, but I still had, um, "fun." Very similar fitment problems as you had, but the ugly holes remain un-beautified. But it LOOKED like it would be so easy!
Dandy video once again! 👍
I installed a very similar vise on my table. I found that installing it flat made it close at the bottom first leaving a small gap at the top. I installed it with a deliberate slight upward slant to allow for it to sag down and still close parallel. That made it even more difficult to install, of course. LOL It works great!
Maybe I 'm just crazy, but another addition that I would suggest is to make a friction device inside the main screw t-nut that holds the wood handle.
What I did was to make a small wooden disc that is the diameter of the central hole where the screw goes. The disc had a curve carved into one face to get more contact with the side of the dowel The back side of the disc was flat with a small circular rebate to hold a spring captive.
Since the screw does not go all the way to the wooden handle there is space for this disc and a small spring which applies pressure to the disc and up against the wood dowel. I hope this makes sense. The installation of this friction device was simple. Insert it into that unused space with the spring up against the hidden end of the screw and press against the wood disc and the spring while sliding the wooden dowel into place.
This modification makes the wooden handle flop around a lot less. I also found that if I spin it too fast the dowel could sometimes slide over and almost clock me in the face. With this small amount of friction, the dowel is less likely to slide in and out so fast.
I made a twin screw vice with a long, thick threaded rod that I cut in half, two nuts, and some scraps like a 4x4. Total cost? About $4. It works great!
Also if you have a torpedo level, after you’ve drilled the first two holes for the bars you can put your level on it to see how level it is then try your best to mimic the same on the screw before you mark it. From the video you can kinda see it is low before it’s drilled. Thanks for the video Rex always appreciate it
Great video on the pro's of getting a vice and the various struggles of installing one...
At the same time, for a lot of basic work needs, the old-school wood screw clamps are still among top performers for the space taken and money invested. Wood jaws don't mangle work pieces, while the twin handles and size of 8 and 12 inch clamps allows work-holding that should satisfy most uses for a modest home wood worker... Don't have a vice or money? Clamp the thing right to the end of the bench...
Don't get me wrong... A good vice can make for a GREAT bench! At the same time, at least in the beginning, those old-school "aggravating bastards" are surprisingly useful for as wobbly as they first appear, and that wobbly nature actually becomes their greatest feature as you get used to them.
AND for the beginner, the "easy way" to get started is really simple. Just get the larger one! You might not really NEED it so much now for the size, but on a budget, you'll be thankful not to go hunting a bigger clamp later on when you DO need it. ;o)
Boy, you weren't kidding. Not much room for error here, I screwed up nearly every step. Make sure the receiving piece inside the bench is absolutely parallel to the apron face. Drill oversized holes. Also, make sure you install it in the right location the first time! I learned a lot through trial and error, but I hope never to do this again.
nice recovery on the screw alignment. I was quite surprised you didn't use your initial paper template taped to the apron and just drill into it.
I was going to say this too! (I think he said his paper template was rough, but I still think acurately measuring out the paper template would take less effort than disassembling the screw and tracing it directly?)
@@tegaki-tegaki disassembling the vise isn't hard to do and it is a perfect template. The best way to make more work for yourself is to try to avoid doing the work you need to do. Making that template was ultimately a complete waste of time.
I made and installed my leg vise onto my planer’s bench (both from the bench video you made) and it works great. 2 years now and strong as ever. So, with all do respect, it’s much easier and more approachable then this video. What I like about the bench vise is it is easy and forgiving. If you were to look at it you’d see about 76 areas where I made mistakes but the thing works great. I have to guess if I put this vise on, I’d make a giant mess out of it.
I live in Norway and the prize was not scary, but shipping and taxes was more than the prize of the vise.
It took me almost 5 hours to install my vice in my bench, post build. I built your own English Joiner’s bench and flipping it upside down, by myself was a real treat.
It's like you knew I was about to install this vise to my quick stack workbench
another great video Rex I installed one like this a month ago I know how difficult they are
Nice install, thank you for sharing your awesome project with us today, stay safe, happy and healthy, from Henrico County Virginia
I'm planning to build a wood bench vise, thank you for the valuable information.
for your new bench, include the tip to buy 2x12s instead of 2x4s. The lumber is usually better, less knots or SYP instead of whitewood, and the cost is usually the same or less. Well worth the money for the "upgrade".
One downside is that you have to cut it on a table saw to get accurate rips, and that can be tricky. Of course you also have to have a table saw. :)
@@eloscuro704 For sure I would use a table saw to rip them. Howerver, you do have to put a ton of work planing the 2x4s or the ripped 2x12 (or 2x10s) so I don't see "accurate" as a requirement. If you have a great love of hand ripping saws that will work, but a jig saw or circular saw will also work. Even if you get the straightest construction lumber, they have rounded corners (you don't want a ribbed workbench) and are never that straight anyway.
Honestly, the SYP is an enromous upgrade over whitewood, and that's worth it just from that perspective. I like to plane it better, and if you're spending time planing you might as well plane something you like.
I just built my first workbench this spring. I bought a Sjoberg vise. It wasn't too bad to install. Very nice to use however. absolutely no racking.
I bought the plans and the video for the quick stack workbench. This was the vise suggested to buy. This video will surely help when I am ready to install it. I have a thought about your video and plan products if you don't mind a little feedback. I think the quality of the plans was very good! I would love it if you would include a certain number of e-mail questions with the video series. Maybe you could set up a special e-mail that is mentioned in the video series alone to limit junk e-mail. For example: I'm having a terrible time finding Southern Yellow Pine in Connecticut and would have loved being able to simply ask what a good replacement would be. I wouldn't mined paying an extra bit for that. Maybe you could have that as a "premium" package since your time is worth paying for. Who knows it might even lead to a few more patreons? :)
I am learning a lot from your videos and probably more importantly they are giving me the courage to try doing some of the stuff you're showing us. I look forward to more.
Great video. Interestingly complex. I think you made the process easier to understand Rex. Cheers.
If you do a bit of planning ahead you could make a template of the hole pattern for the screw and guide bars while the whole thing is assembled and the fixed half of the vise keeps the screw and bars aligned.
If you just take the vise apart the front movable jaw is a perfect template. It's only two nuts and a pin.
I installed this very same model on your Joiners Bench, and man did I struggle… at the time I thought I was a complete idiot for finding it difficult, at the end It turned out alright, great Video! Wish I could post a picture of my bench
Bought a similar vice not even thinking about the installation. It's a MASSIVE pain to put on since I didn't plan ahead with my bench. Now I'm awkwardly trying to mark, measure and drill accurately upside down in places that I can barely reach. I've honestly given up on installing it well and am just going to slap it on in a way that barely functions and use this as an excuse to build a new bench planning around the vice.
I found a dremel to be extremely handy when installing on my workbench. It fits in tight places to drill pilot holes, then I could come back from the other side with the spade bits.
WARNING - the alignment on this is critical. Drilling the holes in the apron must either be oversized or perfectly perpendicular or the rods will not match with the cast iron body of the vise. You have to use the dowel trick to mark the centers of the rods on the apron and even that might not be precise enough.
Since there is no room between the 4x4 braces on the Kruger joiners bench for this vise, I mounted it 2 inches lower to the underside of the 4x4, NOT on 2x4 spacers attached to the table top. I added another 4x4 block on the left end side of the bench and mounted the vise to the underside of the 4x4 brace and this added 4x4 block. Despite best efforts, holes were slightly off and had to be enlarged with a rasp. Also the vertical placement of the vice body must perfectly match the vertical height of the holes in the apron - any angle and the rods will bind. Even the round guides have to be perfectly positioned on the apron or again, the rods will bind. Things may seem to work, until the bolts are tightened and things begin to bind.
My exact problem. Tried three times and none of them aligned. Going to try making a plywood template (suggested above). Maybe oversize the holes a bit more. Off to buy more wood
@davidozab2753 Yes. If the vise is not exactly perpendicular to the apron, even aligning the holes to the rods will not prevent binding as the vise is opened. So if you drill the holes perpendicular to the apron the rods could pass through the holes at a slight angle causing binding especially with the metal guide bushing that have zero tolerance. I think mounting the vise to the 1-1/2" table top may also cause problems if the top warps slightly over time. So far, mounting the vice to the underside of the 4x4 cross brace has worked fine and gives a deeper jaw.
@@PaulLebow I'm mounting to the Quick stack Bench so I've got a 3+ inch top. I'll make sure the vise rails and jaws are perpendicular. Thanks
@@PaulLebowI got it today on my fourth attempt. Ended up using the vise front as its own template.
What about a workbench that doesn't have a wood apron like this, just the wooden table top?
audio sounds much better in this episode, great job with the acoustic treatment!
Recently installed a similar vice, what looks like a simple install was trickier than I imagined. Took a bit of adjustment of the vice face so it clamps parallel
The easiest way to find and drill the screw location is to clamp a block of wood below it and ensure it is level with the guide rods. Then, do as you did and trace around the screw.
Installing this vise was the hardest part of my bench build. It took four tries, but I finally got it.
(I'm building the Quickstack bench, so not all these steps will apply to the Minimum Timber Bench).
After three tries with the witness stick failed, I took a day trip to the coast with my family (most important step--getting away).
When I returned I cut a new rear jaw from a spare 2x4, planed a reference face and edge, clamped it above the fully assembled vise with the edge flush to the edge of the bench, and carefully measured the distance to the left edge of the vise, and locked that in on my combination square. I struck a line on the rear jaw, dissasembled the vise and clamped the front part on the jaw with the left edge on the line.
Then I found the paddle bits that presisely matched the width of the holes and drilled down just enough to get a center point. Once those were set, I switched to the larger paddle bits Rex recommened and drilled the holes based on the center points (from each side to avoid tearout, of course). And it worked. I slipped the rear jaw onto the rails and the front part of the vise lined up perfectly. With a touch of paste wax it turned smooth as silk.
Now I just need to cut a new front jaw and use the rear jaw as a template. Once I'm done, my bench is complete!
Sorry for the long post. I hope some of the steps are helpful to others struggling with this vise.
Using the rear jaw as a template didn't work (more wood in the scrap pile) so I had to go through the same process again 🙄 All I had on hand that was wide enough was a strip of plywood. It's only 3/4 thick so I either need to laminate more wood (and drill more holes) to make it thicker or buy more wood and go through the process again. Ugh.
I've grown to hate this vise, but if I can get it to work I might forgive it.
I installed a vice like this onto my bench 18 years ago.
I had the benefit of a 3" thick beech bench top and a 1 1/2" thich beech vice jaw, and no front apron. It served me well and still does even though I have a second Record quick release vice at the other end of the bench.
I was wondering, you made a paper template with the holes marked, and taped it to the front of the apron. Why didn't you use that to mark the hole positions to save getting the screw hole in the wrong place?
Aside from that, it is a good video to show that it isn't always as easy to do as some channels, using CAD and CNC routers, might suggest.
Wood is just my absolute #1 favourite material 🙏❤️
Love your videos Rex, but I do have a question. It looks like you are still using a pencil for basically every thing you are marking. I get your videos are geared toward new craftsman, mostly considering budget, but a marking knife of some kind be thrown in somewhere. A pencil has its uses but a knife is better for accuracy. Considering the concept of your channel, why not grab an X-Acto knife and use that as a marking knife. The #11 blades are widely available and cheap, and the starting knife itself is only a few bucks. Maybe give it some thought, I think it fits perfectly with your concept and a marking knife would really elevate accuracy in the projects you show us.
Rant over. Love your work and look forward to your bench build!!!
Great video, love the fact that you've found the possible mistakes for us ahead of time and shown on video how to fix it if it happens. That's huge. Also, at the beginning of the build you had the piece of paper as a template... why couldn't you just use that as a guide to bore the holes for the rods and screw?? Not accurate enough? Thanks
I wondered that, too :)
This a great video. I like this style vice and will be adding it to my bench over the winter. Thanks
Hah, wish I'd had this when I installed that vise on my quick stack bench 6 months ago! I made most of these mistakes and more. Now that I know how easy it is to remove the roll pin, I would have done that and made my install much easier. Hardest part with mine was lining up the support collets, because I mounted it directly to the underside of the 3-1/2" thick slab, so there was almost no clearance to get the collets screwed in. If I did it again I'd add a 1/2"-1" spacer.
Only trouble I've had with this is that the jaw can get a bit loose when clamping a piece at the top. My jaw is laminated red oak, held to the vise face with #14 screws. If it gets loose again I might try countersinking some nuts on the work side to get a better hold on it.
I just had the same struggle with my Quickstack bench. Hardest part of the build by far.
I should update! The screws on the vise jaw eventually stripped out. I replaced them with threaded inserts and secured with machine screws, big washers, and lock washers. No problem since!
Liquid oil and grease on the screw will attract dirt and sawdust. Your paste wax will also lube the screw, but since the screw is lower than the guide bars, dry graphite powder is your friend.
At 08:10 I yelled at my monitor "Rex! Stop it! It's not aligned properly!!" ... well, I did my best but he obviously couldn't hear me and so fate took its course ... 😂
Hi Rex. As coincidence has it, my new vice arrived this morning. It's a fairly large (9.5" width) and very heavy type (16.5 Kg/36.37 pounds) with quick release and a slide up dog, which I will use as a face vice. I got it for £69 brand new in a sale because (get this) it arrived from the manufacturer to one of my regular online suppliers in 'an obsolete box', which saved me almost 50%. Having unboxed it and finding it to be excellent condition (who cares about the box labelling?), I will order another to use as a tail vice (two for the price of one).
Anyway, as soon this video started, I thought to myself "I don't recognise Rex's bench there; it has angled leg top joints, which I don't remember seeing on any of his benches before" (proof of how close I watch your vids). So, I'm looking forward to watching that video when it arrives because, unlike many people, I decided to get the vice(s) before making the bench, so I will know sizes and so on before hand, rather than pull a pre-made bench apart to adjust.
Nice work, keep it up!
Update; I could not resist that discount and have just ordered another to have matching face and tail vices - for whatever bench I finally decide to make. Rex, you have too many good bench designs to choose from, I mean...wow!
I've always liked your traditional English bench...but for where it will have to go, I still prefer the quick stack bench - maybe until this new bench design of yours proves otherwise. It's worth hanging on to see; after all this time, what's another month or so...? Either way, this video above has given me an eye-opener into what to consider when I come to fit the vices into the bench that I eventually build, even though they are not the same type.
I take my Record vise off old assembly benches and it goes with me to my new workshop. Texas to California to North Carolina.
8:14 if you look at the angles you can see that the screw is sagging... a lot. Using cardboard to make a template like uuu that lines up with the bottom or top of the bars and screw would have helped a lot.