On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 20:19:39 +0200, "P van Rijckevorsel"
wrote:

Guy LaRochelle schreef
I just screwed up and I am kind of ticked off. What a moron I am and I
don't even know how I made the mistake. I bought a large front vise from Lee
Valley to put on my workbench. I cut the front and rear jaws, I used the
template that came with the vise to bore all my holes for the guide rods
etc and I go to put it on my workbench and my holes are drilled in the wrong
place........arrrrgh. I am now short about 1/4" on the top edge of both my
jaws so they are not flush with the top of my bench. Does anyone see any
reason why I couldn't laminate a 1/4" edge to the top edge of both jaws or
would that create a weak spot? It would be a shame to start all over since
it was the nicest pieces of birch I could find in my shop. Regards. -Guy

* * *
Actually, strength does not enter into it, or you'd be using a metal vise.
The purpose of such a vise is to hold wooden objects securely without
damaging the wood. Therefore, what is important is not to use a different
wood than for the rest of the vise, so as to have a surface of uniform
hardness. Almost certainly looks are more important here than strength.

Worst case scenario (glue lines letting go) you'd have to do it over again.
PvR

I wish I had a better idea what went wrong with your setup (There's a
dozen ways to mount any vise to any bench). I mortised my bench top
to receive the metal jaw, used ply spacers, and fixed two oak face
cheeks to the metal jaws. The oak cheeks are larger than the metal
jaws. I used oak because that's the hardwood I found laying around
the shop. My vise is large and heavy (Record #53E) and the biggest
concern is this monster ever dropping on my toe. I used the biggest,
baddest four bolts I could possibly use. It has proved exceptionally
functional for 12 years, and probably many more to come.