On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 16:00:19 GMT, "Bob"
wrote:

In selecting a front vice for my work bench, I am intrigued by the pattern
maker's vice

I've not used that one, but I do use a friend's bench with
Axminster's Emmett pattern

To quote past posts of mine:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...6btnG%3DSearch

An Emmett pattern patternmaker's vice is handy, and quite affordable
for the modern Taiwanese repros. A great second vice, they're not so
good as an only vice. They're always on the skew, so they're less
rapid to clamp up square things, which is after all what you do most
of the time. They're also difficult to mount rigidly on some types of
bench.

and
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...6btnG%3DSearch

You may also notice that tilting the vice jaw needs two Allens on the
Lee Valley, and a simple handle on the Axminster. Although the
Axminster is much easier here, for most uses I'd prefer the Lee
Valley. The trouble is that most things we clamp are square (unless
you really are a pattern maker) and it's all too easy for the jaw to
swivel under its own weight. In fact, I find the Axminster to be a
damned nuisance to use. I like it, and I'd like one as a second vice,
but I wouldn't want to have a workshop where this was the only or main
vice.


So, as I posted - I'd go with the biggest English non-tilting cast
iron face vice I could find, with narrow-set guide bars for best
access, a quick-release nut and hard maple faces at least 1/2" bigger
than the cast iron.

--
Smert' spamionam