Andy,

I built that Frid bench about 10 years ago too and I hear ya on all points. I
really don't dislike the shoulder vise, in fact it really fits in well with the
way I work. But I do miss a conventional vise sometimes and I've often felt an
Emmert clone on the opposite end from the tail vise would be great. Three vises
on one bench might be a bit over the top... but still


David

P.S. Its always good to have a smallish/medium sized machinist's vise mounted
on a board that can be trapped in one of the vises on your bench. Very handy!

n article , Andy Dingley says...

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 16:51:42 GMT, "Dave" wrote:

I wouldn't do another shoulder vice on my "main" workbench.

How would you do it now? More importantly, WHY would you do it that way?

I'm not sure what I'd do, just that I don't like the shoulder vice.
http://codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/bench.htm

It's a good vice for holding bulky half-built things, but it's useless
for small stuff. There's a large wobbling wooden jaw, closed by a
steel screw two inches below the top level. You can't hold anyhting
less than 3" tall, or the jaw just tilts.

I'd probably go for the largest and widest cast iron vice I could
find, with wooden jaws added.