I bought an old Emmert Pattern maker's vice a few years ago. This one is
called a turtle back because of the cover on the front. This vice is
amazing. It is 18 inches wide, 7 or 8 inches high and weighs around 80
pounds. The top jaws have recessed dogs, are able to pivot to grab a tapered
piece and the whole vise assembly rotates 360 degrees. There are click stops
every 45 degrees. The bottom side of the jaws have a set of metal working
jaws. Not only does the vise rotate around but it pivots up bringing the
jaws 45 degrees to the bench. This old piece of jewelry was made before 1905
(because of the turtleback). They were made after 1905 for several decades.
It is worth searching for one of these because it is the only vise you will
ever need. One of the companies now makes one and I think it is around $250.
max

You guys better not let your local vice squads hear you've got
vices...LOL...I think you mean vise.
Happy Holidays.
Joe









Andy Dingley wrote:
On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 20:25 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),
(Malcolm Webb) wrote:


Question now is -- which vice do I use as the tail vice?


Big one on the front as the face vice.

I see no usefulness in tail vices. What's sometimes useful is a "notch
in the front edge" vice, which could be emulated by a small tail vice,
so long as the jaw edge is flush with the bench's long edge.

What I really find most useful on my bench (a Tage Frid) isn't the
vices, but the ability to clamp between a fixed and moving dog. My
next bench will have two rows of dog holes.