In article ,
Bill Leonhardt wrote:
I have posted pictures to ABPW to illustrate this question.

I have a quick acting woodworking vice that I inherited from my dad. The
front jaw is higher than the rear jaw by about 1/4". The vise doesn't have
one of the sliding dogs and I have previously mounted the vise so the
projecting front jaw sticks up higher than the surface of my workbench where
it acts like a dog. On the positive side, I can use it to clamp work on the
bench, however, on the negative side, as I slide work around on top of the
bench, it catches on the vise and gets dinged.

My bench top isn't as flat as I would like and, in the near future, I will
be installing a new top. I will, therefore, be remounting this vise. I'd
like to hear comments from the group as to whether people feel that it is
more important to have the dog-like clamping ability (install vise with the
lip proud) or the "clean top" (recess the vise lip).

Of course, I could be looking at this all wrong, and, in that case, I'd be
happy to have you straighten me out.

Thanks,

Bill Leonhardt



You can have both: Install wooden jaws on the vise, and position the
vise so that the tops of the jaws are even with the table top. Make
the wooden face on the movable jaw thick enough so that you can
install some type of dog in it when needed.


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Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland