In 2007 I bought a vice by mistake. I put it under a bench and forgot
about it. It was too much trouble to send it back.

This summer I was busy repairing the body of my motorhome, and this
involved bending a lot of aluminium sheet. I was putting two steel bars
in the vice, clamping the sheet between them, and then adding clamps at
the ends. Then I would bend the sheet.

It occurred to me that this job would be easier if I had two vices. I
remembered the 2007 vice and fitted it to the bench with the fixed jaws
exactly in line. This worked well.

When that job was finished I needed to plane some timber. I found that
having two vices was really good. I have two Black and Decker Workmates
and I would previously have used them but they are dreadful. They are
awkward to use; they move about, and they are far too low. With two
vices I could hold a long piece of wood very securely.

I wondered if the two vice idea could help me when I needed to cut sheet
material accurately. Accordingly I made a platform with a slot in it. I
used some scrap wood, so the result looks a bit rough. It works really
well though. Obviously the idea can be enhanced. I might add a movable
fence. An unexpected benefit is that the work surface is at a very
convenient hight for hands and eyes. This means the platform has already
been used for things it wasn't meant for. It's very much better than a B
& D Workmate for many jobs.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pu4hq92h4...HsrARUOVa?dl=0

Bill