I finished my real bench awhile back and am loving it. Butcher block
maple top,Record 53 on the front and Veritas twin screw on the udder
end. When I installed the twin screw I knew from 'sperience and from
other posts that the weight of the 4" thick maple movable jaw would be
a problem. As a converted machinist wanabe I did not want to use rub
blocks under the top because the leverage gets horrible when the vise
is open fully. So I got the idea of using drawer slides mounted under
the lead screws as not to be in the way. I mocked it up using cheapo
Home Depot 100#(not really?) full extension slides,lots of clamps and
some angle iron. It worked pretty well except The vise jaw was too
heavy for the slides and I had to preload the drawslides by angling
them up a few degrees to account for the drooping at full extension.
This still is not a problem if you turn the vise screws slowly. If you
try to turn the screws too fast(a normal speed) the vise jaw bounces
and the screws bind in the nuts. Otherwise it works VERY NICELY!,
Smooth as can be.
NOW THE POINT! Does anyone know if the 200# slides that LV sells are
gobs better than the 100# cheapo slides HD sells? I don't care so much
about the $ as drilling lots of mounting holes in my bench. I hope a
better,higher capacity slide wont sag so much.
Any input on the idea or LV heavy duty slides welcome. Thanks for
reading Keith