Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

Bill Leonhardt

On 12/4/2012 11:18 AM, Bill Leonhardt wrote:
Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

Hadn't thought of them for the purpose, no...but if you protect the
slides from collecting sawdust so they don't get difficult, sounds like
a clever use. Some of the rack slides indeed are solid enough. I'd
like to have a cheap source for heavy storage slides...

--

On Tue, 4 Dec 2012 09:18:26 -0800 (PST), Bill Leonhardt
wrote:

Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

I doubt that sheetmetal glides, even heavy-duty ones, would handle the
pounding and angular torsion a vise gets, Bill. You'll notice that
most vise glides are 5/8"+ solid steel bars with steel plate mounts
1/4-3/8" thick. I'd strongly recommend against it.

--
....in order that a man may be happy, it is
necessary that he should not only be capable
of his work, but a good judge of his work.
-- John Ruskin

Bill Leonhardt wrote:

Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

Bill Leonhardt

One of the problems with an end vise, and the reason I did not go that
route, is they tend to droop after awhile. Instead I went with a "wagon
vise"

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/workbenches/schwarz-
workbenches/wagon-vise-version-4-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwMvoNxn76A

Except I made mine from a Jorgensen large veneer press screw and
stabllized it with a 1/2" board the same length as the movable piece/jaw
and an inch and a half wider. I captured this board, which is centered on
the bottom of the movable jaw, in two runners on the bottom of the bench,
mounted next to the opening the movable jaw travels in. You will want to
use 1/4" bolts to fasten the veneer press screw to the cross piece on the
end of the bench.

There are several advantages of this vise over the traditional end vise,
cost (unless you buy a premade wagon vise from someone like
Benchcrafted), the fact it will not sag. It holds extremely well and is
easy to adjust.

Deb

On Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:07:56 -0600, "Dr. Deb"
wrote:

Bill Leonhardt wrote:

Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

Bill Leonhardt

One of the problems with an end vise, and the reason I did not go that
route, is they tend to droop after awhile. Instead I went with a "wagon
vise"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwMvoNxn76A


http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/pag...19&cat=1,41659
^^^^^
I considered one of those, but for those fewer times that I needed
one, I figured it would be easier to go with some bench dogs and one
of these. vvvvv
http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/pag...25&cat=1,41659

On 12/4/2012 11:18 AM, Bill Leonhardt wrote:
Been reading a lot about workbench construction and, in particular,
the construction of end vises. I note that most of the ones I have
looked at use wood for the "tracks" and other support members.

Has anyone ever considered using heavy duty drawer slides (either a
pair or one really wide one) for guiding the jaw in and out? The
slides, of course, would be buried in the bench so that only wood
would be visible. Where I work there are lots of "standard 19"
electronics racks and they use some short, really heavy duty slides to
slide electronics crates in and out. Thought they might als be useful
in an end vise.

Opinions??

Bill Leonhardt



Just bite the bullet and be the envy of every guy in your neighborhood.

http://benchcrafted.com/TailVise.html

Check out the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjCTdM4V4Y

and my personal favorite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWe32IDX-Ec


Careful watching these, your going to want one, or two!

On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:44:56 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Just bite the bullet and be the envy of every guy in your neighborhood.
http://benchcrafted.com/TailVise.html

Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

On 12/5/2012 8:51 AM, Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:44:56 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Just bite the bullet and be the envy of every guy in your neighborhood.
http://benchcrafted.com/TailVise.html

Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1



Ahhh. Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:32:07 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

Ahhh. Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

You're right! I selected United States as my purchase base and it
disappeared. Wonder why that is? I'm guessing weight and the cost to
ship it for making it unfeasible.

On 12/5/2012 9:42 AM, Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:32:07 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

Ahhh. Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

You're right! I selected United States as my purchase base and it
disappeared. Wonder why that is? I'm guessing weight and the cost to
ship it for making it unfeasible.



Hard to say why as weight does not seem to be an issue with their other
similar heavy products. Maybe an agreement with the manufacturer. LV
may be the Canadian distributor.

On Dec 5, 1:14*pm, Larry Kraus wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:
On 12/5/2012 9:42 AM, Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:32:07 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

Ahhh. *Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? *I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

You're right! I selected United States as my purchase base and it
disappeared. Wonder why that is? I'm guessing weight and the cost to
ship it for making it unfeasible.

Hard to say why as weight does not seem to be an issue with their other
similar heavy products. *Maybe an agreement with the manufacturer. *LV
may be the Canadian distributor.

There are several dealers in each country, but no single dealer in
multiple countries.http://benchcrafted.com/Dealers.html

Thanks for all the responses. I've been studying bench construction
and I am aware of the very nice hardware from Benchcrafted, Lee
Valley, etc. Nice stuff indeed.

In the end, I'm looking forward to building "the ultimate bench" which
might include some of this type of hardware. For now, I'm just trying
to prototype the various ways one can employ "work holding" to see
what works best for me. My thought was to inexpensively mock-up a
tail vise to see how it might suit my needs using drawer slides. I
have an Acme screw and nut from Lee Valley. Besides draw slides, I
also have my eye out (while dumpster diving) for a slide assembly
like:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#sleeve-bear...riages/=kgpe8f

Thanks again, Bill

In article ,
Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:44:56 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Just bite the bullet and be the envy of every guy in your neighborhood.
http://benchcrafted.com/TailVise.html

Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

For the other cheapskates among us, I built a similarly designed vise,
of course not as smooth to operate and cruder construction, with
parts taken from an old scissors jack.
--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation
with the average voter. (Winston Churchill)

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

On 12/5/2012 10:48 AM, Leon wrote:
On 12/5/2012 9:42 AM, Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:32:07 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

Ahhh. Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

You're right! I selected United States as my purchase base and it
disappeared. Wonder why that is? I'm guessing weight and the cost to
ship it for making it unfeasible.



Hard to say why as weight does not seem to be an issue with their other
similar heavy products. Maybe an agreement with the manufacturer. LV
may be the Canadian distributor.
That's my bet too.

On 12/5/2012 3:13 PM, Bill Leonhardt wrote:
On Dec 5, 1:14 pm, Larry Kraus wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:
On 12/5/2012 9:42 AM, Dave wrote:
On Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:32:07 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Or, for almost the same money, he can give in to the buy Lee Valley
Tools fetish that most of us have..
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...60&cat=51&ap=1

Ahhh. Is that the only way you can get one in Canada? I see they do
not sell it in the US thru LV.

You're right! I selected United States as my purchase base and it
disappeared. Wonder why that is? I'm guessing weight and the cost to
ship it for making it unfeasible.

Hard to say why as weight does not seem to be an issue with their other
similar heavy products. Maybe an agreement with the manufacturer. LV
may be the Canadian distributor.

There are several dealers in each country, but no single dealer in
multiple countries.http://benchcrafted.com/Dealers.html

Thanks for all the responses. I've been studying bench construction
and I am aware of the very nice hardware from Benchcrafted, Lee
Valley, etc. Nice stuff indeed.

In the end, I'm looking forward to building "the ultimate bench" which
might include some of this type of hardware. For now, I'm just trying
to prototype the various ways one can employ "work holding" to see
what works best for me. My thought was to inexpensively mock-up a
tail vise to see how it might suit my needs using drawer slides. I
have an Acme screw and nut from Lee Valley. Besides draw slides, I
also have my eye out (while dumpster diving) for a slide assembly
like:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#sleeve-bear...riages/=kgpe8f

Thanks again, Bill

Well, if you want to know about a traditional unit build one.
If you want to know about how an end vise works, take a regular vise and
mount it.
I don't use the bench dogs on my vise, I put wooden faces on and use the
bench dogs I drilled in.
see http://woodchucker.imgur.com/ see the shop images.
I have 2 holes in the face, one on top, and one on the side (not used
right now).

I am sure you will love a traditional, which has the added capability of
holding a piece perpendicular to the bench face. I love my version, it's
the first time I have had a solid (really solid) top and dogs. they are
used all the time now.