I got back home yesterday from visiting my wife’s grandparents in Western North Carolina. Her grandfather is a truck driver and about a year ago got about 1900 bf of 9/4 White Pine all 12” wide and 16’ long. I took a chainsaw and cut some boards to build a workbench. I ripped them to 4” wide pieces and planed them to 2” thick. My plan is to laminate 12 of them together for a 24”x60” top. I have been doing some research on here and am amazed at the quality of workmanship here on LJ’s. I know that white pine is not the ideal wood for a workbench (would have much rather had maple or fir) but at FREE it was priced just right. I am on the fence on which vises to order. I am strongly considering the following Jorgensen vise
http://www.tools-plus.com/jorgensen-27091.html?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=froogle&utm_term=JOR27091
But also am looking at the following Veritas vises
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=31137&cat=1,41659,41661&ap=1
and
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=41664&cat=1,41659
I don’t really know if the tail vise will work by itself or if I have to buy an attachment. I was going to bolt a wood block so it could be used to clamp work on top of the workbench
...... Mods, if it is wrong to post offsite links I apologize and please delete
Pics to come!
-- still wet behind the ears.....
4 comments so far
David
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81 posts in 807 days
#1 posted 514 days ago
Nothing wrong with pine and the price cannot be beat by any vendor unless they deliver it to.
-- David, Center,Texas
Scott R. Turner
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181 posts in 1361 days
#2 posted 513 days ago
It’s nice to have a quick-release front vise. I have a Rockler: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21523 and am fairly happy with it, but the price has gone up about 50% since I got mine. Your vise(s) will be the most used feature on your workbench, so I think it is worth it to spend a little more up-front on them.
sawedoff
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120 posts in 593 days
#3 posted 513 days ago
I ended up ordering the veritas front vise and tail-vise screw. I am hoping they will do the trick and give me good service
-- still wet behind the ears.....
Bigrock
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163 posts in 1135 days
#4 posted 512 days ago
I Am with you, Free is good. Some of the soak in finishes makes the top harder and you always refinish.
I think you may need to do some more looking at vices. The two from Lee Valley,tend to tilt out at the top, unless they have corrected hat part.
Please look at more sites. I think the best vices are at Lie-Nelson, but that’s the high end.
A quick release vice is a nice feature. I have forgotten who has just come out with a new one, maybe LV. You have a lot of work to get what you want, need, and can pay for.
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