# Tail vise for Roubo work bench?



## Smile_n_Nod

I'm (very) slowly building a Roubo workbench. For those of you you use hand tools on a workbench with a tail vise, what sort of tail vise have and what would you recommend?


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## BrandonW

A lot of people put wagon vises in their benches. I used a front vise as my tail vise. It works great. I drilled a couple of dog holes in the chop, so that it can still hold material for face-planing. Here's my bench:


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## BubbaIBA

Wagon vice by BenchCrafted was designed for use on Roubos. There are enough work holding options with the Roubo I even thought about not adding a tail vice….still not sure one is needed.


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## Smile_n_Nod

Brandon, I'm unsure how well a tail-vise with a dog hole mounted in the chop will work if I put my dog holes 2" or so from the front of the bench. Do you experience significant racking forces when you use your tail vise for face planing? I guess I could try to make a wagon vise, but that might be too much of a challenge for this beginning woodworker.


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## BrandonW

A wagon vise is preferred if all you want to use it for is face planing. That said, I use the tail vise all the time-much more frequently than the leg vise because it can hold all sorts of things. I have two rows of dog holes, so wider pieces will engage both sets of holes and will not rack at all. When I only use one row of dog holes, it will rack a little, but it's not really an issue because the bench dog is what holds the wood, if that makes sense. Racking is not an issue at all for me-perhaps I'll take a picture when I'm at home to show you what I'm talking about.

I used the large front vise from Lee Valley and it was a breeze to install.


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## jmos

I made a twin screw vise that spans the width of my bench from two metal screws. I've got rows of dog holes every 3" on either edge of the bench, and a row down the middle of the bench about 12" apart. Each is in line with a dog hole in the chop of the twin screw. It's in my bench build blog. Works nicely. I primarily wanted it so I can clamp drawer sides for dovetailing. Could have gone with a Moxon vise, but I didn't want something else to store.

I use my tail vise a lot, at least as much as the leg vise.


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## BrandonW

I love that vise, John. There's a good chance I may have went down that road had I thought about before building my bench.


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