Workshop conundrum.

[DAPPH]

Hey all. So I made a bench recently that some of you may have seen on my channel.

I’m wondering what to do about a vice for said bench? I have two spare vices. Ones 4” jaws which has the quick opening and the other is this big 6” jaw one. I’m toying with the idea of fitting the larger one? I know the quick opening thing is nice but I haven’t had it before so not sure if it’ll bother me much. Thoughts? My other bench has a small 3 or 4” vice which is the same vice I’ve had for years, that’s not quick opening either?

Also, I have owned a set of nut splitters for years. Never used it till yesterday! What a great little idea. Saved me so much messing around.View attachment 401037View attachment 401043View attachment 401045

Whip a flap wheel round all the edges , put a 3 mm radius onthe corners and round them too . You'll save yourself a load of pain and injury scars by doing it . Had a Husqvarna pull cord snap just as I was about half pull . smashed my hand into an unfinished clean edge ..it bled like a pig . I've still got the deep scar on the back of my right hand 45 years later

I've chain drilled and then cut & carefully filed . angle grinder cut a 10 thou clearance slot to take my vise on a T bracket and welded a big bolt on the leg to take the bracket .. The hidden down plate of the T has an angle grinde cut slot to a hole saw cut hole to slip[ over the bolt . I had to turn a thick washer up on my lather to go against thebleg to get it so it is rock solid when tightened down .

It means I can easily remove the vice and have a flat clear work surface . The vice can also & is often removed fromthe bench and put inthe back of the car to use wo=ith my workmate when away from home
I've also welded a bit of 50/50 angle iron on the side of the leg to tale a cheap wheel brace bar and an extra dee

p socket that fits the nut . it's easier to use the socket and bar than try to mess around with a spanner

 

[MattF]

Whip a flap wheel round all the edges , put a 3 mm radius onthe corners and round them too . You'll save yourself a load of pain and injury scars by doing it .

Sound advice. I generally try to round or chamfer corners, if they can be caught. As you say, it's painful.

 

[Smouser]

When I built my workshop table I added brackets to the legs to hold two vices.
The brackets can be removed or the vices can be lifted out and moved to allow something really big on the table.

Hopefully you can see the idea on this old photo.

I had two Record 84 quick release vices on my bench brackets for about 2 years (only one shown here).

I recently sold the blue vice in the picture and replaced with a slightly larger Paramo quick release vice (I think it is a Paramo 23).

 

[DAPPH]

Not necessarily even a frequent use thing. QR just makes things so much easier. When you're working with various size pieces, for example. Being able to quickly adjust slide length is very useful. It's not a necessity, but it is a nicety. Plus, the QR vices are generally more beefy than their plain screw brethren.

A QR vice is Ok for woodwork but not for engineering as they are known to break at the release mechanism if put under a decent pressure/strain using hand power only ( no power bar stuff ..that's not engineering but mangling mechanic's & nut strangling ) .

 

[MattF]

A QR vice is Ok for woodwork but not for engineering as they are know to break at the release mechanism if put under a decent pressure/strain using hand power only ( no power bar stuff ..that's not engineering but mangling mechanic's & nut strangling ) .

I've yet to come across one broken. I, personally, have far more faith in the strength & sturdiness of a QR vice than a plain screw vice. Issues I've had with knacked nuts, worn threads on plain vices, but never yet a QR.

I don't what apes you've heard that from, but that's what they must have been.

 

[DAPPH]

When I built my workshop table I added brackets to the legs to hold two vices.
The brackets can be removed or the vices can be lifted out and moved to allow something really big on the table.

Hopefully you can see the idea on this old photo.
View attachment 401130

I had two Record 84 quick release vices on my bench brackets for about 2 years (only one shown here).

I recently sold the blue vice in the picture and replaced with a slightly larger Paramo quick release vice (I think it is a Paramo 23).

A proper engineering vice should be at the height of the persons elbow when they are stood straight up and with their hand on their ear . ..it's considered the best position / height to file , hacksaw and dot punch things in the vice . You nearly always have the option to support one or both ends that hang out the vice jaws.


Having the vice so it is 4 to 6 inches in from a corner so you can put a long bar or length of timber in it and out the door resting the over hang on a stand is handy so is having six foot of air to the other end
I wouldn't put side arm holders on , for many a time I need the drop to the floor almost right next to the bench with or without the vice . Any hammering things straight /flat is normally done over one of the legs to stop the corner of the bench
being bent

I've also used a hole saw to carefully cut a 60 mm hole in the left of front centre of the top and counter sunk my router fixing holes around the hole so I can use the top as a router bench if needed , turned up a Delrin filling / blanking plug to level the hole whilst a cutter-less router is screwed in place . I use a pair of clamps on a wooden board across the bench as a fence for the router with a tool hole safety slot cut in one edge .

 

[DAPPH]

I've yet to come across one broken. I, personally, have far more faith in the strength & sturdiness of a QR vice than a plain screw vice. Issues I've had with knacked nuts, worn threads on plain vices, but never yet a QR.

I don't what apes you've heard that from, but that's what they must have been.

I've had them brought to me for repair , when used as an engineering vice & the vice has been over tightened , the QR often gets broken at the yoke point of the release bar or the bar gets twisted so the QR lever is not where it should be .

 

[MattF]

I've had them brought to me for repair , when used as an engineering vice & the vice has been over tightened , the QR often gets broken at the yoke point of the release bar or the bar gets twisted so the QR lever is not where it should be .

That's misuse, not weakness. The QR is not meant as a release mechanism. The handle should be used for both initial & final tightening. Again, apes. No equipment can withstand abuse, day in, day out.

That's akin to saying that ratchet spanners are all crap, if people use them, (& subsequently break them), for releasing highly torqued or rusted bolts, or using them for final tightening.

If any tool is used outside its acceptable usage scope, it will break.

The QR mechanism has one simple purpose: To quickly position the slide. No more, no less.

 

[Bsmith]

I've yet to come across one broken. I, personally, have far more faith in the strength & sturdiness of a QR vice than a plain screw vice. Issues I've had with knacked nuts, worn threads on plain vices, but never yet a QR.

I don't what apes you've heard that from, but that's what they must have been.

I had a Record qr vice that jumped a thred when I was just getting the right pressure to hold things, don't know why, it wasn't an old worn vice, I tried a few times to repair like cleaning thread and nut, altering tension on qr bar, making sure nut was fully located on thread etc. I eventually made something to hold the nut permanently on the thread but of course it was no longer qr. I now have an older qr vice and never had a problem with it.

 

[MattF]

It is older ones I've always dealt with, so I assume it's quite possible quality may have gone downhill with later production models. I think Record also made a model, (SQ series?), which had a different setup. Never seen one of those myself though.

I have seen the odd QR or two with a twisted release bar, but they're only mild steel, so easy to straighten.

Every one I've come across, once cleaned & tensioned correctly, has been rock solid thereafter.

I suppose the term "quick release" may have misled some into thinking that the lever was able to release a tightly clamped item. It is a bit of a vague term, I have to admit.

Quick release vices do seem to be somewhat misunderstood on many occasion. Can't recount the amount of times I've heard people say they're not as strong as plain vices. Their whole design is the opposite of weak.

 

[Erie Fred]

Kim,
If bolting & unbolting works for you, Here's a few details that might speed things up a bit :
1. weld the nuts under the worktop the first time you locate the vise, so remove/replace is simpler/faster,
no need to find a second wrench and reach under there every time. Zing the bolts in & off with an impact wrench.

2. torch out a piece of 1/4" thick plate to clamp vertical in the vice with a large hole up above the jaws,
simply hook the hoist hook in there, and lift the vice up.

 

[Gareth J]

Depends on your work. I've a 6" nasty vice for the welding table and a 4" engineering QR vice on another bench made of an old kitchen worktop, for clean(er) work. The 6" gets abused, the 4" looked after - it even has paint on still!

 

[Erie Fred]

I can't edit my post, but wanted to add.
The lifting plate that you would clamp in the jaws, might need made bent back like a gooseneck over the anvil
portion, so it lifts level.
That makes it even easier/faster to crane it in over the holes.

 

[James1979]

I can't edit my post, but wanted to add.
The lifting plate that you would clamp in the jaws, might need made bent back like a gooseneck over the anvil
portion, so it lifts level.
That makes it even easier/faster to crane it in over the holes.

I had similar in the old workshop for lifting lathe chucks about. Round bar bent into a J on its side type shape with an eye at the end.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Use the QR. You’ll not need it until the day you’re trying to juggle a 50kg something and clamp it in the vice too. Whatever it’s attached to needs to be secure and solid, nowt worse than trying to really lay into a stick something and having the bench wander across the workshop

 

[awemawson]

Whichever vice you fit make sure that:

A/ It's directly over a leg so that it, will take a bit of hammering on and

B/The fixed jaw is far enough forward that a vertical bar can be gripped with the lower end resting on the floor aamd clears the edge of the bench.

(It's amazing how many vices you find where this is not the case and they can only hold short parts vertically)

 

[brightspark]

Whichever vice you fit make sure that:

A/ It's directly over a leg so that it, will take a bit of hammering on and

B/The fixed jaw is far enough forward that a vertical bar can be gripped with the lower end resting on the floor aamd clears the edge of the bench.

(It's amazing how many vices you find where this is not the case and they can only hold short parts vertically)

and fasten the bench to the wall

 

[RichardM]

It’s heavy for me haha. I can’t pick one end up.

The other end's Ok to pick up!

I just have a 4" vice, slow release, I've had it lots of years, sometimes things don't just fit so I take the jaws off.

 

[Mark 2]

Only you wil. Know, Kim, as to which vice you need.
For general fabrication it would be in the way but for the stuff you muck about with maybe a vice is needed.

 

[KimB]

Whip a flap wheel round all the edges , put a 3 mm radius onthe corners and round them too . You'll save yourself a load of pain and injury scars by doing it . Had a Husqvarna pull cord snap just as I was about half pull . smashed my hand into an unfinished clean edge ..it bled like a pig . I've still got the deep scar on the back of my right hand 45 years later

I've chain drilled and then cut & carefully filed . angle grinder cut a 10 thou clearance slot to take my vise on a T bracket and welded a big bolt on the leg to take the bracket .. The hidden down plate of the T has an angle grinde cut slot to a hole saw cut hole to slip[ over the bolt . I had to turn a thick washer up on my lather to go against thebleg to get it so it is rock solid when tightened down .

It means I can easily remove the vice and have a flat clear work surface . The vice can also & is often removed fromthe bench and put inthe back of the car to use wo=ith my workmate when away from home
I've also welded a bit of 50/50 angle iron on the side of the leg to tale a cheap wheel brace bar and an extra dep socket that fits the nut . it's easier to use the socket and bar than try to mess around with a spanner View attachment 401129

When I built my workshop table I added brackets to the legs to hold two vices.
The brackets can be removed or the vices can be lifted out and moved to allow something really big on the table.

Hopefully you can see the idea on this old photo.
View attachment 401130

I had two Record 84 quick release vices on my bench brackets for about 2 years (only one shown here).

I recently sold the blue vice in the picture and replaced with a slightly larger Paramo quick release vice (I think it is a Paramo 23).

I thought about doing something like this or even a fold down under but I’m more inclined to unbolt it if I need to. Which isn’t massively often.
I was going to weld nuts to the table as someone said. It would save a lot of hassle when I want to remove it!

I’ll attach pics of the vices side by side. I have two benches similar size but the one the needs a vice is much heavies duty. I am thinking of sticking the 6” on that one and then replacing my small vice with the QR one. That vice gets used more to be honest so would actually benifit a QR more I think.