# Attaching a vice to a bench rail??



## matt1710 (Sep 21, 2010)

I purchased an old Record 52 (made in England model) to fit to my about to be constructed workbench, and although am basing my workbench on some plans from a book, can't figure out how to attach the vice to the bench. The instructions re the vice in that guide are very vague, to say the least. I've searched the internet and consulted all my books, and haven't turned up any accurate guides/advice. Hence this post. 

The vice has four holes perpendicular to the benchtop. They are 65mm centre to centre parallel to the travel of the vice, and 145mm centre to centre across the vice - ie parallel with the vice cheeks. The first set of holes are 20mm behind the rear side of the rear vice cheek. The workshop bench has top rails of 140 x 45mm, bottom rails of 90 x 45mm and 42mm of plywood (3 sheets) as the top. The top will overhang the rails by 120mm. 

1. Given that the bench top overhangs the rails, how can I mount the vice onto the rails? Should I be attaching to the rail, or to the underside of the bench top?

2. I'm right-handed - should the vice be at the right hand end of the long side of the table?

3. I take it that the tops of the wooden cheek plates (is that what they're called?) should be flush with the bench top?

4. Is there a generally accepted dimension and type of wood used for the wooden cheek plates?

5. Should the wooden cheek plate on the vice's rear plate be flush with the vertical edge of the bench top?

Looking forward to some advice!

Matthew


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Greetings Matthew and welcome to the router forum. Thank you for joining us.


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

Hello Matthew! I have no experience how that vice attachés, or looks, The vices I have seen normally have holes in the back face of the jaw. also some slots on the bottom of vice . You can shim the vice down so the jaws are level. and make sure that the bench is strong enough to handle the forces that will be used. Would this be of any help for Your vice?


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## matt1710 (Sep 21, 2010)

Maybe I should add some pics of the vice?


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## Titus A Duxass (Jan 6, 2010)

Taking a picture is a good idea.

I have a record vice in my home built workbench, I'll take a photo this evening and put it up for you to see.

I seem to remember cutting a hole in the rail so that the tail end of the vice could fit in.
I mounted the vice directly to the workbench top with four coach bolts.
I had to shim between the vice and top so that the wooden vice cheeks were flush with the top.


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## Titus A Duxass (Jan 6, 2010)

Here are some pics of my vice installation.
I hope they are useful.


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## matt1710 (Sep 21, 2010)

Hi again Titus

Thanks for the pics - they are very helpful. I've now a better idea how to do it. I'll install the bolts with their heads recessed into the top sheet of 18mm ply (there are two sheets in total) - another good reason making the top layer of the benchtop a sheet of 6mm hardwood ply : the heads of the bolts will be totally hidden. 

My Record looks like a dinosaur compared to that one!

Matthew


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

matt1710 said:


> Hi again Titus
> 
> Thanks for the pics - they are very helpful. I've now a better idea how to do it. I'll install the bolts with their heads recessed into the top sheet of 18mm ply (there are two sheets in total) - another good reason making the top layer of the benchtop a sheet of 6mm hardwood ply : the heads of the bolts will be totally hidden.
> 
> ...


Matthew, to the best of my knowledge woodworking benches don't normally have front overhang. Here are two very old shots of mine, taken before Bj shamed me into painting it!


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## matt1710 (Sep 21, 2010)

Hi Harry

Am no master in the bench arena either - so am working from a set of plans in a fairly decent woodworking book. They suggest a 150mm overhang on 3 sides - ostensibly to permit easy clamping. The benches at my course don't have overhang, and they're a complete pain in the a$%e to clamp onto - so I figured it made sense to have overhang. 

Thanks for your pics - seems like it's a good idea to have the rear jaws mounted either behind (preferable) or flush with (acceptable) the skirt. I understand that the advantage with flush rear jaws is that you can clamp long stock into the vice, and have it running flush with the skirt - so can easily support it at the other end via a dowel stop or similar - is that right?

That said, with a 120mm overhang, I'll have to have a circa 200mm length of dowel to protrude sufficiently from the rail (or leg) in order to support the end of long stock. Does that sound workable?

I too have an engineering vice which I intend to mount onto a board that can be clamped into the carpenter's vice - a good idea!

I understand it's preferable to have the wooden vice cheeks (is that the correct term?) protrude slightly above than the metal vice jaws - to minimize the chances of damaging any tools if they accidentally contact the metal vice jaws. Does that sound right?


Matthew


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## Titus A Duxass (Jan 6, 2010)

Matt, I know you address these to Harry but here's my tuppence worth.



matt1710 said:


> They suggest a 150mm overhang on 3 sides - ostensibly to permit easy clamping. The benches at my course don't have overhang, and they're a complete pain in the a$%e to clamp onto - so I figured it made sense to have overhang.
> Matthew


That's why I put an overhang all round on my bench, boat building usually mean lots of clamping.



matt1710 said:


> T
> I too have an engineering vice which I intend to mount onto a board that can be clamped into the carpenter's vice - a good idea!
> 
> Matthew


That's a really good idea which I shall adopt. A demountable engineers vice makes sense as I often find that they get in the way.



matt1710 said:


> T
> I understand it's preferable to have the wooden vice cheeks (is that the correct term?) protrude slightly above than the metal vice jaws - to minimize the chances of damaging any tools if they accidentally contact the metal vice jaws. Does that sound right?
> Matthew


Yes wooden cheeks are a must as they prevent damage to your cutting tools and are sacrificial. I've just sourced a couple of bits of Beech to make new ones.
Which will mean building router skis and a cam board so that I can cut out the recess.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

matt1710 said:


> Hi again Titus
> 
> Thanks for the pics - they are very helpful. I've now a better idea how to do it. I'll install the bolts with their heads recessed into the top sheet of 18mm ply (there are two sheets in total) - another good reason making the top layer of the benchtop a sheet of 6mm hardwood ply : the heads of the bolts will be totally hidden.
> 
> ...


Matt, front overhang is of course a matter of choice and I have never had difficulty clamping to the skirt or beyond it. At the moment I have a large sheet of 1" Melamine coated chipboard sat on top of my bench, I bring this out when working on large projects that require a nice large flat surface. Here are two shots of the engineers vice, well used over the last 30 or so years as you can see!


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