Hi,
I found a neat old Craftsman bench vise today. About the size of a Record 52 1/2 ( I think that’s the one..). I’ve mounted a couple of these in the past based upon FWW advice but have no of those materials at hand.
One point that I can’t decide upon is how big to make the faces. I have some nice 8/4 maple that’s about 24″ long. I know that’s a bit big to have hanging off as this will strain the vise if tightened…I guess that’s the theory but man two 1″ thick steel rails and a 1″ acme thread seems pretty beefy to me. But…..You rarely see this type of vise mounted with more than about 4″ on either side and that’s liberal!
What if any rule is there for the size of the faces?
Thanks,
BTW
This is an old vise very heavy of the type I don’t find new nowadays.
Bro. Luke
Edited 1/18/2007 10:12 pm by BroLuke
Edited 1/18/2007 10:12 pm by BroLuke
Replies
If you add 4" to each side of a 9" face. you have a 17 inch wide jaw. What is it you imagine doing with the vise that would be aided by more width? The problem you're courting is racking. I suppose it you are disciplined about using blocks equal to whatever you are clamping in a far side on the opposite side, you could minimize racking for the most part. But again, I can't imagine what benefit one would be buying for the perpetual hassle.
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