Popular Woodworking 2007-12 № 166, страница 10

Tricks of the Trade

THE WINNER:

Low-tech, Low-cost Leg Vise

My

y tight finances forced me to devise an alternative to an expensive bench vise. This simple leg vise - cobbled together from a board, a ³/4"-diameter pipe clamp, and a short length of V2"-diameter pipe - works fine for many of my needs. As seen in the drawing, the pipe clamp extends through the vise jaw and bench leg, with the clamp's screw jaw attached to the vise jaw, and the opposite clamp jaw resting against the inner face of the bench leg. The "guide" pipe, screwed into the lower end of the vise jaw, floats in a hole in the bench leg to help stabilize the vise jaw and prevent it from rotating. It also jams in its hole under pressure to serve as a sort of holdfast for the jaw. A shim board attached to the face of the bench's leg brings its clamping surface flush with the front edge of the benchtop.

To build the vise, I clamped the wooden vise jaw against the leg and drilled a l"-diameter hole for the -W'-diameter pipe clamp, using a spade bit and a portable drill guide to keep the hole perpendicular to the face of the bench leg. (Editor's note: For an alternative approach, see "Help with Horizontal Holes," p. 20.) After removing the jaw, I drilled the 1"-diameter hole for the guide pipe. I then aligned the jaw again and drilled through the guide-pipe hole from behind the leg to locate the lower hole in the jaw. To attach the guide pipe, I simply screwed its threaded end into an appropriately sized blind hole in the jaw, although you could screw it into a pipe flange fastened to the jaw. I attached the head of the pipe clamp to the j aw using rabbeted wood blocks, but you could drill holes through the jaw and attach it with screws instead for a neater, less obtrusive appearance.

The vise is easy to use. For most of my clamping needs, the throw of the clamp screw provides enough clamping capacity. However, when I need to clamp large pieces, it's easy to reach behind the leg to adjust the rear clamp j aw for a larger opening. On the few occasions that the lower guide pipe won't lock in position under pressure, I simply clamp a pair of locking pliers onto the pipe against the front of the leg.

— Thomas Porter, Buena Vista, Virginia

Rabbeted blocks hold clamp head to vise jaw

¹/2"-dia. guide pipe

Shim board

CONTiNUED ON PAGE 18

Cash and prizes for your tricks and tips!

Each issue we publish useful woodworking tips from our readers. Next issue's winner receives a $250 gift certificate from Lee Valley Tools, good for items in the catalog or web site (leevalley.com). (The tools pictured at right are for illustration only, and are not part of the prize.)

Runners-up each receive a check for $50 to $100. When submitting a trick (either by mail or e-mail) you must include your complete mailing address and a daytime phone number. If your trick is selected for publication, an editor will need to contact you. All entries become the property ^ .' of Popular Woodworking. You

, can send your trick by e-mail to

popwoodtricks@fwpubs.com, or mail it to Tricks of the Trade, popular Woodworking, 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, oH 45236.

16 ■ Popular Woodworking December 2007

TRICKS compiled by paul anthony; illustrations by matt bantly