Woodworker's Journal 2007-Winter, страница 21

To complete the top, install spacer blocks with screws and glue to the underside, where the top rails of the base will meet the top as shown in the top photo on page 23.

Making the Tail Vise

Many woodworkers are nervous about making a tail vise, because it appears so complicated. In fact, it is only parts and pieces, like anything else you make.

Begin by building the tail vise frame, which consists of two jaws dovetailed to a face piece, and a back runner connecting the front and rear jaws (see the Exploded View on page 18). Frank's design uses through dovetails at the rear jaw but half-blind dovetails at the front jaw, to provide an unbroken face-grain surface where it meets the other jaw. Here again, he uses a simple router jig to hog out the dovetail sockets, then cleans them up with a chisel. The tails themselves are band-sawn carefully and then pared to final fit with chisels. While the front vise jaw is still free, joint about 1/8" off the rearward part so you'll be able to resurface the clamping surface of the jaw a couple of times in the future, as necessary.

The dovetail joints that join the back rail to the jaws are also easily cut with a band saw. The top of this runner should be even with the bottom of the end cap when the vise is assembled to the bench. To make sure this happens, drill the clearance hole for the benchscrew in the rear jaw so that it is the same height up from the runner as the benchscrew nut is from the bottom of the end cap. Drill this hole slightly oversize so you have some room for adjustment when assembling the tail vise to the bench. (Refer to the Drawings for details.)

To complete the tail vise subassembly, glue a thin piece of plywood to the inside of the face piece to close off the bench dog slots and install the hardwood runner to support the front of the vise.

Installing the Tail Vise

In order to attach the tail vise, you'll need to make two guide blocks and one more runner. The outside guide block bolts to the underside of the end cap, and the inside block is bolted and glued to the underside of the top, where it forms the lower part of the vise jaw. (Again, look at the Elevation Drawings for these construction details.) The runner is bolted into a notch in the inner block and slides in the notch in the main jaw of the vise as shown in the inset photo on the next page.

For smooth operation of the tail vise, it is critical to make all the parts accurately and to be sure the runners are parallel to each other and to the benchtop. Before you install the benchscrew, move the tail vise through the full range of its motion by hand to check for binding and interference. Any misalignment or eventual sagging can be fixed by shimming the runners and rails as needed.

Winter 2007

21