Bear with me. It’ll make sense eventually.
I’ve got two vise screws. One was generously donated by a “homeboy” from the Porch, Bill Taggart, when I visited his place a couple few years ago. The other was a $10 eBay purchase. I’m trying to decide which one to use in my leg vise. Allow me to present the two candidates, and then leave your verdict in the comments below.
Candidate A is a standard metal vise screw. I dunno, looks like about an inch or so thick, and the screw itself is about 12″ long. The nut might look a little odd to you because it was originally on a plate that was intended to mount to the underside of the bench. Bill Taggart hacksawed it off for me since I was going to mount it into the leg instead. I figured I’d just drill a hole in the leg to receive the nut, and then do a little chiseling to make room for the plate remnant.
Pros: Metal is strong. I shouldn’t have any problems with vise strength.
Cons: The screw is pretty short. Taking into account a 6″ leg and a 2″ jaw, I’ll be limited to clamping stock that is not much more than 4″ thick. I suppose I could bury the nut inside the leg during the glueup, which would give me an additional 4″ or so, but that would mean if I ever wanted to change vises I’d have to take an axe to the leg to hack the nut out, and then I’d have to build a new leg.
Candidate B is an old wooden bench screw (about 2″ thick) that I just couldn’t pass up for $10 on eBay. This thing is in rough shape. At first glance it might not look too bad:
But pick it up (gingerly, now!) and you see that this is a fixer-upper. First the nut. Outside – ugh. Nasty. But the inside is solid and the threads are in perfect condition:
The screw itself is in great shape. There are one or maybe two places where a small segment of thread is missing, but otherwise it’s solid. But the head of the screw…oh my:
Pros: The vise jaw would be able to open about 10″ or so. The threads are huge and in good shape, so the vise is theoretically very strong.
Cons: In order to keep the vise from shedding bits of wood anytime it’s handled, I’d have to plane/chisel/sand about 1/2″ or maybe more off of the surface of the screw head (I’d likely leave the nut as is). Would that affect in any way the integrity of the vise? There’d be very little shoulder to catch the jaw of the vise, but I suppose if the hole for the screw is exactly the right size, I wouldn’t need much of a shoulder, right?
I have now presented the two candidates. For which one would you cast your vote?
P.S. Oh yes. The title of this post. I was looking for a witty title so I went searching for quotes containing the word “vice”. The title above came from Thornton Wilder. Below, for your reading pleasure, are more quotes with the word “vice” that almost make sense with the word “vise”.
- We do not despise all those who have vices, but we despise all those who have not a single virtue. – Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
- Vices of the time; vices of the man. [Lat., Vitia temporis; vitia hominis.] – Francis Bacon
- Times change. The vices of your age are stylish today. – Aristophanes
- There is no vice so simple but assumes some mark of virtue on his outward parts. -William Shakespeare
- Vices are often habits rather than passions. -Antoine Rivarol
- Nurse one vice in your bosom. Give it the attention it deserves and let your virtues spring up modestly around it. Then you’ll have the miser who’s no liar; and the drunkard who’s the benefactor of the whole city. -Thornton Wilder
- It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. – Abraham Lincoln
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 23, 2009 at 6:18 am
thewoodshopbug
I would definitely go with the wood, it is so much cooler, but I would make a new head. That one looks pretty fried. Those threads will be very nice. I have a similar screw, but it’s threads are pretty chipped. Good luck, keep us posted, I love fellow bench-builders!
June 23, 2009 at 10:13 am
Eric
Okay, I could take a shot at making a new head. Without a lathe it will take a while but I could probably put out something roundish.
But how would I attach it to the screw?
June 23, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Gye Greene
I, too, think the wooden threads have more “vibe”. I think it was on the OldTools list that someone mentioned some sort of magic gunk or epoxy that you can inject into rotten wood, where it occupies the rotted-out wood cells and hardens, “restoring” the wood. (Dunno if it’s available locally to you, though.)
Rather than sand back the head, I’d try something that preserves the “found it in a burnt-out cabin in the woods” look. Maybe fill in the gaps with a clearly different-colored (i.e. darker) wood filler — then give everything a light sanding, then varnish over the outside (to hold it all together). (Theoretical; haven’t tried.)
If you wanted to take the other suggestion, and make a new head:
1) It doesn’t **have** to be square; it could be a brick with a square cross-section.
2) You could attach it with a dowel or two — maybe play about with drawboring? (That is: auger or mortise out a hole — although I’d lean towards square, as that’ll give it more purchase when you turn it; then put the squared-off end of the screw into your square hole.) (Again, theoretical.)
BTW — engagingly-written blog entry, and with well-shot, highly illustrated pics. 🙂
–GG
June 25, 2009 at 2:25 am
Shannon
I would go with the wooden screw. You will regret the limited capacity if you use the shorter leg. I still recommend mortising the nut into the leg with the wooden screw but it would be easier to remove and patch if necessary in the future. I agree with the comments above to try to salvage the head by filling the rotten parts and stabilizing the wood. You would even use a gap filling epoxy with sawdust to fit it up and keep the old look. As far as a shoulder to grab the chop, I would use an internal garter system and mortise through the side of the chop and cut a shallow groove on the screw just inside the head. Then you can insert a “peg” or garter that will grab the chop and allow it to move with the screw. Check out Joe Communale’s site at http://www.bigwoodvise.com for more on garters or Scott Landis’ Workbench book. I am using an internal garter for my Roubo so even check out my podcast in the coming months and I will do a segment on it.
Shannon
July 11, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Bill
Hey there “homeboy.” Just discovered this whilst Googling for something else.
Was that really a “few” years ago already? Yeesh.
Hope you find some kinda use for that screw anyhow. If you ever make it back to this area, we could have at that wooden screw, being as I do have a lathe. I would make an entirely new head for it and probably attach it with a lengthwise threaded rod into the shaft. I have a wood threading kit which would make that possible. There are alternatives as well…
– Bill Taggart
July 16, 2009 at 10:48 am
Scott MacLEOD
Go with the wood. For now consolidate the top with some kind of an expoy (made out of hide glue of course :). When you have access to a lathe like tool, ie lathe, pillar drill or of course something powered , turn off the accursed resin and replace the head.
Scott
July 16, 2009 at 10:59 am
Eric
FYI to all – I will take Bill up on his generous offer and get a new head turned for that beautiful monster. I really do like it, so I’m thankful at this chance that it will actually work out!
Now to explain to customs why I have a huge wooden screw in my checked baggage. 🙂
July 31, 2009 at 1:52 am
nathan
I follow the site Unpluggedshop.com which is where I found your blog. Your blog is my favorite read on the unplugged shop, I think mostly because it most closely matched my own style of woodworking. I had a small apartment with no designated woodworking space, so most of my work happened on the front porch (or in the entryway if it was raining or snowing). I wanted to let you know that I appreciate your posts, and having moved into a more restrictive living arrangement, I am returning to your older posts (where you had less space to work with) to see what I can do to continue my woodworking. Thanks for the reading and the advice. I hope to see more writing soon.
-Nathan