In woodworking, you’ll find it stressful to work on a table or bench that’s not equipped to hold wood in place. You’ll need to hold it with one hand while you fumble for tools with the other.
Sometimes the wood will wobble in your hands and, in some cases, it will slip completely out of grip. Whichever happens, it usually leads to poor quality of craftsmanship.
That’s where a bench vise proves to be useful. In this article, you’ll learn about the answers to the following questions: What is a woodworking bench vise? How does it work? And how do you use it?
What is a Woodworking Bench Vise?
A vise (also vice) is a clamping tool that’s used to hold materials in place to aid in manual applications. It serves as an extra hand to allow you to work freely with both hands.
The vise used in woodworking is called a woodworking bench vise. It is designed to hold wood in place without altering or damaging the clamped surface. It is often used when cutting with a saw, drilling holes, planing, or carving shapes.
Woodworking vises are usually attached or mounted onto a workbench. The vise is bolted from under at the side and the clamp jaws are placed at level with the workbench’s surface.
A bench vise can either be portable or permanent. Portable bench vises are clamped to the side of the bench. They can be attached and detached with ease, so you can use them with any workbench. Permanent bench vises, on the other hand, are bolted securely in place. They serve as permanent parts of a workbench.
How Does a Woodworking Bench Vise Work?
The parallel jaws of a woodworking bench vise are flat and smooth on the inner sides. This prevents leaving any mark or indentation despite the tightness of the clamp.
The jaws are also longer and wider than those of other types of vise. This prevents the wood from cracking on the clamped part by distributing the clamping pressure to a wider surface area.
When used, only one of the jaws is moved or adjusted to clamp wood in place. The stationary jaw is on the part of the vise that is attached to the workbench.
The moveable jaw is adjusted using a knob or handle at the outer end of the vise. The handle is connected to a threaded screw that runs through holes on the vise’s body.
When you turn the handle clockwise or counter-clockwise, the threaded screw rotates and moves the jaw inwards or outwards. A clockwise turn moves the jaw inwards towards the stationary jaw to close the clamp. A counter-clockwise turn moves the jaw outwards, away from the stationary jaw, to open the clamp.
How Do You Use a Woodworking Bench Vise?
To hold wood in place, the clamp is opened at wider length than the wood’s width. This allows you to make positioning adjustments more efficiently before closing the clamp.
Then the clamp is closed to a point that feels tight enough to keep the wood from moving or sliding. The vise shouldn’t be clamped tighter than necessary because some wood are prone to breaking when force is applied.
With wood clamped securely in place by the vise, you can work on it with both hands without worry. You can plane wood and drill holes more neatly, and you can cut with a saw more smoothly.
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