I am in the process of designing a workbench and am planning on installing a Tucker vise on the front/left corner. Does anyone know if this vise can be installed with the rear jaw flush with the front face of the skirt without interfering with the vise's ability to swivel and rotate?
Also, does anyone have any experience with the Taiwanese copies of the old pattern maker vises? They are much cheaper than the Tucker but I'm not sure how much quality is sacrificed.
Thanks, Dave Palmerton, Pa
Based on the diagrams on the LV website, it doesn't look like it can be installed flush.
You'll have to provide some clearance to the sides of the jaw to allow rotation.
I've got one of the Taiwanese copies--it works fine.
The main things that you get in the Tucker are a quick release (that can be foot-actuated), a latch for the parallel jaw position, and round rather than "D" shaped dogs. All of these are useful, whether they are useful enough to justify the price difference I can't say.
I wouldn't say that there's any significant amount of quality sacrificed--the Chinese (are they Taiwanese or mainland?) model that I have seems to be pretty much a straight clone of an Emmert #2, at least it does when comparing it to photos of the #2. All the adjustments move smoothly and stay put once latched. Jaws seem flat and seem parallel in the direction that doesn't adjust (in the other direction of course they're only as parallel as you set them). When it's locked up it doesn't move, which is more than I can say of the bench to which it is attached.
Thanks for the helpful info. I'd love to get the Tucker or find an Emmert but the prices are pretty steep compared to the the pattern maker's vice at Woodcraft. Plus they are having a 10% off sale until March 3.
Dave
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