I am in the process of building a new workbench. In reading the vice instructions (Lee Valley 70G08.02,
Any thoughts? Anyone using Walnut?
Dave
Walnut is softer than the suggested woods. I see no problem other than the wood being clamped in the vise may imprint the walnut if it is a harder wood. Typically Maple Birch are cheaper than Walnut.
Thanks for the response. I thought that was the case. I am using a solid core door for the top of the bench. This thing is 1 3/4" thick and was 8' long and about 200 lbs. It has a light colored veneer and I was planning on using walnut as a contrasting skirt for the bench. Additionally, the skirt was going to be the rear jaw.
Dave
I have that vise and I concur with Leon.
I didn't have any hardwood thick enough when I installed the vise in my bench, so I used a big piece of qs pine that I got in a freebie bin at the lumber house and told myself I'd replace it with something harder as soon as I could.
Been a couple years now with no problems and it looks just fine. Now that I have some nice hardwood pieces that would work, I find I'd prefer to use them for something else.
Just don't use ring-porous woods which might be prone to split along the porous areas. I favor woods like bass or aspen, personally. I can chew them up without cracking them, and they aren't harder than what might be pressed sideways into them and receive a mark.
Birch an excellent choice for resistance to splitting, but yellow would be harder than I care to have in there.
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OTOH, I'd rather mark the (replaceable) vise jaws than my project. My = bench is edged in redwood for that reason and my vise jaws have sheet rubber = glued to them.
--=20 It's turtles, all the way down
Faces or whole jaws? You might make soft faces to go over an existing jaw, but if you make the whole jaw from walnut, you'll break the thing.
I was talking about the whole jaw. I am not sure what you mean though. Do you mean if I were to clamp a maple board with a full walnut jaw, the walnut jaw would break?
If you're using the Veritas vice screw set, that's a small iron support boss and a large span of unsupported wood. Clamp that tight and you'll easily snap a wooden vice jaw, unless it's not made of something like maple.
A Record vice, where there's a large iron faceplate and the wood overhangs by no more than an inch or so is a whole different story.
He is asking if you are fitting wooden faces onto the inside of some metal vice jaws or fabricating the complete vice jaw out of wood.
- mkaras
Thanks for the input. That is what I thought you meant. I will use maple for front jaw. I think I will still try to use maple for the skirt/rear jaw since it will be supported from the rear by the bench top.
Dave
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