In 2005 I decided that I would like to improve my hand tool skills and would need a better bench than a solid core door on 2 X 4 legs. I began researching woodworking benches and really liked Mike Dunbar’s workbench with the big twin screw vise. I thought the vise would be really cool if it had quick action. I went through hundreds of sheets of paper sketching out ideas until I came up with the concept of a flat bar under the bench to transmit motion between two housings. I made a simple wood pattern to have iron castings made for the first prototype. The housings weighed about ten pounds, were complicated and required a third shaft and handle to operate. The transfer bar concept was good but the third handle and shaft had to go.
Back to pencil and paper. Eventually I developed the idea of the current mechanism with a simple clutch. I didn’t think the idea would work and in fact the first prototypes didn’t work. I began systematically testing different materials and designs to eliminate the problems.
After a lot of trial and error I finally had a prototype that worked. Along the way I discovered a way to allow the vise to operate with clockwise or counter – clockwise operation for clamping. I also put the cast iron housing on a diet. I am happy to report it is now at a fighting ready weight of less than four pounds. I also dreamed up several variations of the twin handle face vise. The latest variation that I have built and tested is the leg vise. It has quick action and operates without the need to install a peg in a fulcrum arm while maintaining a traditional appearance. Other variations that are in the works are a shoulder vise, a swivel head carver’s vise and an enclosed tail vise.
All of the vise concepts utilize the same basic hardware and can be re-configured into a different type of vise with some minor parts changes or additions. My goal is to provide high quality, robust and versatile vise hardware that can be customized by the user into a beautiful traditional style bench vise with highly functional performance.
