simple roubo pinless leg vise
Channel: Lars Parrington
Date: 2013-04-23

this video shows my roubo pinless leg vise in action and talks about how it works.  i am posting it here because the design is so much simpler than other popular designs.  the goal is to make the vise jaw pinch the workpiece at the top of the vise, not the bottom.  tradititionally a series of holes were drilled in the parallel guide and a pin was put in place to hold the hold the bottom of the vise jaw away from the bench leg.  pinless vice designs eliminate the need to adjust the pin setting for different thickness workpieces.

this design works by using a ramp that pushes down on the end of the parallel guide, which keeps the vise jaw at the correct angle.

for full description as well as pictures of the build process for this workbench, see my webpage here: http://www.lllars.com/the_workshop/roubo_workbench/index.php

for yet more info on this leg vise (including some potential flaws in the design), see this woodcentral thread: http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/handtools.pl/page/1/md/read/id/466607/sbj/wide-board-problem/