It is usually best to lower the wood you are working on as far into the vise as possible so that it doesn't project a lot. Try to keep the area you are working as close to the jaws as possible to keep the workpiece rigid. For instance, if you are cutting the waste off the end of a turned spindle, which would be hard to clamp securely because of the turnings, it will be easier to clamp the waste piece in the vise and hold the spindle in your hand as you saw with your other hand. With a little forethought, vises can be adapted to better suit your needs. In our school, we cannot provide each student with several types of vises, so we have mounted Record 53E vises in a versatile way that allows them to perform all the jobs we require, such as holding chair seats for planing, turned legs for drilling or spindles for shaping.
Many shops mount a bench vise on the bench's long edge and set it in from the corner.
Ours are located on the bench's short end and right on the corner. This allows us to use them as a tail vise for planing. And when jointing very long pieces, we can clamp the wood using two vises on the end of a bench. Used by permission. Read our Privacy Policy .