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My bench has a 2x4 edge and if I line up the vise where the inner claw is flush so I can mount things vertically, then a little of the vise overhangs a little. Would this not be proper?

If I push it back to remove the overhang then the mounting holes sit between the 2x4 and top wood which wouldn’t make for a sturdy mount.

Any suggestions?enter image description hereenter image description here

Update Pics of the install. I’m pleased with the outcome. Added 2” thick piece of wood for the back bolt to go through as well rather than just the OSB board. Over all it seems rigid enough to take on any future projects I may need it for.

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

ohmmy
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  • It looks like the swivel base projects out from the inner jaw face so vertical mounting of longer pieces is already a problem. – Ashlar Oct 09 '18 at 23:17
  • Yes only if it’s swiveled away from front facing of the bench – ohmmy Oct 09 '18 at 23:18
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    As this is a metalworking vice I'm voting to close LOL Seriously though, it's perfectly fine to have a little lip of the vice base overhanging the front edge of the bench, the general rule being you want to mouth the vice "as far forward as possible". You're looking for a permanent mount solution yes, you don't need it to be quickly movable? – Graphus Oct 10 '18 at 11:26
  • What makes it a metalworking vice? Lol not that familiar with vices. Yeah I’m looking for a permanent mount solution and as strong as possible so any future use won’t be an issue. That’s why I’m hesitating on committing without feedback first – ohmmy Oct 10 '18 at 11:29
  • Metalworking vices have to hold smaller pieces, generally, so their clamping faces are not nearly as big as woodworking vices. Woodworking vices have faces starting around 6" wide by 4" tall and go up from there. They also will have more overhang to the sides so that you don't have the issue that Ashlar brought up (though that causes another issue, loss of clamping force from the jaw racking...) – SaSSafraS1232 Oct 10 '18 at 21:55
  • One of the things that makes this specifically a metalworking vice (at least as far as the manufacturer is concerned) is those toothed V-shaped inserts underneath the main jaws, those are pipe jaws. But regardless of what it's intended for how it's used is entirely up to each owner, after all they don't make "plasticworking vices" for anyone who only works with perspex and acrylic :-) Anyway, plenty of woodworkers do a bit of metalworking in their bench vices and plenty of people clamp wood on occasion in a mechanic's vice or machinist's vice. – Graphus Oct 11 '18 at 11:30
  • BTW clamping pressure for metalworking vices tends to greatly exceed that of woodworking vices. Even a smallish 4" machinist's vice could have the same screw as on a full-sized woodworking vice, so total clamping force is approximately equal but obviously exerted over a far smaller area, so the pressure is much much higher. Metalworking vices are rather famous for their ability to dent workpieces (even metal!) and it's for this reason that 'soft jaws', made variously of compressed fibre, hard rubbers/synthetics, softer metals like copper or aluminium, and even wood, are very commonly fitted. – Graphus Oct 11 '18 at 11:54
  • Thanks for the update. That certainly looks like it's not going anywhere! – Graphus Jul 20 '20 at 07:10

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Where you have your vice placed for the photos is pretty much exactly where I'd mount it, in addition to the front-back placement being ideal it appears to be nearly directly over a leg which gives plenty of support for any heavier work you may do on it.

And yes, it is perfectly fine to mount a vice with a little (and sometimes a bit more than that!) of the base projecting beyond the edge of the workbench:

Metalworking vices, edge mounting

If you look around any metalworking or machinists' forum you will have no difficulty finding pictures of vices that are mounted well back from the edge of the bench and sometimes this is deliberate, but too often it is because the user didn't realise that if you don't have the vice mounted far enough forward, so that the back jaw is at least flush with the bench edge, you can never clamp workpieces like this:

Flush rear jaw on vice allows clamping of longer pieces

Your positioning is pretty much set, but for future readers it's generally a good idea to give yourself a little extra room if possible so that the rear jaw projects a smidge beyond the bench edge, the reason being at some point you might fit new vice jaws that are a little thinner than the current ones and you don't lose the above advantage if you do so.

Couple of additional points
When it comes time to bolt your vice to your bench don't forget your washers, they're especially important up top but you may want to use them underneath also.

I would suggest you pack out the rear mounting lug to level the vice out. It isn't absolutely necessary to do this, but it's good general practice to have a vice level both left to right and front to back. You can somewhat surprisingly use card for this — make the packing a little over-thick and it'll compress down when you tighten that nut and afterwards remain remarkably stable.

Graphus
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  • Hey thanks for your thorough response appreciate it. The front two mounting holes are positioned on the 2x4 edge. Would it be best to use lag bolts or long bolts with washers and nuts that go through the entire length of the 2x4? – ohmmy Oct 11 '18 at 11:47
  • Going into the long dimension of a 2x4 lag screws are almost certainly perfectly sufficient TBH. If the rear fixing needs to be a nut and bolt I would be inclined to use the same throughout (only because I'm a bit OCD that way) but the projecting nut on the underside could easily get in the way since they're so far forward. So lags could easily be argued to be the better choice here. – Graphus Oct 11 '18 at 12:27
  • The rear would be a bolt and nut since it’d just be mounted to the top wood which is only about an inch thick. Though I might reinforce it from underneath first – ohmmy Oct 11 '18 at 12:31
  • "Though I might reinforce it from underneath first." Also something that's very commonly done. Now a 1" top would generally be plenty strong enough, but in your case if it takes little time and costs almost nothing go for it. There's never a good reason not to err on the side of stronger where it might be useful. – Graphus Oct 11 '18 at 12:36
  • One more thing, when choosing the bolts should I get them same diameter as the holes or can they be thinner? Curious if it matters in terms of strength – ohmmy Oct 20 '18 at 15:48
  • It matters in outright terms since skinnier bolts are obviously not as strong as beefier ones, but that doesn't mean you have to use the largest that will fit. Those mounting holes are made a certain diameter with the intention that the bolts used will fit them (not tightly, just an easy sliding fit) to give maximum security, but clearly not every user actually needs that kind of strength in the mounting. If you go one size down I doubt it would make any difference in practice. – Graphus Oct 21 '18 at 08:04
  • Little late asking but I’m revisiting this installation, could I move the vise closer to the edge so (in the pic) the mounting hole would be over the nail (about an inch in from the end) or leave it as pictured with more spacing – ohmmy Jul 05 '20 at 12:28
  • So just so I'm clear, it would move closer to the camera (the vice moves to the left as you view it from the handle side)? Then yeah I don't see why not. If the nail remains then of course you lose one mounting screw for the vice. This isn't fatal, it's actually fairly common for only 2 of 3 mounting lugs to be made use of, but where shorter and/or skinnier bolts are used it would be best practice to use the full complement. – Graphus Jul 05 '20 at 15:22
  • Yes exactly moved to the left closer to the camera. The nail would be removed as it’s only holding that cardboard edge. Just wanted to make sure it’ll be secure enough and the 2x4 wouldn’t crack overtime with pounding etc on the vice as it would be only about an inch in from that edge. This vice has 3 mounting holes and the first two would be on that same 2x4 and the third on the bench itself – ohmmy Jul 05 '20 at 15:27
  • Well all of this is dependant on just how much it needs to withstand — your idea of pounding could be quite different to what I have in my mind. If you have any doubts then always err on the side of caution when it comes to strength/durability. Here it might mean adding reinforcements to that side of the bench to stiffen it up and add mass. – Graphus Jul 06 '20 at 08:21
  • Ok thanks. One last question, mounting two legs forward the best way for this vice? It has 3 mounts – ohmmy Jul 06 '20 at 12:23
  • That's very much the norm, yes. Two sort of angling off to either side of the user if they stand in front of the vice, with the third pointing away from them. – Graphus Jul 07 '20 at 12:47
  • Angling off? Do you mean (using my pic as reference) one mounted on each 2x4 and last one on the bench? Or two mounted on same 2x4 – ohmmy Jul 07 '20 at 13:25
  • The simplest way to put this unequivocally I think it that the rear one is in line with the axis of the vice. The other two end up where they end up. – Graphus Jul 08 '20 at 14:33
  • So I messed up on drilling the front two holes (they’re ever so slightly offset from the vise holes so the bolts won’t go in. The back hole is perfect and bolt fits in snug. I was wondering, what would be best, widen the holes so the bolts fit (although I’m wondering if this way won’t yield the strongest hold since the bolt would be wobbly through the wood before tightening the nut) or fill the holes and re-drill more precisely? – ohmmy Jul 16 '20 at 00:52
  • Bolt holes are supposed to be a comfortable or even loose fit to the bolts. You could quite reasonably drill a 3/8" hole for 1/4" bolts. But really even a 1/2" hole isn't a problem for the same bolts since you can bridge the top and bottom with suitable washers, and the hold is the squeeze of the wood from the threading and the nut, it really has nothing to do with the fit in the hole — remember that some bolts actually run in slots, so essentially these have zero support to one side or another. I'd simply wallow out the holes with a round file or the drill bit (carefully!) and proceed. – Graphus Jul 16 '20 at 09:45
  • BTW do you know how you messed up to try to avoid a repeat in future? This is something that everyone has done once I'd guess, I certainly have! And it's important to know where the inaccuracy comes from to try to avoid the same thing happening again (not always successful, because drill bits can wander from the starting mark quite easily and can additionally deflect inside wood.... far more than one might imagine). – Graphus Jul 16 '20 at 09:48
  • The holes of the vise are 7/16th so I purchased 7/16th bolts. The error occurred from not drilling perfectly straight as I was going through the full width of a 2x4. To correct I’d need to bore the holes out which would bring them closer to 1/2”. The clamping force should keep the vise stable but in my head I feel it wouldn’t be as strong as if the bolts were snug in the holes. If I attempt to fill and re-drill, best with a dowel and wood glue or would auto body filler be better? – ohmmy Jul 16 '20 at 12:15
  • "in my head I feel it wouldn’t be as strong as if the bolts were snug in the holes." Just put this aside. Many guys deliberately drill their holes oversize to ease installation, just have a look online and you'll see. Do a test on some scrap if you don't believe it's true, but I can promise you that oversize holes are not an issue in practice — spread the surface load with a suitable washer and tighten the nut fully and you are golden. If you filled there's no guarantee you could drill the hole any better, and actually a good chance you'd drill it worse [contd] – Graphus Jul 17 '20 at 07:45
  • If you use a dowel that's end grain you'll be drilling in to, which bits interact with very differently to face grain. And with auto body filler, it is likely going to be tougher or softer than the material around it, so producing a tendency for the bit to shift sideways as you drill deeper (either into or away from the filler depending on which material is more yielding). Plus, body filler is notorious for becoming brittle over time, it's why modern fills often don't last. So any shocks/jarring from the vice are likely to make it start to crumble a few years from now. – Graphus Jul 17 '20 at 07:47
  • While I can promise you this won't be an issue, remember you can just test this empirically so you're not going by belief or taking anyone's word for it. Simply start with the current holes enlarged enough to allow the installation to proceed and give the vice a good workout, you'll soon see if it doesn't work and then go to a Plan B. All you'll lose is about 10 minutes of time. – Graphus Jul 17 '20 at 08:02
  • Thanks for all your help. I went the route of filling with a dowel and glue and re-drilling. Came out perfect this time around and I feel over all better about it. Wish I could post a pic of the final result – ohmmy Jul 18 '20 at 20:35
  • You're welcome. Last night I thought of a brilliant example to illustrate my point about the loose fit of bolts/machine screws not mattering, and it's the frog on a standard Bailey-pattern planes. But no matter. You can post a pic of the mounted vice if you like, it's OK to edit a Question to update on the final outcome in light of any advice received. – Graphus Jul 19 '20 at 05:36
  • Thanks again. Updated with pics – ohmmy Jul 19 '20 at 18:38