Vises

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Vise family.jpg

Vises (or vices in British English) are auxiliary tools to hold your workpiece, e.g. when you want to saw or drill through it. They have a fixed and a moving jaw which grip stuff when you turn the handle.


Bench Vises

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Bench Vises

Bench vises.jpg
Synonyms: mechanic's vises, machinist's vises;
DE: Schlosserschraubstöcke
Type: auxiliary tool
Material: anything solid
Location: wood workshop, metal workshop

Bench vises are the "typical" vises you've probably seen on "universal" workbenches. The front jaw is often the moving one but some vises have a fixed front jaw.

Besides holding stuff, they are useful for bending metal pieces or tightening rivet connections (e.g. in some scissors) with great force and control.


Machine Vises

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Machine Vises

Machine vises.JPG
Synonyms: "machining vises", drill press vises;
DE: Maschinenschraubstöcke
Type: auxiliary tool
Material: anything solid
Location: wall above drilling table
Access Requirements: read this section

Machine vises look very different from bench vises but serve the same purpose: making sure your workpiece doesn't go flying when you apply force to it. They are designed to hold the workpiece without damaging it and have usually a low profile to allow machining a large portion without remounting.

They may be secured by the user's hand (e.g. on a drill press) or bolted to the machine table (e.g. for milling).


Woodworking Vises

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Woodworking Vises

Roubo workbench 1-22.JPG
Synonyms: DE: Tischlerschraubstöcke
Type: auxiliary tool
Material: wood
Location: Roubo workbench
Access Requirements: read this section

Lukas got a large woodworking vise for the self-built Roubo workbench (mounting instructions: https://www.feinewerkzeuge.de/G307781.html).

This vise has a quick-release so you don't have to stand there turning the crank for ages - simply turn it counterclockwise for a bit, then pull or push to where you need the vise jaw, and turn clockwise to tighten the grip on your workpiece. Turning counterclockwise for more than one revolution has no effect, you need to pull the vise open once it is unlocked.

A slide-up bench dog is integrated in the vise; corresponding dog holes will soon be added to the Roubo workbench so you can make use of this feature as well.