Vises - LN vs Veritas - Bench Build Question

[Belle City Woodworking]

Dream shop, Phillip!!

Yeah, Philip is living the dream!!!

[Peter Tremblay]

I have experience with both and have used the LN chain drive as my front vise for ten years.  Here are a couple of things to remember about the LN vise: 
 
1. The wood chop does not come with the vise.  You can buy it ready-made or make it by fabricating two clam-shell halves and gluing them together.  I made mine out of the bench material, which is ash.  The LN unit is maple.  Making the jaws requires the use of a router and careful layout, so consider if you want to tackle making them.

2. The LN vise is more robust than the LV. The hardware is massive.  For some reason many users of the LV vise install it on the end of their benches.  To me this makes sense only if you plan another type of vise for the front of the bench and you have a lot of room to spare around your bench.  I find Lie-Nielsen consistently surpasses Lee Valley in the build quality of their tools, as they should, considering difference in price.  I figured that one good bench investment would last the rest of my lifetime so I bought what I considered to be the best at that time.  There are other good vises to be had, but twin screws are hands-down superior to single-screw vises and supersede the need for Moxon auxiliary vises, for example.

Mike,

At some point I'm going to be building a new bench with the acquired experience of using my bench for a decade or more.

I do love my face vise design with the twin screws offset to the left to allow for a large, non-racking, jaw to the right.

   

I'm surprise to hear that the LN hardware is larger than the LV.

Would this type of setup work with the LN twin screw vise?

Thanks

[AgGEM]

Mike,

At some point I'm going to be building a new bench with the acquired experience of using my bench for a decade or more.

I do love my face vise design with the twin screws offset to the left to allow for a large, non-racking, jaw to the right.



I'm surprise to hear that the LN hardware is larger than the LV.

Would this type of setup work with the LN twin screw vise?

Thanks

That is a very pretty bench there, Peter. I love the size of it. I guess I really like the aspect ratio.
Ag

[Peter Tremblay]

That is a very pretty bench there, Peter. I love the size of it. I guess I really like the aspect ratio.
Ag

Thank you very much,

I do too.

I was worried that it might be too small but it really isn't.  

It's 48" x 18"

If I could change a few things I might add 6"-12" to the length and I would have put the dog holes closer to the edge of the bench top.

[Derek Cohen]

......  There are other good vises to be had, but twin screws are hands-down superior to single-screw vises and supersede the need for Moxon auxiliary vises, for example.

This is an opinion, not a fact. There is a significant and important difference between a twin screw face vise and a Moxon-type for dovetailing. Notable, the Moxon place the work piece much higher. This allows for not only less bending, but also more ergonomic sawing. 

When I built my latest bench, some several years ago now, my original plan had been a twin screw face vise. Then it became apparent what the advantages of the Moxon really were. Up until then I was used to using a twin screw vise, but decided to switch to a leg vise (with a separate Moxon vise). I have never regretted this decision. The height difference is about 5-6", but that is enough to make a difference ...



As with all matters, the choices here are personal and need to match ones work style. 

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Belle City Woodworking]

This is an opinion, not a fact. There is a significant and important difference between a twin screw face vise and a Moxon-type for dovetailing. Notable, the Moxon place the work piece much higher. This allows for not only less bending, but also more ergonomic sawing. 

When I built my latest bench, some several years ago now, my original plan had been a twin screw face vise. Then it became apparent what the advantages of the Moxon really were. Up until then I was used to using a twin screw vise, but decided to switch to a leg vise (with a separate Moxon vise). I have never regretted this decision. The height difference is about 5-6", but that is enough to make a difference ...



As with all matters, the choices here are personal and need to match ones work style. 

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thank you for your input and perspective Derek!