One of the most common and reliable choices for a front vise is the cast iron variety. A cast iron front vise has two jaws made of – you guessed it – cast iron and a steel screw to move them closer together and further apart. Most also have two steel rods to keep the jaws aligned and help to prevent flexing inward of either side of the outer jaw when only one side of the vise is used. Some have a quick release mechanism that makes it easy to switch among a variety of clamping widths. A quarter turn of the handle counter-clockwise releases the screw and allows that vise to be quickly positioned anywhere along its opening range.

While you have access to varied wood products available in the market, you are in a position to make your own wood products right at home. With the readily available information on wooden tools, steps and procedures to follow in making wooden products, there is no reason why you should not make your own products. The first step in making your own products at home is in making custom woodworking bench on which you will make your products.

A Front Vise vs. an End Vise

By my calculation the woodworking bench plans allowed me to put the wood bench together on my own and I saved a lot of money doing so, rather than having someone else build one for me. The project gave me a great sense of accomplishment and the wood bench is a welcome addition to our backyard.

So when looking for a bench what should you be considering?

Collapsible benches are made commercially and made in variety of sizes and shapes. Due to the benches being collapsible this gives them the advantage of being both portable and easy to store as they take up little space when collapsed. The benches are ideal for use in spaces that are dual use, such as garages. The benches don’t have a standard vice attached, however, the whole bench acts as a vice. The collapsible workbench is limited in its application as it has a small surface area and is low, meaning that it can be difficult to work with.

You will also need 4×4 posts for the 4 legs to support the surface. When putting together your work bench the one thing you should be aware of is the height of the bench. Make sure your work bench reaches at least your rib cage while you’re standing up. To make sure you get the length of the four legs right, you should measure that height and subtract it by an inch or two.

Woodworking Router: Used for hollowing a piece of wood, woodworking router is more often used by stair case makers and pattern makers. Also named as Old Woman’s Tooth, it has a narrow blade and wooden hand plane attached to it. Varied types and forms of routers are available today. For being able to use a woodworking router, the worker must be experienced and proficient in handling it. This is because, routing is a very fast process and it includes various risky jobs like trimming and cutting of wood. The keys to good router woodworking are skills in material prep, layout, measurement, setup and router-control. 80% of all router woodworking can be done on the router table; some guys do “it” all on the table, others are convinced that hand router woodworking is all they need. To be sure, there are times when one method is preferred over the other. Whatever the case, it makes good practical sense to have at least one router table.

My friend then told me that there are many woodworking bench plans that can be purchased that detail all the steps involved in constructing a wood bench. These plans include a full materials list, which you can buy at your local home improvement store. My friend also informed me that the woodworking bench plans are so easy to follow that I will save a lot of time and money by getting a good set of plans prior to starting this project.

2 – Cut the Pieces