A wagon vise lets you clamp long workpieces on the benchtop with full support below them and nothing sticking up to get in the way. I’ve never really had the budget or the inclination to install a commercial model, so I came up with this excellent alternative, which works with any standard front vise mounted on the end of the bench. Using a router, first with a straight bit and then a dovetail bit, I created a slot in the benchtop, with the straight section cut a bit deeper to catch debris. Then I made a matching hardwood slider with a couple of benchdog holes in it, and drilled a row of matching dog holes in the bench. I also made an extra-short dog for the slider. The slider is 1 in. shorter than the slot, to give dust and debris another place to go and let me fully retract it for normal vise use. The vise jaw pushes the slider inboard as it closes, pinching workpieces between the dogs.
—WILF MEIER, Maple Ridge, B.C. , Canada
Illustrations by Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking issue #300
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