I woke to a text this morning from Chris: “Found this tip for making our carving vises lower.” (See above.)
“Put the base on the underside. Works great. Might be helpful for you.”
Even though he’s off teaching in Germany, he’s still looking for ways to improve our shop here in Covington.
It’s no secret that I’m the most vertically challenged person in the shop (with Megan just a few inches taller). Megan’s two benches are 30″ high; the other six are 33″ and 34″ – and because I want the larger surface and good window light of the Holtzapffel (34″ high), this forces me to finagle myself into some awkward positions when performing certain tasks.
When building my first chair with Chris, I had block planed only half of my first long stick against Chris’s carver’s vise before my shoulder nearly gave out. Chris quickly corrected this by bringing the low Roman bench into the shop from the back room. Using my body weight, I propped the long stick against the Hulot block with my chest to plane. Instant relief.
So needless to say, I was elated to wake up to this little spark of ergonomic hope from Chris. I was eager to give it a go.
I mounted the carver’s vise to my bench. First with the base on top, in its typical location. Then with the base underneath. I measured the height of the base beforehand out of curiosity. 1-3/8″. Could it really make that big a difference?
Now the difference in the photos may not look dramatic to you, but I truly could feel a difference. The ability to lower my hands nearly 2″ allowed my shoulders to relax. This immediately relieved tension and allowed my arm muscles do most of the work.
I also noticed the stick’s placement against my body. With the base located underneath the bench, the stick was able to sit lower on my chest, nearly against my belly. Lowering the stick’s gravity and having the stick land in an area that has more cushion than my sternum was more comfortable overall.
I know what you’re thinking and sure, this trick may not be the be-all and end-all solution to short-person-on-tall-bench carver’s vise issues. But I think this is a great start. My shoulders will be thanking me for this technique after planing seven long sticks.
There is one problem with this arrangement, however. Because the vise is flush with the benchtop, the handle used to tighten the jaws bumps into the bench. You have to have the handle hanging fully off the edge, which limits the vise position.
All in all, though, I’m pleased with this simple modification. I plan to keep my vise in this position while working to continue feeling it out and work out any kinks along the way. What do my fellow shorties think?
– Kale Vogt
This is a great hack!
We think of benches as being of a fixed height, but there are some ways we can raise or lower them (at least relatively):
I’m taller than average, and when I need to give my lower back some relief, I’ll often toss a couple pieces of plywood on top of a standard-height bench to raise the work surface up a few inches. You don’t need to cover the full work surface – just large enough to match whatever you’re working on. As you said in the post, a small change can make a big difference.
Similarly, I’ve seen shorter than average woodworkers add a few sheets of plywood on the floor in front of their bench to help raise them up a bit. I suggest using bigger pieces, so you decrease the risk you unintentionally step off the raised surface.
Both of these can make working a lot more pleasant, and neither of them are permanent changes.
Another option:
In the last picture I see a bench vise to the right of the carver’s vise. Since you have a piece of wood in the carver’s vise sticking up to act as a stop, you could do that with the bench vise and not have to install the carver’s. If that’s too low you could put an L-shaped block on a stick and now you have a height adjustable set up. Though too long and it might flex a little.
Great idea – the only problem with a stop in the bench vise is that your planing stroke will hit the bench top if you are holding at an angle at all. The block on a stick idea is great. I made a stop that is about 3″ tall and just chuck it in the bench vise – considerably lower than a carving vise and only takes a minute to either cut out of some scrap or glue together. well worth the time!
Good Luck Kale!Tshe only problem I’ve had when trying to plane with a stop in the bench vise is that there isn’t enough clearance for following through with your plane stroke – the plane hits the bench top. Your block-on -a-stick idei
Thanks for sharing!
In our shop, one member has made a nice platform for shorter woodworkers. It’s a pallet covered with a sheet of 1/2” ply. Some anti-slip tape was also applied (but you could glue spent sandpaper to it for the same effect).
The result is a sturdy platform that gives plenty of space for safe operation of a power tool or work at a bench. We have deeper benches that a pallet fits under. Thinking about your shop and benches, you might need to make/find a narrower pallet. I hope you’re able to find ergonomic solutions that allow you to keep working!
This is a nice and simple modification. Excellent.
I have the opposite problem. At least once a week I bump my head on something in my basement workshop. I see those high ceilings at Willard Street and I’m envious.
Absent a lower bench (not a bad next project that!), I like the idea of raising the floor. A pallet topped with plywood sounds a great idea. Your future wrists and thumb joints will praise you (he says, nursing his arthritis).