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).
Maybe I’m missing something but couldn’t you just clamp the Hulot block in the bench vise?
That was my thought also
This is genius! Funny that I haven’t thought of this yet. I’ll give this a go next time around.
Grizzly appears to have a version of this vise for sale right now. Looks like the difference between this and the old one is it’s made in India instead of Taiwan. And it seems to have a cast iron base instead of a stamped base. https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-patternmaker-s-carving-vise/t34003?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uK0BhC0ARIsANQtgGNoL-8eh46rHUriOydLiyyPvo-EnqIVYSWTHLMJ8XW0o3jsktEO7iQaAsyoEALw_wcB
I was told by Megan that the reason we don’t use this particular Grizzly vise is that it no longer comes with a polyurethane lining within the jaws(which is what we prefer). One can buy the lining separately and cut it down to size. However, the cost of the added polyurethane makes the tool overall more expensive. Thank you for sharing this though!
I’m about to mount my carving vise to my low Roman bench in the same manner to allow me to sit on the bench for general carving purposes (I’m not a chair builder) and have the clamped stock at a more ergonomic height.
And Kale, I agree, it seems a personalized workbench is a great next project for an apprentice. With an article or video(s) to accompany your process from an apprentice woodworker’s perspective.
Jim Tolpin (“By Hand and Eye”, etc.) has a great video for sizing benches based around its intended purpose and the users body dimensions.
https://youtu.be/bBS5-AV81lg?si=zV-q9uat4rMfyjpz
Grizzly appears to have a version of this vise for sale right now. Looks like the difference between this and the old one is it’s made in India instead of Taiwan. And it seems to have a cast iron base instead of a stamped base. https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-patternmaker-s-carving-vise/t34003?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uK0BhC0ARIsANQtgGNoL-8eh46rHUriOydLiyyPvo-EnqIVYSWTHLMJ8XW0o3jsktEO7iQaAsyoEALw_wcB
The price for the vise is lower in USA. Here in Finland the selling price is 169 Euros (appr. 185 USD).
My wife, reading over my shoulder, said, “It must be hard to learn with the whole of the wizarding world looking over your shoulder.”
Possible, she meant woodworking world, but, we’ve been reading a lot of Harry Potter fan fic. We don’t read the original, for reasons.
If I just gave you a new nickname, I apologize.
Opifex lignum totalis!
How about just putting the vise base in a drawer and forgetting about it until it’s needed again? Is there any real reason to put it on the bottom, other than to not lose it? Seems like more hassle than it’s worth to fiddle around slipping it up on the threaded rod and holding it on there while you tighten the nut.
Funnily, I found one of those vises used on Craigslist a couple of years ago and realized only after I tried to mount it on my bench, whose top is maybe 5” thick, that a previous owner had cut down the threaded rod for some reason, which meant it wouldn’t get all the way through to the nut in the bottom side of the bench top. Hence, I can only set the vise up on a low bench with a thinner top. If I could justify not using the base I bet I could set it up on my main bench. Alas, the struggle continues!
These benches (and this post) are ridiculous. Everybody knows the ideal workbench height is 38″ and this is not a matter of opinion!
Tails first!
The ergonomics of both photos look uncomfortable to me. I second the idea of mounting the Hulot block in the bench vise and positioning the work closer to your waist height.
I was going to suggest something similar, which I learned to call a “duck board” (I don’t know why). I shared a kitchen for about 15 years with someone a full foot shorter than I. We had one counter area with a pullout platform wide enough and tall enough that she could knead dough, which was impossible on all the other surfaces. It made a huge difference in domestic harmony.
This is a solution for this exact problem.
But it could be solved in general by building a workbench that fits your size, doesn’t it?
Cheers
Pedder
Of course. When Kale is ready to build a bench and has the time and materials, I’m sure that will be the solution.
oh!! great idea. at 5’0″ I have made my own sized benches and a low bench. but when traveling and using school or other shops with this vise, it works!! I also have a platform for when I’m at my standard height bandsaw.
Wish Chris would get a set of Adjust-a-Bench legs so at least one bench would fit students better. My bench can adjust from 28 12″ to 45″. Rock steady. Has retractable caster for moving.
Unrelated; stumbled across an old BBC series: The story of english furniture. It is on YOuTube.
Public health warning: it is very 70s and quite English, but it was well done and it is a great a quick tour of the last half a dozen or so centuries of English world furniture. Some fine pieces of furniture on display in this series