A woodworking workbench vise is a nice addition that will allow for you to clamp wood to your workbench. There are several types of vises that you should be aware of before building this one. Check out my article, “Woodworking Vises: Types, Sizes, How-To’s” to learn more about vises, their uses, and if a workbench vise is what you need.
In this article, I will take you step by step on how to build a strong and durable end table vise.
What vise are we building?
Below is a picture of the vise that we are building. The wood that is marked “work piece wood” is the wood that we want to secure while sawing, chiseling, planing, or drilling.
To use the vise, you will turn the knobs to loosen the bolts and the face of the vise will separate.
You will then insert the workpiece wood that you want to saw, chisel, plane, or drill and tighten the knobs to close the face of the vise.
Closing the face of the vise will squeeze the workpiece wood and cause it to be securely clamped to the workbench.
Materials
- 2”x9”x5’ Wood
- Saw (Hand or power saw)
- Chisel (1” or smaller)
- Wood glue
- (4) Bolts, (4) hex nuts, and (10) washers
- 5/8″ spade bit
- 5/8″ dowel
- Screws
- Drill
- Drill bit set
- 6-12” Clamps
- Combination square
Steps
Below are step by step instructions on how to build a workbench vise.
- Create the vise handles
- Create the vise jaws
- Add wood strip to work bench
- Drill hole through workbench
- Assemble the vise
Part One: Create the vise handles
Step 1.1: Cut 4×4″ piece of wood
Using 2×4 wood, cut two 4×4″ wood pieces. These pieces will be the knobs for the handles.
Step 1.2: Bore holes in side for dowels
Using 5/8″ spade bit, bore 2 holes, one on each side of the handle, roughly 1″ deep. These holes will be for the dowels to go into and the dowels will be used as leverage to turn the wheels more easily.
In this step, you can round the ends of your handles by using router, saw, or sander. I used a handsaw and sander when I created my vise handles and round the ends.
Step 1.3: Assemble washer and screw in the middle knobs
In the middle of the 4×4″ wood knobs you will now assemble the washer and screws.
Follow the Mini Part instructions to assemble the washer and screw.
Note: Clicking the link will take you to the end of the article where I explain in a series of steps on how to assemble a nut bolt and screw. I wrote this in a separate section to limit the repetition of steps. At the end of the Mini Part instructions, you will be able to go back to where you left off.
Step 1.4: Drill two holes in 2 washers each, using 9/64 and 1/4 bit
Using a 9/64 bit, drill two holes in the washer on opposite sides.
Using a ¼ drill bit, countersink the holes.
To countersink holes, you do not want to go more than half of the thickness of the washer.
Repeat this step for the second washer.
Step 1.5: Assemble nut bolt and screw
Insert the nut bolt into the wood and thread the bolt through the other side of the wood.
Step 1.6: Secure washer with screws
Insert the washer and secure the washer to the wood using 3/4″ screws.
This washer will prevent the nut bolt from becoming unsecured from the wood.
Step 1.7: Glue in dowels
Once the nut bolts and washers are assembles on the knobs, we will not attach the dowels.
Cut 4 dowels 3-4 inches long.
Add glue to the dowel holes and insert dowels
Part Two: Create Vise Jaws
Here we will create the vise jaws for the workbench vise. The vise jaws are the pieces of wood that will sandwich the workpiece to hold it in place.
A workbench vise has 2 jaws. One that is attached aw to the workbench and one that will move to make the vise open and close.
Tip: You want to have the vise jaw reach the top of the table. Because if you use the tabletop as vise teeth, you will wear out the tabletop over time, especially if its the end-grain of the wood.
Step 2.1: Cut two 17x 9″ wood pieces
Depending on the workbench size and your needs, you may need a larger or smaller vise. I consider this vise to be on the larger size, but you can use a smaller width or length if you need.
Step 2.2: Mark the hole locations
On one piece of wood, mark the hole location where you want the bolt and handlebars to go. For a 17×9″ jaw size, I marked 3 inches from the side and 5 inches from the bottom.
Note: You will want to remember the measurements you used to determine the bolt locations.
This allows for me to insert wood that is up to 11 inches wide.
Transfer the hole locations to the other piece of wood.
Step 2.3: Assemble nut bolt and screws (Attached vise jaw)
Pick one of the pieces of wood that you want attached to the workbench and follow the Mini Part instructions to assemble the nut bolt and screws at the marked locations.
Note: Clicking the link will take you to the end of the article where I explain in a series of steps on how to assemble a nut bolt and screw. I wrote this in a separate section to limit the repetition of steps. At the end of the Mini Part instructions, you will be able to go back to where you left off.
Step 2.4: Unscrew screw from “Attached” vise jaw
Unscrew the bolt from the attached vise jaw. The hex nut and washer should still be in place.
Step 2.5: Drill bolt holes in the “Unattached” vise jaw
Drill holes using a drill bit that is slightly larger than the bolt diameter in the unattached piece of wood.
Part Three: Add wood strip to the workbench
In this part, we will add a filler wood strip to make the tabletop end parallel with the legs. You will only need to do this step if your workbench tabletop overhangs the workbench legs. If you created your workbench according to my workbench instructions, “How to create a workbench”, then you will have 1″ overhang thickness.
Adding a filler wood strip will fill in the gap and give us a flat surface to mount our vise on.
Step 3.1: Cut 17×6″ wood piece
In this step, you will cut a 17×6″ wood piece to match the dimensions of your jaw size. These wood dimensions are with a 3 inch thick tabletop.
If you used a different jaw size or do not have a 3 inch table top, then you will need to take the dimensions of your jaw size and subtract the width by the thickness of your table top.
For example, my jaw size is 17×9″, but my tabletop is 3″ thick so my wood strip will need to be 17×6″.
Step 3.2: Mark overhang thickness
Take this piece of wood and flush the wood against the legs of the workbench.
Then mark the edge of the tabletop to get the thickness of the overhang.
Step 3.3: Cut wood to the overhang thickness
Using a handsaw or power saw, cut at the marked line to create a piece of wood that is the same thickness of the overhang.
Step 3.4: Countersink holes in the wood
Align to the desired location on where you want to place your vise and drill at least 3 pilot and countersink holes into the wood.
The countersink will prevent the screws from sticking out and interfering with the vise jaw alignment.
Step 3.5: Secure the wood to the workbench
Using screws, secure the wood to the workbench to create a flushed surface for the vise to attach to.
Part Four: Drill hole through work bench
You will also need a hole for the screw to go into when the vise is tightened.
Step 4.1: Mark the bolt location
Using the same measurements in step 2, mark the bolt locations.
For my workbench, in step two, I marked my locations 3 inches from the side and 6 inches from the bottom
Step 4.2: Mark location and drill hole through the workbench
After marking the location, drill a hole through the wood and workbench legs. Be sure to keep the hole straight.
Part Four: Assemble Vise
In this part, you will secure the attached vise jaw to the wood, attach handles to unattached vise jaw, and attach attached and unattached vise jaw.
Step 5.1: Attach the “attached” vise jaw to the workbench
First, make sure the nut bolts are inserted in vise jaw.
Then flip the vise jaw so the nut bolts are facing the workbench.
Make sure the jaw is aligned with the wood and use at least 3 screws to secure the jaw to the workbench.
Step 5.2: Screw bolt through attached vise jaw
To ensure that the vise was secured properly, check your work by screwing the knob bolts through the attached jaw hole.
The jaw bolt should go through the workbench jaw and legs.
Step 5.3: Remove the knobs and attach it to the “unattached” jaw
Remove the knobs from the “attached” vise jaw.
Add two washers to each knob bolt and then slide the bolt through the “unattached” vise jaw
The extra washer will make it easier to turn the handles. This is an easy and quick method, but it will not feel the best and will still have some friction.
Step 5.4: Screw the knobs through the “attached” vise jaw
Just like step 5.2, screw the knobs through the “attached” vise jaw and workbench legs.
The vise should tighten with the knobs, thus creating a functioning workbench vise.
Mini Part: Assemble nut bolt and screw
In this step, you will assemble the nut bolt and screw in the desired location.
If you are coming from Step One: Create the vise handle, then you will assemble the nut bolt and screw in the middle of the knobs. If you are coming from Step Two: Create the vise jaws, you will assemble the nut bolt and screw in the location where you will want to put the knobs.
Step M.1: Mark nut bolt outline
Place the nut bolt on the wood and trace the outline with a pencil or pen.
Step M.2: Score outline with chisel
Align the chisel with the nut bolt outline. Hit the chisel with a mallet to lightly score the wood.
Score the wood around the whole nut bolt outline.
Step M.3: Drill to nut bolt depth
Take a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the nut bolt outline.
Take the nut bolt and mark a piece of tape on the drill where the nut bolt ends.
Drill out the nut bolt outline to the tape.
Step M.4: Chisel out outline
Carefully chisel out the outline of the washer, checking the fit of the washer throughout the process.
Step M.5: Drill through wood
Using a drill bit that is slightly larger than the bolt diameter, drill a hole through the wood.
Step M.6: Test the fit
Insert the washer into the outlined hole and feed the bolt through the wood to test the fit.
Unscrew the bolt and then remove the washer.
Directory
Go back to Part One: Create the handles.
Go back to Part Two: Create the attached jaw
Conclusion:
What did we do
We first created the handles of the vise and assembled the washer and bolt. We then cut the attached vise jaw to the correct dimensions and assembled the washer and bolt. After that, we cut the unattached vise jaw and drilled holes in the correct locations. Finally, we assembled the vise by attaching the attached vise jaw to the workbench, and screwing handles to the unattached and then attached vise jaw.
Vise limitations and possible improvements/additions
There are many ways to create workbench vises. This method is effective and easier to make. However, you can greatly improve the vise by using an easy turning mechanism and having a feature that keeps the unattached vise jaw close to the handles. For this vise, you will have to unscrew and then push the vise jaw open. Its not that big of a hassle, but the jaws may not open with the handle.
Additionally, you can also cut into the end of the threaded bolt to prohibit the hex nut from coming out too far. I purposefully did not do this on my vise, because I wanted to be able to unassemble it if I needed to.
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