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Anybody try something like this wedge system if you don't have a tail vise?

SteveMP

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Steve
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I don't have a tail vise on my bench. I usually just use holdfasts and battens which work fine 98% of the time. But every once in a while I feel like I could use some extra force against the planing stop. Saw this video of this wedge system, anybody try something like this if you have a bench wit no tail vise?

 
I think tail vices aren't that common over this side of the pond from what I can tell.

It looks like a neat idea. I use wedges quite often to hold stuff, a bit like this:

process-02-smoothing-jpg.59147


but I've got loads of dog holes in my bench so I can usually get away with a small off-cut to make up the gap if required.

I made a thing I called a "dog hole tail vice" for the occasions I really want to clamp something up against a planing stop, but 99% of the time I just use a doe's foot, which is plenty strong enough for most planing jobs. These are the first couple of photos I found of the doe's foot

planing_with_does_foot.jpg


bench_dogs_corner_piece.jpg


That second one is very old: I've got more planing stops now and the vice fixed jaw is flush with the front of the bench. Oh, and the bench has a lot more dents in it!
 
I think tail vices aren't that common over this side of the pond from what I can tell.

It looks like a neat idea. I use wedges quite often to hold stuff, a bit like this:

process-02-smoothing-jpg.59147


but I've got loads of dog holes in my bench so I can usually get away with a small off-cut to make up the gap if required.

I made a thing I called a "dog hole tail vice" for the occasions I really want to clamp something up against a planing stop, but 99% of the time I just use a doe's foot, which is plenty strong enough for most planing jobs. These are the first couple of photos I found of the doe's foot

planing_with_does_foot.jpg


bench_dogs_corner_piece.jpg


That second one is very old: I've got more planing stops now and the vice fixed jaw is flush with the front of the bench. Oh, and the bench has a lot more dents in it!
I had seen your dog hole tail vise on your site before , ingenious! I don't have the skill or tools to make something like that so did think about buying one of the Veritas "wonder dog" https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...ories/31129-veritas-wonder-dog-and-wonder-pup but its just more money when I already want to buy a few other tools.
I do use a doe's foot/batten but every once in a while i am doing something where i need to skew the plane and the twisting motion releases the doe's foot. Hard to explain what I mean but sometimes the does foot just doesnt work.
 
I tend to use a doe's foot and a holdfast. I much prefer the wood to be quickly pick-uppable for a check, and so a tail vice or wedge system would be a bit of an annoyance. I also don't want a line of dog holes along the working edge of my bench, having lived with stuff dropping through them on my old bench for donkey's years. Each to their own, of course, and if it works for you, that's great

For short pieces, I have a dog which fits in my vice, and a couple of different holes which align with the middle of the vice, which means that if I really need to trap something I can do, but at 90 degrees to the edge of the bench. Sort of a tail-vice approach, but using my main (only) vice.
 
I used to use a wedge system on my first bench but it was never really satisfactory. The system shown in the clip above is ingenious provided you've got round dogs to use with it; wedges also grip better if the edges are left rough sawn - Rob
 
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