VEritas Front Vice

After a few years’ use the very basic standard vice on my bench was ailing badly - it needed the strength of a carthorse to get a decent grip wtih it. So I decided to replace it and get a bit of extra capacity at the same time.

Veritas to two versions - small and large. I went for the large on the basis that unused capacity is better than too little. However, I found that the cost of this (apart from the extra £30) is a lot of extra hassle in fitting. The large vice has support collets, not required on the smaller version, that need very accurate fitting and require a huge forstner or sawtooth bit to do it - and if you don’t already have one big enough it’s an expensive tool to buy for one task. To be candid, if I were buying another, for the small-scale work I do, I’d go for the smaller version of the vice.

And if you’re tempted to the large one by the offset screw designed to prevent racking - it doesn’t. When I was chatting with David Charlesworthm before I bought this replacement, I mentioned that my vice racked and he replied, ‘They all do’. I wish I’d listened.

Having said that, the vice itself is very good indeed. I fitted it to my entry-level Sjoberg Nordic Plus bench, which involved a fair bit of fiddling to get it in place, including repositioning some dog-holes. The outcome, however, is well worth the effort as I can now effortlessly grip a workpiece and have confidence it isn’t going to slip.