Self-contained quick-action vises are a real time saver. Instead of endlessly rotating the vise han-dle, they can be opened or closed in one quick motion. They also cut down bench building time dramatically because they can be mounted with just a few bolts. After adding some pads for the metal jaws, you can be working with them in nothing flat.
Quick-action vises work in one of two ways.
Either a spring lever on the front of the vise releases the screw or a gravity-actuated half nut releases the screw when the handle is rotated counterclockwise.
This type of vise can be mounted in several ways: with the rear jaw out proud of the front of the bench, with the rear jaw flush with the front of the bench, or with the rear jaw recessed behind the front rail of the bench. Mounting the vise with its rear jaw proud of the bench is the most common installation and is certainly the easiest. All it takes is four screws and some pads on the metal jaws—and you’re done.
Mortising the rear jaw into the edge or front rail of the bench is straightforward as long as you add the pad to the rear jaw first. The thickness of the pad determines the depth of the mortise.
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IN THIS INSTALLATIONthe rear jaw is mortised in to be flush with the edge of the benchtop. A wooden pad added to the rear jaw brings it out beyond
the edge.
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THIS OLD RECORD® VISEwas installed with the rear jaw mortised in behind the front rail during top construction.
The rail is installed after the vise is in place. Note the use of a block on the side opposite the workpiece to keep the vise from wracking.
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for casting each of the metal parts. The pattern-maker’s vise is unique in its ability to firmly hold a workpiece of just about any shape and change its position, even to the point of laying it flat on the benchtop, all without releasing the part from its grip.
The Emmert patternmaker’s visewas, and for many woodworkers still is, the ultimate wood-working vise. It set the standard for a multi-purpose vise for decades and, in a lot of ways, still does today. First patented by Joseph
Emmert in 1891, the vise was the breakthrough woodworkers had sought for centuries.
The vise jaws rotate 360 degrees and can be locked at any point. The entire vise tilts 90 degrees and can be set anywhere in between; and this vise also allows the work-piece to lie flat on the benchtop. The jaws can even be angled to hold tapered work. If you rotate the vise 180 degrees, in just a couple of seconds, you can bring up a set of small metal-working jaws for small parts. Four retractable dogs, two in each main jaw, grip the workpiece like steel fingers. If that weren’t enough, the dogs on the outside jaw, like those in any end vise, can be used in conjunction with dogs
on the benchtop to hold larger pieces.
Emmert produced about a dozen different models in two styles, generally known as the Turtle Back and the Universal. Both models were available in two sizes. The larger Number 1 weighs in at around 85 lb., opens to 14 in. and is over 18 in. wide. The smaller Number 2 has jaws 14 in. wide and opens to 12 in. The Turtle
Back, the oldest version, is identifiable by looking at the front cover, which is how it got its nickname. The later model, the Universal or K1, is characterized by a round casting on the front of the vise with a lever off to one side used to angle the jaws.
Though rare these days, Emmerts still show up at estate sales and classified ads from time to time. A search on an auction web site like
Patternmaker’s Vises
Cast-iron machines built in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were not only func-tional but beautiful as well. In each machine, there were hundreds and sometimes thousands of separate parts. At the time, factories
employed thousands of patternmakers. Large plants were cranking out parts for machines of every imaginable description, from sewing machines to locomotives. Using two-dimensional drawings, the patternmaker’s art was to sculpt very precisely shaped full-scale wooden patterns
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THOUGH PATTERNMAKING
for castings is mostly computerized these days, these vises, like this Emmert Turtle Back, have found homes on the benches of furniture makers like Sam Maloof.
eBay will commonly yield an Emmert or two for sale. Used tool dealers often have one on hand also. Their value to collectors has driven prices up to the point that a 50-year-old Emmert in good shape can fetch many times the cost of a new patternmaker’s vise.
Emmert copiesare manufactured overseas and are available for a fraction of the cost of the gen-uine article.The imported vise sold by several dif-ferent distributors is manufactured by the Yeon Chuan Machinery Company in Tiawan. The size, function, and mechanism are nearly iden-tical to the smaller Number 2 Emmert. Though the quality of the machine work and smooth-ness of its operation aren’t as good as the orig-inal, if it’s a patternmakers’ vise you need, you’ll get a lot of vise for a minimal investment. The one I mounted on my bench works just fine.
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THE EMMERT NUMBER1
UNIVERSALis the larger of the two vises in this class. Its jaw capacity is 14 in. without pads. It’s just about the perfect
vise for working
irregularly shaped parts.
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ROTATED VERTICALLY , this Emmert patternmaker’s vise brings the workpiece above the level of the benchtop for detail work. Note that with the wooden pads installed, the small metalworking jaws won’t close completely.
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THIS REPLICA of the smaller Emmert, is one of two patternmaker’s vises still being manufactured.
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Other patternmaker’s visesare available, both new and used. Emmert had a lot of competi-tion. Companies like Oliver, Colombian, and others manufactured vises of equal quality and almost identical operation.
The newest version of a patternmaker’s vise is the Tucker from Vertitas®. It looks and oper-ates much like the small Emmert. But that’s where the similarity ends. The Emmert’s cast iron has been replaced by a special cast alloy. In a farewell to patternmakers, the vise parts are cast using permanent graphite molds rather than the sand casting for which patterns were made.
No doubt the feature woodworkers like most is its quick action. Not only does it open without endlessly rotating the vise handle, the opening is spring loaded so the vise opens auto-matically. This operation can even be done with a foot pedal, which leaves both hands free to position the workpiece. The four round dogs rotate to capture carvings and irregular shapes.
Unlike the Emmert, the vise mounts to the face of the bench, not to the top. Purchased separately, additional mounting plates installed at different locations or even on different benches make the vise portable as well. By contrast, the mounting plate is permanently attached to the imported Emmert clone, so the entire vise would have to be unbolted.