Engineers vice

[ghostlymoron]

I've been given an engineer's vice similar to a Record no 25. 4" jaws. I'm mounting it on my bench which has a 12mm chipboard top. The fixings are 3 x 12 mm bolts. Does the team agree that I need to have some kind of backing plate on the underside of the bench top?

 

[bristoljim]

Yes - another chunk of 12mm board then penny washers
Jim

 

[steve66]

I've been given an engineer's vice similar to a Record no 25. 4" jaws. I'm mounting it on my bench which has a 12mm chipboard top. The fixings are 3 x 12 mm bolts. Does the team agree that I need to have some kind of backing plate on the underside of the bench top?

It all depends what you intend to work on with the vice. If your using it to generally hold items for cutting etc it should be fine with large repair washers. If you are using it for heavy duty items you may need a backplate underneath to hold it firm.
I have a view bolted to a chipboard bench top. It's held with repair washers and I have never had any problems

 

[Poignard]

12mm chipboard isn't up to much if you need to do any heavy work.

 

[Topcat47]

My 4" vice is mounted on 38mm chipboard with a 12 mm ply backing plate and home made "Tuppeny" washers (twice the diameter of penny washers). I've used a wrecking bar as an extension to a spanner and it's been fine. Wjhat you are suggesting might do if all you want is something to hold an object while you hacksaw it.

 

[neil_s]

Sooner or later you'll want to do some serious work with it. You will need something at least 2 inches thick with a steel backing to do it justice.

 

[[70521]]

I'd get some proper wood even if it was just to mount the vice on.

 

[john_morris_uk]

My main bench is 2” oak. Engineers vice is through bolted.

I don’t give it a thought regarding any grief I give it.

I agree this isn’t very helpful to the op.

 

[LadyInBed]

My bench is about 3/4" ply. I mounted my vice over one of the 4×4" legs and attached it with through bolts and backing plates.

 

[penberth3]

I'd get some proper wood even if it was just to mount the vice on.

Yes. 12mm chipboard wouldn't make a decent kitchen worktop, never mind a bench, FFS!

 

[rogerthebodger]

My bench is about 3/4" ply. I mounted my vice over one of the 4×4" legs and attached it with through bolts and backing plates.

Thatsa how mine is mounted on the boat. Ah home my benches are all steel framed with 2 " timber tops and the vice is through bolted through the steel and timber top.

 

[ghostlymoron]

This is my 'bench' https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ydy3L6Wi3SYvkNRbA
Not ideal but it's what it is. I don't see why a backing piece needs to be 2" thick. Surely it just needs to spread the load.

 

[Poignard]

The bench I use for heavy work has a top made of two layers of 3/4" blockboard, glued and screwed together and surfaced with a layer of oil-tempered hardboard. Exposed edges are protected with timber capping strips. The legs and frame are made of heavy gauge Dexion #260 angle (66x44mm). It has a 6" engineer's vice through bolted with large diameter washers between the nuts and the underside of the bench top.

It is similar to one described in The Reader's Digest Complete Do-it-yourself Manual.

 

[lw395]

I have a spare engineer's vice bolted to a length of 6"x2" timber.
It can be used on the floor, back of the estate car, in a workmate, in the tender even.

How strongly a vice needs to be bolted down depends very much on what you are doing.
My main vice is on a workbench with a top made from an offcut of kitchen worktop.
These offcuts can be scounged from when the cutout is made for a sink.
The key thing is not the strength of the bolting down, but the weight of the bench. My is weighed down by drawers full of spanners, other tools, metal offcuts etc. Ideally, I'd bolt it (the bench) down, but it's fine as it is for normal sawing, filing, drilling operations.
If you do a lot of bending and hammering, you might put more leverage on the fixings, but I'm OK with M10 coach bolts recessed into the underside. They are recessed to clear a drawer.

 

[DownWest]

My main vice (no sniggering..) is a Record No. 8 . Bit of a lump and is well bolted down to a bench made of 50mm angle. That in turn, is bolted to the floor. I often use it to tweek hefty bits, but I am not a DIY amateur( no crit of those who are). Use it for serious bending and other work. Under the bench there is a Record 5, nice one for keen general work, but not used it, yet.

 

[ghostlymoron]

It's interesting to read of other people's benches/vices but it doesn't answer my question.

 

[Topcat47]

OK, sorry you think the replies are unhelpful. To be as clear as possible, 12mm chipboard is not a suitable medium for mounting a 4" engineer's vice. If you are planning to use chipboard, then an offcut of 38mm high density board (the sort used for kitchen worktops) backed with good quality 12 mm WBP will be fine. Always mount it near a corner. Even this system will need large diameter washers under the nuts below the bench.

2" thick hardwood would also do (I have some offcuts from a double glazing company that, glued together to form a board , would also form a good base.

Better?

 

[lw395]

OK, sorry you think the replies are unhelpful. To be as clear as possible, 12mm chipboard is not a suitable medium for mounting a 4" engineer's vice. If you are planning to use chipboard, then an offcut of 38mm high density board (the sort used for kitchen worktops) backed with good quality 12 mm WBP will be fine. Always mount it near a corner. Even this system will need large diameter washers under the nuts below the bench.

2" thick hardwood would also do (I have some offcuts from a double glazing company that, glued together to form a board , would also form a good base.

Better?

Not sure that's quite true.
A bench of 12mm chip with a 4" vice seems a lot more useful than one without.
However strong your bench is or not, use it within its limits and it will be fine.
If your bench and vice start moving around when you work, find another way of doing things.
Ideally we'd all have a massive bench bolted to the ground, but life's not like that.

 

[ghostlymoron]

After considering all the options given I'm going to mount it on the corner of the bench with a backing plate of 12mm marine ply under the chipboard bench top. I feel this will be adequate for what I'm likely to be doing on it

 

[Fr J Hackett]

After considering all the options given I'm going to mount it on the corner of the bench with a backing plate of 12mm marine ply under the chipboard bench top. I feel this will be adequate for what I'm likely to be doing on it

I have a similar vice but the top of my "dirty" workbench is 2" thick but rather than just bolt it to that I mounted it on a largish piece of the worktop material recessing the bolts and washers this assembly is then through bolted to the workshop. The advantage is that I can remove the vice complete with its base for use elsewhere when the occasion arises as it has done and it is not convenient to take the workpiece to the vice.