I built a Roubo work bench with Benchcrafted hardware 2 years ago following the plans from The Wood Whisperer. Well to be honest I haven't used the leg vise very much due to the need to bend over and place the pin in the correct hole. The pin system works, it's just the constant changing of the pin position that I find to be such a pain in the rear.
I had bought the St Peter's Cross kit from Benchcrafted but never installed it due to the amount of reconstruction of my leg vise chop and front leg of the bench. Last week I found an alternative, the chain kit from Ancora Yacht Service. I installed the kit today in just a few hours without rebuilding any part of my bench and it works fantastic!! The leg vise moves even smoother than before and will now clamp anything within it's range of motion just by spinning the hand wheel. I wondered just how thin of an object can it clamp, just for fun I clamped a dollar bill in the vise and it would have torn before it pulled out, now that's thin. [eek]
I had bought the St Peter's Cross kit from Benchcrafted but never installed it due to the amount of reconstruction of my leg vise chop and front leg of the bench. Last week I found an alternative, the chain kit from Ancora Yacht Service. I installed the kit today in just a few hours without rebuilding any part of my bench and it works fantastic!! The leg vise moves even smoother than before and will now clamp anything within it's range of motion just by spinning the hand wheel. I wondered just how thin of an object can it clamp, just for fun I clamped a dollar bill in the vise and it would have torn before it pulled out, now that's thin. [eek]
