Fig. 169. Holding a Large Board in Vise for Planing.
The best woodworking benches are equipped with both side- and tail-vises. The tail-vise is supplemented by movable bench-stops for holding pieces of different lengths. In planing the side of a board it is held in place between the tail-vise and one of the bench-stops. A board should not be squeezed sidewise between the jaws of a vise when it is to be planed, lest it be bent out of shape. In planing the edge of a board it is ordinarily held in the side-vise. A long board, one end of which is in the vise, may also need to be supported at the other end. This may be done by clamping to it a handscrew, the jaw of which rests on the top of the bench, Fig. 169. When the vise is likely to be twisted out of square by the insertion of a piece of wood at one end of it, it is well to insert another piece of equal thickness at the other end of the vise to keep it square, as in Fig. 120, [p. 82]. In this case, (Fig. 120,) the extra piece also supports the piece being worked upon.
The vise is also of great use in carrying on many other processes, but a good workman does not use it to the exclusion of the saw-horse and bench-hook.
Horses are of great use both for the rough sawing of material and in supporting large pieces during the process of construction. The common form is shown in Fig. 170, but a more convenient form for sawing has an open top, as in Fig. 171.
Fig. 170. Saw-Horse.
Fig. 171. Saw-Horse.
The picture-frame-vise, Fig. 172, is a very convenient tool for making mitered joints, as in picture-frames. The vise holds two sides firmly so that after gluing they may be either nailed together or a spline inserted in a saw cut previously made. See Fig. 268, No. [55], [p. 181]. If the last joint in a picture-frame does not quite match, a kerf may be sawn at the junction of the two pieces, which can then be drawn close together.
