DIY Woodworking Vise: I'm moving my workshop from the cellar into the garage to have more space. I built my own workbench and what's still missing, is a woodworking vise. There are several vise sets online, but I want to build my own one. In this Instructable you can fol…

Make this Moxon Vise for $40!

Learn how to temporarily mount a vise to your workbench. Ensure your vice is stable and ready for work, or put it away when you don’t need it and save the space.

By Randy Johnson and Tom Caspar…

Learn how to best install a bench vise in your workspace to secure workpieces for planing, sawing, routing, and other tooling operations. Visit Woodcraft today!

Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking. A follow-up post from 2014 should address any questions on how the workbench wore with age.

Think of a bench vise as a tool that's as essential to your success as a hand plane, router, or tablesaw. Although clamps might substitute in some situations, they tend to get in the way, and a vise gives you freedom to do almost any type of work. Woodworking vises differ from metalworking vises in that they attach to the bottom of the bench surface or are built into it, with (typically wood) jaws flush with the benchtop. Metalworking vises usually mount to the top of a bench.

A vise makes a workbench more than a flat surface for working on projects. Install a vise on one end and another on an edge, and you’ll cover nearly all your workholding needs. We’ve built a lot of workbenches over the decades with a lot of vises, and we recommend these six.

Making a wooden bench vise from solid pine and an adjustable scaffold leg. With free plans.