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As told by Dave Jeske, owner of Blue Spruce Toolworks.
I have a Blum Bench Horse that I was planning to bring to the show so people could actually try out my tools rather than just look at them. The Bench Horse is designed to use pipe clamps for clamping as well as some other specialty hold-downs. I wanted to make a decent looking vise that was lightweight so I could take it on the airplane with me.
After thinking about it and looking through Christopher Schwarz’s Workbenches book, I came to the conclusion that I could make a leg vise and turn it sideways. (I guess it would be called an arm vise.) Also, I wanted to be able to use all of the holes in the bench so I could move the vise around to different locations. What I came up just eight hours before the show was a sliding dowel for a guide that plugged into one of the holes and then a long dowel in an adjacent hole that reached to the other side of the bench.
This dowel has a series of holes that allows for rough adjustments for the width of stock by inserting a pin (similar to a parallel guide in a leg vise). The part of the vise that grabs the workpiece swivels so it is self-aligning to the board being clamped. The vise is clamped by turning the large knob in the center. 
I carved up the vise jaw from a piece of lightweight western curly maple using a band saw then gave it a very fast cleanup with a belt sander. I tossed together the rest of the parts, put on a coat of oil varnish then went in to pack up the Bench Horse and my tools for the show.
Around midnight, my wife called the airlines to double check the extra weight of the bench and parts only to discover it was going to cost too much to ship , about $150 each way. I needed a plan B, and quick. I threw the vise parts and a cordless drill/driver into my suitcase, finished packing. I got into bed at 2:00 am. I had a 4:00 am flight.
On the airplane, I decided that I could make a bench from off-the-borg-shelf materials for under $50, so I sketched something up that would be quick to build, sturdy and would make use of my vise.
My plan was to buy the materials and an inexpensive saw then build the bench at the show. Near St Charles I found a Menard’s (like a Home Depot) and started shopping. It was already 6:00 pm on Thursday night, so I had to move quickly. I gathered up the supplies then found a poor unsuspecting employee in the lumberyard who agreed to make a few cuts for me. Great!
A short while later I had a shopping cart full of much shorter pieces of wood cut approximately to the dimensions I requested with almost square cuts. When I went to check out, the cashier looked at the pile in the cart and was a bit dumbfounded. I convinced her to just ring up what I had before any cuts were made and gave her the list. She was very nice about it, but then immediately afterward went on a break. 
All of the stuff was tossed into the back of the rental car and I arrived at the convention center about 6:30. Because the area was to close at 8:00, I was a bit anxious about setting up. I dumped out all the wood, my drill/driver and the vise parts then got started. Some assembly was required! In about 30 minutes I had the bench standing proud. It’s a real beauty and was very sturdy. Next up, I assembled the vise for the very first time and tried it out. It almost worked , the bench aprons flexed too much under the pressure and did not hold the workpiece quite hard enough. Oh well, good enough.
If you’re interested to make this bench, here is the materials list. I overpaid for much of the stuff but I did not have time to shop around.
(1) 4x4x12′ premium Douglas fir for the Bench Legs – $18.88
(3) 1x8x8′ #2 pine for the aprons and center support
(I had an extra 4′ piece I used for my display shelf) – $15.27
(2) 1x4x8′ #2 pine for stretchers – $3.04
(1) 3/4x24x48 precut and sanded piece of plywood for my top – $11.15
TOTAL Spent – $48.34
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As I read through these comments, I get the feeling that some think this design is my work. Let me say that I wish I could have designed this bench from goods found at a big box store. This bench was designed and built by Dave Jeske of Blue Spruce Tool Works – that’s why he commented as to the workings of the "arm" vise (his brain in action) and why I wrote "as told by Dave Jeske."
I am a bit dissapointed because Dave has lined up a bench to use at the WIA Hand tools show in October. I had it in mind to video his build for all the PW readers to witness.
Love it. Economy and woodworking in unison.
Pure brilliant, Glen.
I met Mr. Blum at the show and saw his torsion box workbenches, too.
You are both an inspiration to make something useful and quick so
we can get on with the show of building heirloom furniture.
Your design is a perfect one for field rapid prototyping.
Rick
Bill,
The dowel that goes through the bench has a short piece of all-thread on the knob end. The knob has a long coupling nut epoxied into the bore. A pin goes in the far side that sets the approximate opening of the vise and prevents the dowel from turning. When you turn the knob it puts the dowel in tension, pulling the vise assembly against the bench. It works very similar to a leg vise. It requires the correct spacing of the end opposite the clamping side. This is accomplished with pre-made shims that slip over the smaller dowel. The design was really made to work with the excellent Bench Horse portable workbench system. Feel free to email me if you would like other pictures. It is only about 75% finished but is operational.
"The vise is clamped by turning the large knob in the center. "
Can you explain this? Is the longer dowel that reaches through the width of the bench theaded?
Very clever.
Impressive build Glen… especially with such little time. Interesting innovation on the vise which also has great aesthetics… some very nice carving/turning work.
Had to be refreshing to build something like this on the fly.