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For woodworkers who don’t have a tail vise, wagon vise or other kind of end vise, the Veritas Wonder Dog has always been a great substitute. It drops into a round dog hole and allows you to pinch your work between the Wonder Dog and a second dog.
Now Veritas has developed a new bench-clamping device that is faster, more versatile and has a much longer throw than the venerable Wonder Dog. It’s called the Veritas Surface Vise, and Lee Valley officials were showing it off at the Woodworking in America conference last week. I got to toy around with it a bit and take a few photos.
Here’s how it works: The device has two posts that drop into dog holes on your benchtop. One post is cleverly split so you can lock it in place in the hole if you want (the locking mechanism works like the device on the Veritas Surface Clamp). The other post has a speed nut perched on top of it. The 19″-long shaft passes through both posts. You release the vise by slightly turning the speed nut , this makes the shaft slide freely. Turn the speed nut the other way, and it engages the threads on the shaft. With the threads engaged you can adjust the rod with the stainless steel handle at the end of the shaft.
In truth, this Veritas Surface Vise needs a video to explain it. All my words above just do not do it justice.
The jaw that clamps the work is removable (it’s held in place with a rare-earth magnet) and you can screw accessory jaws to it.
The Veritas Surface Vise should be available soon and will cost $79.
– Christopher Schwarz
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Hi guys,
Been doing the same for years, except I use snail shaped cam. I just pin the cam to the bench nearest the part, and turn it up tight. A 1/4" thick cam works for all up to 8/4 stock.
Later,
Pablo
Hi Ryan,
I use the wonder pups too, and my workaround is to toss a piece of 1/4 inch mdf between the pup and the board I’m planing. It transfers the clamping pressure from the pup to the board while keeping the board and tooling away from the pup. No marring or collisions this way.
On the opposite side I have a line of 1/4-20 flat head cap screws countersinked into the end of the bench. I grab an allen wrench and raise the two I need to match board width and go. It keeps things on the down low for me, and the 82 degree edge of the screws engages the end grain of boards very positively.
The problem I encounter when using the wonder pup is that I have to really be careful to avoid a collision between it and my plane. This is especially a problem when traversing.
The body on this looks even larger than a wonder pup, will it get in the way with 3/4 (or smaller) stock?