Interest seems to be running high in benches and vises today,
so I'll kick in my latest idea and let you judge whether it's
fiendishly clever or shamelessly cheapoid.

My bench's tail vice and dog hole situation in hand, I decided
to go with a shoulder vise because I was tired of vertically-
challenged clamping situations. I wanted hold pieces straight up 
and down without screws and guide rods in the way. Besides, I 
have come to regard the Scandinavian bench look as sort of cool.

Now, I know that screws and nut combinations are available for not 
all that much money. But I didn't like the way the T-handles protruded
so far out from the mount. I figured that, with a foot or so of 
capacity plus a hefty three-inch arm, I didn't want to be backed too
far away from those tiny dovetails or whatever I'd be whacking out.
Plus, I happened to have in the metal scrap box a 12" length of 1"
threaded rod and three nuts to fit.

The rest is predictable. I inset two nuts on the screw mounting arm,
one on the front and one on the back, around a hole to receive the
screw. I mounted the remaining nut on the back of the screw, 
drilled a hole sideways through the nut and rod, and pinned the two
with a large common nail hacksawed off and peened over on the far 
end. 

For the handle I used a handy piece of aluminum about two inches
by eight, sawing a hole (not having a drill bit that large suitable
for metal work) and threading the piece of aluminum on underneath 
the nut. Next I drilled and pinned the metal arm to the nut. 
For a handhold, I used (and this is embarrassing) an old steering 
wheel add-on that was once referred to as a "necker's knob" that I
had taken off a tractor years ago. 

The business end of the screw was drilled and tapped from the end 
to a depth of about 3/4" to receive a 1/4 x 20 bolt. The bolt
captures a hunk of sheet steel about 1 1/2 by 3 inches that is 
screwed from the other side into my wooden vise jaw.

The results please me to no end. The screw has 8 threads per inch, 
compared to 4 on my other vises. But with that stubby little knob
spinning merrily around, I can comfortably open or close the vise
just as quickly. And rarely would I ever need to open it far, 
anyway.

Total cost? Zero dollars. Even buying the stuff rather than 
reclaiming it wouldn't run more than 12 or so bucks. And now I can 
simultaneously put the squeeze on SWMBO and a hunk of wood. As
Beavis would say, damn, I'm smooth. And Rube Goldberg might admit
me to apprenticeship.

Richard Givan
Spinnin' and grinnin' in
Richmond, KY