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Woodworker L�©vis Th�©riault of Fredericton, NB, sent these interesting photos of a leg vise he purchased in an antique shop.
The real head-scratcher here is the round post at the bottom of the chop. I haven’t seen a parallel guide like this that wasn’t threaded. LÃ?©vis questioned whether the woodworker perhaps used a block of wood at the bottom of the chop (aka a “pile block“).
Could be. Here are two other crackpot theories (remember this is the Internet we’re dealing with):
Theory 1: The chop is so thin and the guide is so short that it’s possible this vise was used to grasp only thin materials. That doesn’t explain, however, the length of the screw.
Theory 2: Perhaps they used the round post like a holdfast? The post could have been in a hole that was fairly close in size to the post. Then they would jam the post in the hole (with their foot?) when securing the screw to wedge the bottom of the chop. It might be a bit of a pain to un-jam the post perhaps….
If anyone has any additional cockamamie theories, our lines are now open.
