Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

An Inexpensive Pipe-Clamp Bench Vise

Patricia Bennett

 

While working on the setup of a new scene shop, our carpentry staff decided that a bench vise would be a useful addition to each carpenter’s work station. The Technical Director and Assistant Technical Director priced various bench vises, all with 6″ jaw widths, and discovered that they ranged from $75.00 to $150.00 each. An inexpensive and temporary alternative needed to be found until additional money became available for standard vises.

FIGURE 1

The problem was solved by the Shop Foreman, who showed us an inexpensive way to construct a bench vise of pipe clamps. Building the vise shown ...