Fig. 167. Woodworking Bench used at Pratt Institute,
Showing Self-Adjusting Upright Vise.]

_Benches._ The essential features of a work-bench are a firm, steady
table with a vise and places for tools. The joints are either pinned
or wedged mortise-and-tenon, or draw-bolt joints. The best benches
are made of maple, the tops being strips joined or tongued-and-grooved
together. It is common also to have a trough at the back of the top
of the bench, i. e., a space 6" or 8" wide, set lower than the upper
surface, in which tools may be placed so as not to roll off. A low
pillow, fastened at the left hand end of the trough, on which to set
planes in order that the edge of the cutter may not be injured, is an
advantage. The tool-rack is of capital importance. It has been common
in school benches to affix it to a board, which rises considerably
above the top of the bench, Fig. 169, but a better plan is to have the
top of it no higher than the bench-top, Fig. 166. Then the light on
the bench is not obscured, and when a flat top is needed for large
work it can readily be had by removing the tools. Elaborate benches
with lock drawers are also much used in the shops of large city
schools.

[Illustration: Fig. 168. A Rapid-Acting Vise.]

_Vises_ for holding wood are of three general styles, (1) those with
an upright wooden jaw, Fig. 167, which holds wide pieces of work well.
They are now made with an automatic adjusting device by which the jaw
and the face of the bench are kept parallel; (2) wooden vises with a
horizontal jaw, guided by parallel runners, Fig. 166, and, (3) metal
rapid-acting vises, Fig. 168. The latter are the most durable and
in most respects more convenient. Special vises are also made for
wood-carvers, for saw-filing, etc.

[Illustration: Fig. 169. Holding a Large Board in Vise for Planing.]

The best woodworking benches are equipped with both side- and
tail-vises. The tail-vise is supplemented by movable bench-stops for
holding pieces of different lengths. In planing the side of a board it
is held in place between the tail-vise and one of the bench-stops. A
board should not be squeezed sidewise between the jaws of a vise when
it is to be planed, lest it be bent out of shape. In planing the edge
of a board it is ordinarily held in the side-vise. A long board, one
end of which is in the vise, may also need to be supported at the
other end. This may be done by clamping to it a handscrew, the jaw of
which rest