Ideal Height for Vise

[Arkansasdawg 0]

I am a fly tier but also an amateur wood worker. I am in the design phase of building a desk for my fly tying hobby. I currently use an old computer desk with a Norvise sitting on top. I have always felt that the jaws of the vise are a bit high and therefore put my arms at an uncomfortable position with long tying sessions. So, if I am going to build a desk, I want to get the jaws at an ideal height. I know that I could use an adjustable chair but since this sits in a corner of our Master Bedroom, my wife puts her foot down on using an adjustable desk chair! Any suggestions or references?

 

Jimmy

[Cold 0]

New wife.

[SILKHDH 0]

Ah ha ha ha! New wife!! Ah ha ha ha !

[mikechell 0]

Welcome to the site, Jimmy.

Vise height is about as personal as food choices. There's a huge variety, but it all boils down to what YOU like.

I have bifocal glasses, so I like my hook to be at the proper height so my head is at a natural position when looking through the glasses. This puts the vise just about even with my solar plexus when I am seated.

But since my vice is on a clamp on the edge of my desk, I can adjust it if needed. If I were to build a desk, I would duplicate that. I use a base when I am tying on the road ... but I prefer a clamp when I am at home.

[utyer 0]

Like you, I tie on a Nor-vise. I custom built my desk to be at 26" which puts the vise at a comfortable position for me.

[Arkansasdawg 0]

Perfect, thanks for the quick replies. I'll wait to see if there are more ideas.

Jimmy

[Cold 0]

On a more serious note, personally, I like my vise at a height where I can rest my elbows on the table, and have my hands comfortably positioned at the vise.

 

I don't always tie with my elbows on the table, but when I don't the height from table to vise is irrelevant, and when I do, that height is nice.

 

The other distance variables at play are vise to floor (which is a function of that table to vise height plus floor to table) and chair surface to vise (which incorporates both the chair to floor and the vise to floor).

 

Since the chair is a wife-fixed variable in your particular equation and the table-to-vise is fixed by your vise itself...and the ideal chair to vise distance is determined by your height and torso (and arm) length, I'd first grab the chair you're going to use, and sit down, and from there, figure out where your hands naturally want to tie, and extrapolate from that the only "wiggle variable" you have left: the height of the table. If you can, try a few different tables in your house by pulling the chair and vise over to them and "assume the position" and see how comfortable it feels.

 

If you're going with a custom piece of furniture anyway, it's more than worth the hassle to make that custom solution be customized to you.