Cut a notch in the base for the tailvise guide rail to pass through.

 

One more thing to do before saying you're done. Here is a good view of the cleat screwed to the front of the base. The tongue on the front jaw rides along this cleat. With the top screwed back in position, the top and this attached cleat form the groove in which the front jaw tongue travels.

 

I am about to discover to my dismay that the support cleat is going to get in the way of the vise's cross bar when I attempt to roll the top over and screw it down. I had to unscrew the cleat and then reinstall it after setting the top in position.

 

This is the fourth tailvise I have built. Seen from the front all appear the same. But due to differences in things like the over hang of the top in relation to the base or top thickness, the supporting structure of the vise has had to be modified each time to fit the bench. On the original Shaker bench I routed a groove in the front edge of the top with a router. A very hairy operation which I didn't want to repeat. That bench top extended far enough past the cabinet base so all I had to do was cut a notch in the base for the guide rail. On the next two benches I screwed a rabbeted cleat to the underside of the bench top.That worked well. On this bench, the large base unit combined with the smaller top limited the top's over hang. I was committed to allowing enough over hang on the left side of the top to install a metal bench vise. This meant that the cross bar the connects the front jaw and guide rail would bump into the side of the bench a prevent the vise from closing. I had to rejigger things and mounted the vcross bar further to the rear of the tail vises's body. You can see this in the picture in the previous post.