help me pick a bench vise

[Maximus96]

i want to buy a bench vise. i'm looking at this craftsman professional 4.5", link, it gets pretty good reviews according to the website.

the other one i'm looking at is from amazon, link, its a bit cheaper and has good review as well.

any ideas on which is better? i like the looks of the craftsman compared to the wilton. are there any others that i should look at in this price range? it'll mostly be used for house-hold and car/garage stuff.

 

[waggy]

its a vice. get whatever one floats your boat.

the one i got was at a garage sale 10 years ago in fact it looks like the one you have in the amazon link. but the one i have has to be 50+ years old

 

[Drakkon]

goto a pawn shop - they usually have a ton there from worksites that people have pawned off. a vise is a vise, so long as its made of some tuff stuff and cranks its good.

 

[Maximus96]

i want something nice that'll last. i understand the cheaper craftsman ones are bad and according to the user reviews on sears.com they tend to break in half upon use.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
goto a pawn shop - they usually have a ton there from worksites that people have pawned off. a vise is a vise, so long as its made of some tuff stuff and cranks its good.

this is usually true. ironically i have both these vices. on our work trucks we have the wiltons and craftsman vices, in the shop we have craftsman. the craftsman by far are wiggly, for lack of a better term, and seem to have not stood the test of time. it does get used a TON tho, so that may be a factor in that. on the trucks they are bumper mounted (1 ton service body trucks) and havent really seen a difference in wear and tear yet. but they have only been in use for a couple years now. if i was looking for one for myself (and decided not to buy a new one through work), i would probably go to swap meets and pawn shops until i found one for a decent price. lots of decent tools at those places.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Maximus96
i want something nice that'll last. i understand the cheaper craftsman ones are bad and according to the user reviews on sears.com they tend to break in half upon use.

a vice that breaks on use? WTF kind of shit is that?


but go to auctions/garage sales/pawn shops. you can get a old one that still does teh job for a few bucks.


this is one of those things i sure wouldnt buy new unless i couldnt find a used one.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
goto a pawn shop - they usually have a ton there from worksites that people have pawned off. a vise is a vise, so long as its made of some tuff stuff and cranks its good.

???? if you don't really use vises I guess they all seem the same.

It comes down to what the primary material will be more than anything and what capacity you think you will need.

I picked up one from Harbor Freight with a good review. Probably not strong enough to take a 10lb sledge to the anvil, but it's got the capacity I need for pipe and metal.

It makes no sense to pay more for one if you aren't using it's abilities.

What will you be doing with it?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Maximus96
i want something nice that'll last. i understand the cheaper craftsman ones are bad and according to the user reviews on sears.com they tend to break in half upon use.

a vice that breaks on use? WTF kind of shit is that?


but go to auctions/garage sales/pawn shops. you can get a old one that still does teh job for a few bucks.


this is one of those things i sure wouldnt buy new unless i couldnt find a used one.

Seriously, how does a vice break in half? :Q

 

[lokiju]

Harbor Freight has a 5" for $54.99.

They're all solid metal, can't really go wrong with any choice IMO.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: lokiju
Harbor Freight has a 5" for $54.99.

They're all solid metal, can't really go wrong with any choice IMO.

not all metals nor castings are equal...put 1/4-1/2" steel in a cheap vise and put a 90 deg bend in one end.

Pretty easy to crack a jaw or the body on a cheapy.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Maximus96
i want something nice that'll last. i understand the cheaper craftsman ones are bad and according to the user reviews on sears.com they tend to break in half upon use.

a vice that breaks on use? WTF kind of shit is that?


but go to auctions/garage sales/pawn shops. you can get a old one that still does teh job for a few bucks.


this is one of those things i sure wouldnt buy new unless i couldnt find a used one.

Seriously, how does a vice break in half? :Q

i don't know, but here are the reviews on sears.com,

The latest one is only two months old, and i quote

Rating 1 out of 5 1 5
Piece of junk, February 10, 2009
By jpritts00 from Cherokee, IA

"Got this vise for Christmas, used it twice. I put a heavy duty bolt with lock nut on it in the vise and tightened it down. First the jaw snapped in half so I moved the bolt to the other half for a good grip, this time it held until I started to pull on the breaker bar. After a couple of tugs on the breaker bar, the vise actually broke in half! I guess I am closer to superman than I thought. I would never recommend this product to any of my friends and will be looking for a better quality product."

8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: alkemyst


It makes no sense to pay more for one if you aren't using it's abilities.

What will you be doing with it?

The very first thing i want to get done is to bend a 1/4" thick steel bar into the shape shown at the bottom of this picture

my dad had a small one in the basement of our old house, somehow i forgot to remove it and take it me when we sold the house...

 

[Vette73]

Get a higher end one from harbor freight and use a 20% coupon.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Get a higher end one from harbor freight and use a 20% coupon.

you mean like this 115 pound beauty? does these things really weight 115lb?


on a side, related note: how should i go about mounting one to my work bench? my workbench consists of a 1" or 1-1/2" thick piece of work on two stainless steel tool box/drawers. Its the Nexgrill brand that costco sold a while back. i was thinking of mounting it on the corner by drilling thru the wood and the top of the drawer and bolt it in place. how thick are these bolts, typically? i'm not sure if i have a big enough drill bit if the vice mounts with thick bolts.

 

[BoomerD]

It's getting difficult to find a decent vice anymore. Too dammed many are now made in China of substandard materials and poor quality.

A few years ago, Wilton made good, solid vices. Nowadays...I dunno.

Craftsman vices were never GOOD quallity, just as good as they had to be to get homeowners to buy them...NOT made for people who actually work with them.

http://www.asedeals.com/heavy_duty_vises.html

http://www.yostvises.com/

 

[edro]

Wow, what's the shipping on a vice?

 

[Bulk Beef]

A few years ago, Wilton made good, solid vices. Nowadays...I dunno.

I do - they suck. I have a 6" Wilton that I bought at Lowe's a few years ago, and it really is pretty crappy. The heavy parts of the vise are fine, but things like the handle and the threaded shaft are just shit. Soft steels, badly machined threads, that kind of thing.

OP, your best bet is to find an old vise at a tool auction or something. Something that was made 80 years ago and has been bolted to a bench in some farmer's barn will be way better than almost any consumer stuff you can buy now.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
It's getting difficult to find a decent vice anymore. Too dammed many are now made in China of substandard materials and poor quality.

A few years ago, Wilton made good, solid vices. Nowadays...I dunno.

Craftsman vices were never GOOD quallity, just as good as they had to be to get homeowners to buy them...NOT made for people who actually work with them.

http://www.asedeals.com/heavy_duty_vises.html

http://www.yostvises.com/

sigh....another craftsman = show and no go post. I know quite a few with Craftsman vices and not any problems, these are guys that are pretty tough on tools. It really has more to do with what your are doing with them.

I mean hell, most would require rebuilding their workbench to fully utilize anything over a moderate pricepoint vice.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: lokiju
Harbor Freight has a 5" for $54.99.

They're all solid metal, can't really go wrong with any choice IMO.

not all metals nor castings are equal...put 1/4-1/2" steel in a cheap vise and put a 90 deg bend in one end.

Pretty easy to crack a jaw or the body on a cheapy.

shouldnt be bending that sucker in a table vice like that anyway... pipe work is done on a pipe vice, thats why they were invented. the ones we use for anything over 3/4" have two chain locks on them and a crank to tighten it down solid. the size and angle of the legs keeps them steady for pipe/ conduit bending up to 2". but really, 2" and up we toss on a 555 and let the motor do the work. the only thing ive managed to break on a vice was the screw-in teeth (pads?) and a couple threads. ive never actually broke the body or the jaw shaft

 

[alkemyst]

When one is talking about bending steel it's usually not pipe. Think flat stock. Also most aren't going to have the want to have two spots blocked by specialized vices which is why many have pipe jaws...

Why not just recommend a $100k mandrel bender with cnc ability.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
When one is talking about bending steel it's usually not pipe. Think flat stock. Also most aren't going to have the want to have two spots blocked by specialized vices which is why many have pipe jaws...

Why not just recommend a $100k mandrel bender with cnc ability.

sorry, i work for an electrical contractor... first thought was pipe/ conduit, not solid stock. and the pipe teeth in the center of the jaws usually crush pipe due to the operator overcranking it. solid stock it works pretty well tho, as long as you can get the teeth marks out.

 

[compman25]

Nothing worse than breaking the handle on a cheap ass chinese vise. Buy a quality one.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: compman25
Nothing worse than breaking the handle on a cheap ass chinese vise. Buy a quality one.

What do you recommend as a quality one?

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: Maximus96

Originally posted by: compman25
Nothing worse than breaking the handle on a cheap ass chinese vise. Buy a quality one.

What do you recommend as a quality one?

I have a Reeds 108R, it weighs about 250lbs, is big and isn't going to break. I think if you pit 10,000 Chinese against my vise, the vise wins!

 

[IGBT]

go look at SnapOn before getting anything else.