Should I drill into my brand new work bench? Uncle gave me a vise

[MagicMarker]

So I have a brand new Gladiator work bench and debating if I really want to drill in a vise my Uncle gave me. I can say that I really don't need it on a daily basis... but it's a nice thing to have on those very rare occasions.

Here is what he gave me... is it a good one? Fuller.

 

[mrpizza]

Get a stand for it instead.

 

[mechanic217]

If you don't want to drill the bench, mount the vise to a board or piece of plywood you can clamp down when you need it, this will be ok for light work.

 

[dutchgray]

Second that, if you don't think you'll use the vice often put it on a separate stand, plenty moveable ones have been made using a heavy truck rim for a base.

 

[fnieto]

You could make a receiver and bolt it in from the bottom (open area). If you want the bolt head flush with the top, counter bore with a correct sized spade bit. This way you could remove the vise when not needed and utilize the receiver for other jigs.

 

[Gearhead 1]

You might get a piece of 2 1/4" 11 ga. square tube and mount it to the legs of the bench. Then mound the vise to a 2" square tube. The 2" slides into the 2 1/4". Put a pin through it and you have a removable vise.
You can put the vise in a receiver hitch on a vehicle too! Mobile Vise

 

[David Paul]

Yes, drill the WORK bench. I had the same question when I received my new bench, drilled it for new Craftsman vise and couldn't be happier.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I wouldn't drill that work bench. That's a nice 3 1/2 inch vise and you will most likely be pounding and twisting on it when you use it. I don't think that nice looking bench would hold up to that kind of use.

 

[David Paul]

Mine is holding up well after a year. I use it often and fairly hard. One of the bolts lines up with a leg bolt hole so the vice is very secure. Ymmv.

 

[sublimate]

Drill it.
Mount it.
and thank your uncle.

 

[drivesitfar]

MM: that is a nice little Fuller vise and probably a good size for your bench. it's a light to medium duty vise so won't have that much action and bolts should be fine. if you have a piece of plate you can mount it like this member did on his nice wood top bench. or the receiver method is another way to do so you can remove it and have it out of the way when you are not using it.

lots of ideas here on this thread.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252799&highlight=vise+stands

 

[bob15]

It is a work bench....use it as such. Drill it and mount the vise. Or is your bench just for looks and you will dust it every week with a Swifter and never use it, except for looks. And be careful for water rings.....might want to use several coats of high gloss polyurethane on the top.

 

[MikeF2316]

I'm always leery about making non-reversible modifications to stuff too. But to get full value out of a vise, it needs to be bolted to the bench. And fasten the bench to the floor, wall or both.

 

[bpj71]

I have the same exact bench in a 6ft and 8ft. I didn't want to drill mine either because I wanted the option to take it off when I wanted to. In addition I could move the vise between benches. I ended having a bracket made that attached to the underside of bench and the leg with a receiver hitch mounted to it. It is very sturdy and goes in and out in seconds. Unfortunately I am not home to take pics, but it's basically 90 degree bracket with the receiver mounted on the bracket. I used 3/8" bolts to mount to leg with a steel spacer on the back side and 3/8" x 1 1/2" lags mounted to underside of bench.

 

[CJ7VFR]

How much do you think you will use the vise and for what purposes?

If you think you will use it just every once in awhile, for light duty things, then get a stand for it, or mount it to a board or something else so you can then clamp it to your bench.

If you think you will use it all the time, and use it hard, like pounding on it, using it to bend stuff, weld stuff, and work on lots of things, then mount it right to the bench.

You could mount it in the center, but that might limit you on putting large/long things on the bench. But it is an option.

Depending on what or if anything is located near the left hand side of the bench (which is cut off in your picture) you could mount the vise on the left hand side of the bench so you could use the vise to clamp large/long items to work on. Plus when not using the vise, it will still leave you with almost all of your bench top to work on.

It looks like the right side of the bench would be too close to your cabinet to be able to clamp large/long things.

A vise is one of those things that once you start to use it, you will use it so much that you will be amazed at why the heck you never had one from the start!

And as others have said, thank your uncle for giving you such a great and useful gift! He must be a great guy, and knows that guys can never have too many tools!!!!

Jim

 

[Speedster29]

Sometimes fear of making the wrong decision holds us back. How about mounting it to a steel plate as has been suggested, so you can start using it. If you find that you are leaving it in place, not removing it from its temporary mounting, then mount it permanently, later.

 

[58Yeoman]

Drill it.
Mount it.
and thank your uncle.

^^This^^

Geez, it's a work bench...use it as such.

 

[altersaddle]

I'm always leery about making non-reversible modifications to stuff too. But to get full value out of a vise, it needs to be bolted to the bench. And fasten the bench to the floor, wall or both.

It's pretty easy to plug a hole in your bench top with a wooden dowel. I drilled my bench top for two vices (metal and wood), also drilled it to hold down a lathe. When we moved into this house, everything had to be rearranged, so now there are holes in the bench. I will plug them when the bench gets moved again into the workshop, if necessary. The bench needs to be shortened by two feet to fit in its new home.

 

[CJ7VFR]

it's a work bench...use it as such.

It all depends on what type of work he is doing on the bench.

His bench looks very clean and neat, so either its brand new, or he does not use it that hard......yet.....

If the bench is used for light duty things, like polishing parts, taking apart and putting back together things like electronic stuff, home items and hobby use, then it will stay clean looking, and he may not need to permanently attach the vise.

If the bench is going to be used to weld stuff, work on dirty greasy car parts, and generally used hard, then it will become dirty in no time, and then I can agree with your "it's a work bench" statement, and he should bolt the vise down permanently.

Some people have multiple benches to work on. One that they try to keep nice for doing "clean" work and one that they don't care what happens to it for doing 'dirty" work.

I am one of those people. The work bench in my garage is my 'Dirty" bench. It gets burn marks from welding stuff. It gets extremely dirty working on greasy car parts. It has pieces missing from the top surface from where pry bars have slipped and taken out pieces of it. It has some type of paint splotch from just about everything I have ever painted on it. It is a hard work bench.

In my basement however I have my "Clean" bench. I use that one for working on electronics, doing wood working, making pens, and other light duty things where I want a clean work surface.

To just say its a work bench, do it, is not really the responses he is looking for. It's what he intends to use the bench for the most that will determine if he NEEDS to attach the vise permanently or not.

Jim

 

[Falcon67]

I made my bench work for the vice.

 

[PugetDude]

First you have to decide whether you want a workbench or a piece of furniture.... If it's a bench, get out the drill; if it's furniture get out the Lemon Pledge.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Drill the holes and bolt it on... If it is in the way for a particular project, just unbolt and set it aside,...and re-bolt when done with that project...... Simple approach for using a light duty vise.

 

[bww_mnm]

this ...

Mine is holding up well after a year. I use it often and fairly hard. One of the bolts lines up with a leg bolt hole so the vice is very secure. Ymmv.

even if you take it out, there's four 1/2" holes, no big deal!

 

[driz]

You could make a receiver and bolt it in from the bottom (open area). If you want the bolt head flush with the top, counter bore with a correct sized spade bit. This way you could remove the vise when not needed and utilize the receiver for other jigs.

Now that is positively BRILLIANT.

If you weld you could probably fab that up for under 20 bucks. Hit the local steel shop and see what they have for heavy plate and heavy tubing that one size will sleeve into the other. Or just grab an old hitch off a junkyard, clean it up with a wire wheel on your grinder then paint.

 

[glider]

Drill it.
Mount it.
and thank your uncle.

This!

 

[jd_1138]

It's a work bench; who cares if it has holes? I'd mount it there if you want to. Just always keep something bolted in that area of the bench if you don't want to see bolt holes in the future. Like if you move the vise, you could put a grinder there.

 

[MagicMarker]

MM: that is a nice little Fuller vise and probably a good size for your bench. it's a light to medium duty vise so won't have that much action and bolts should be fine. if you have a piece of plate you can mount it like this member did on his nice wood top bench. or the receiver method is another way to do so you can remove it and have it out of the way when you are not using it.

lots of ideas here on this thread.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252799&highlight=vise+stands

Thanks.. I'll look into that.

It is a work bench....use it as such. Drill it and mount the vise. Or is your bench just for looks and you will dust it every week with a Swifter and never use it, except for looks. And be careful for water rings.....might want to use several coats of high gloss polyurethane on the top.

Never thought about having to worry about water rings.. the instructions state to never let water sit on the wood for any amount of time.

It all depends on what type of work he is doing on the bench.

His bench looks very clean and neat, so either its brand new, or he does not use it that hard......yet.....

If the bench is used for light duty things, like polishing parts, taking apart and putting back together things like electronic stuff, home items and hobby use, then it will stay clean looking, and he may not need to permanently attach the vise.

If the bench is going to be used to weld stuff, work on dirty greasy car parts, and generally used hard, then it will become dirty in no time, and then I can agree with your "it's a work bench" statement, and he should bolt the vise down permanently.

Some people have multiple benches to work on. One that they try to keep nice for doing "clean" work and one that they don't care what happens to it for doing 'dirty" work.

I am one of those people. The work bench in my garage is my 'Dirty" bench. It gets burn marks from welding stuff. It gets extremely dirty working on greasy car parts. It has pieces missing from the top surface from where pry bars have slipped and taken out pieces of it. It has some type of paint splotch from just about everything I have ever painted on it. It is a hard work bench.

In my basement however I have my "Clean" bench. I use that one for working on electronics, doing wood working, making pens, and other light duty things where I want a clean work surface.

To just say its a work bench, do it, is not really the responses he is looking for. It's what he intends to use the bench for the most that will determine if he NEEDS to attach the vise permanently or not.

Jim

Yeah.. it's just a week old so I'm leery about drilling right now. It'll just be used for small house projects and car detailing duty. So fairly light use.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I couldn't imagine having a work bench without a vise.

It's obvious you spent some money and time getting that shop space just right. If I were going to mount a vise on that new bench it would be a nice Wilton vise.
Kind of like putting a cherry on a cake.

Chris

 

[nine4gmc]

If you are at all leery about it, don't do it. I would think about finding another place for that vise as mentioned, like a stand or something.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Since it is new as you said, why not wait until you get some use out of it and there are marks and scratches and all that.

Once it is "used" some, you will feel better about mounting it permanently by bolting it down.

If you don't need the use of the vise right away, mount it to something you can clamp it down with, and use it that way until your ready to bolt it down.

Jim

 

[BMack37]

If you are at all leery about it, don't do it. I would think about finding another place for that vise as mentioned, like a stand or something.

I agree with this.

Plus, before mounting anything "permanent" you should consider using the space for a while, to make sure your "permanent" mount isn't screwing with the flow of your work space.

I'd put it on a stand, if you decide to mount it then you can use the stand later...maybe an excuse to buy another vice.

 

[valentine]

Tools are meant to be used not preserved in pristine condition. Drill some holes in the bench, bolt that sucker down and get to work. Enjoy using your tools.

-Valentine

 

[ripperd]

Tools are meant to be used not preserved in pristine condition. Drill some holes in the bench, bolt that sucker down and get to work. Enjoy using your tools.

-Valentine

Indeed. I use my vise all the time. It was the very next thing I did after building my workbench. And having it bolted down to a sturdy bench makes it useful for all kinds of things.

 

[langss]

You can always do what I did. I don't currently have room for a work bench, but I do occasionally need to use a vise, so I got a length of 2" square tube, you know like a receiver hitch. Welded a flat plate on top and bolted my Vise to the plate. Now when I need to use a vise, I just slip the tube into the Receiver on my Truck and I am good to go. My Truck is pretty high off the ground, but not bench height so its not perfect, but its better than no vise at all.

 

[SweetD]

Once you mount that vise, you'll be surprised at how much you use it. Mount it and don't look back!

Nice bench by the way.

 

[drmarkr]

Your space is tight with regard to clamping anything very long, after vise installation at one end of the bench.

I'd consider the truck rim pedestal....many examples in the Vises thread!

 

[patbrooks]

If you don't want to drill the bench, mount the vise to a board or piece of plywood you can clamp down when you need it, this will be ok for light work.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[rieferman]

Don't listen to all the predictable, blow hard, "it's a work shop, grrrr, me tough" responses that these questions always elicit. The couple more measured replies that advise you to think through how you will really use the space and the table before making permanent changes will lead you straight. Personally, my shop shape shifts every couple years as my hobbies grow, so having flexibility later is of value to me. In your case, with your stated use, a receiver hitch or pedestal stand approach may be more useful long term than marring a nice bench that isn't a pounding station.

Edit: btw, nice looking shop!!

 

[Outlander]

I'm always leery about making non-reversible modifications to stuff too. But to get full value out of a vise, it needs to be bolted to the bench. And fasten the bench to the floor, wall or both.

First sentence fits me perfectly. I have rough benches in the shop, nothing as nice as the Gladiator.

Sometimes fear of making the wrong decision holds us back. How about mounting it to a steel plate as has been suggested, so you can start using it. If you find that you are leaving it in place, not removing it from its temporary mounting, then mount it permanently, later.

I agree with temporary mounting until you are sure. I have changed configurations and work habits a few times and discovered my 'temporary' folding bench is where I spend most of my bench time

First you have to decide whether you want a workbench or a piece of furniture.... If it's a bench, get out the drill; if it's furniture get out the Lemon Pledge.

"If it's a bench, get out the drill; if it's furniture get out the Lemon Pledge" this is a signature-worthy tag line

Your space is tight with regard to clamping anything very long, after vise installation at one end of the bench.

I'd consider the truck rim pedestal....many examples in the Vises thread!

Indeed! If it is really bothering you then set it up like this and use it.

Last, but by no means least, thank your Uncle! In fact, tell him the GJ appreciates an older guy passing on tools. Many of my tools came from my Uncle, I think of him often when a repair gets done

Enjoy your shop your way!

 

[tehach]

Drill it. mount it.