Another Vise thread

[Dentaltec]

Home owner looking to invest in a vise. Hate buyers remorse, can't stand buying something only to realize its not good enough. Looking at Wiltons and they look awesome but so damn many choices and I have no clue why the same size are so vastly different in price. The machinists verses tradesman for example. My garage has lots of counter space. I plan to use it for the typical stuff, can you recommend the size and model that would fit?

Thanks

 

[dumper]

define "typical stuff," then we can jump in here. I do typical stuff, and currently I have 2 vises, a 4-1/2" Columbian fixed base, which I use for almost everything, and a Wilton 4" Tradesman that I bought because I read too much garage journal and thought I had to have one, and it looked neat!

 

[Dentaltec]

Drilling sawing glueing pounding filing ??? Thats what I think is normal stuff

 

[maxpat82]

Drilling sawing glueing pounding filing ??? Thats what I think is normal stuff

on a tooth or a 8+" I beam ?

 

[Mat3r]

I bought a new $145 Wilton 5" Multipurpose Swivel Rotating Head with pipe jaws and am very happy with it for general projects. I don't think a machinist vise would warrant the extra cost for what you are looking to do.

 

[58Yeoman]

My first vise was a 4" Cman bought in the early 70's. I used that w/o problem until this year, when I replaced it with another, slightly larger vise. I also picked up a 6" Cman at a sale cheap, and put it on one of my other workbenches. You really don't need an expensive Wilton if you're doing normal work. But, I do like the idea that everyone thinks they need the Wiltons...I've sold a bunch.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Look for old vises locally on CL (that aren't all beat to hell)...

Something 4-1/2" to 5" wide jaws is a good general purpose vise...

Where do you live? Various parts of the country seem to have more old vintage stuff than others...

 

[Dentaltec]

Thanks for the ideas guys, i live in So Cal and see a bunch of things on CL, I just do not know whats good or ****.

Can someone tell me what the big price increase is on a machinists vise over a more common. What does it do differently?

 

[BFBOB]

Ryan,
Is there some way I can suppress certain avatars?
Dentaltec's gives me the willies every time I catch a glimpse of it!

 

[Dentaltec]

LOL if this one sets you off I'll be sure not to post the real good stuff

Come on its all nuts and bolts some how

 

[ssdave]

Here's one that I think isn't a bad buy; will do everything you want.

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/tls/d/eron-35-heavy-duty-vise/6438721981.html

These cheap import vises are some of the best user vises you can get; they're readily available new also:

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/d/bench-vise/6426947494.html

Just pulling up CL and searching vise in SoCal, I was amazed how many choices there were. A lot overpriced, but some decent. There were some good columbians, reeds, parkers, etc for decent prices, along with some overpriced ones, and consistently overpriced wiltons.

Here's another good user vise for a reasonable cost:

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/d/vise/6438078971.html

 

[EOC_Jason]

Can someone tell me what the big price increase is on a machinists vise over a more common. What does it do differently?

Machinists vises (i.e. Kurt brand) are precision made and to be used in mills... They usually have a shallow throat which isn't too practical for home use. Machinist's generally use aluminum blocks as the jaws and mill them to the profile of the part(s) to be held. The vise is designed with tight tolerances and exerts even pressure so you are able to repeat the same process over and over.

Like I said, look for old vises / brands like: Reed, Columbian, Athol, Parker, Desmond, Craftsman, Prentiss, etc...

Check out the big vise thread and you can get an idea of what to look for.

 

[Dentaltec]

Thank you gentlemen

 

[matt_i]

My first vise was a Wilton Mechanics vise. Its perfect for so many things and has stood up to a lot of cold-forming steel with a hammer.

Biggest step forward in any vise, if you asked me, is to shelve the hard knurled jaws that come with it and put on jaws of copper or brass or aluminum. About 0.5% of stuff I put in a vise I would be willing to accept the bite marks.

 

[bradleykd]

Machinists vises (i.e. Kurt brand) are precision made and to be used in mills... They usually have a shallow throat which isn't too practical for home use. Machinist's generally use aluminum blocks as the jaws and mill them to the profile of the part(s) to be held. The vise is designed with tight tolerances and exerts even pressure so you are able to repeat the same process over and over.

Like I said, look for old vises / brands like: Reed, Columbian, Athol, Parker, Desmond, Craftsman, Prentiss, etc...

Check out the big vise thread and you can get an idea of what to look for.

That's a milling machine vise, used by machinists, but not necessarily a machinists vise.

Machinists vises generally have tighter tollerances to keep the jaws more parallel and have higher tensile strength steel. They also always have a covered lead screw.

Mechanics vises are cheaper versions of this. They will have a little more play in the slide and sometimes an exposed lead screw and always lighter tensile strenght steel.

A mechanics vise is plenty good for home use if buying new, but most people look for used old vises because of their quality - the reason for that quality is that they are buying machinists vises. You can still buy high quality machinists vises, but the cost is usually prohibitive to buy new for home use.

 

[metalmagpie]

Wilton machinist vises are made of better iron, in the US. All other Wiltons are Asian.

I have heard that the old Parker vises were very well made.

I got a 6" Record vise and sold my Wiltons. My vise weighs 165 pounds and is bolted to a pedestal stand that probably goes another 250. Damn handy.