Drill Press Vise - Advice

[1956ford]

I recently bought a Delta Homecraft bench top drill press. I believe it is 1957 vintage, operates perfectly, well maintained. HEAVY!

For ordinary home / garage use, is a drill press vise recommended?
If so, what are reasonably priced and decent brands.
Is a one dimensional vise sufficient? Or is the cross-slide, two dimensional one that much more useful?

Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[CobraRed]

Yost Dpv-4 or DPV-5 is best bang for your buck IMO.

$40-50, I went through 2 Irwin cheapies than got this. Thousands of drill holes, no issues with it.

As for cross slide, I suppose that depends on what you need it for. Depends on the user.

 

[Davefr]

It really depends on your projects. For me, this is what I always have at the DP since you can use it on 5 of it's 6 sides. Don't even think of getting one without the two V grooves in the stationary jaw.:

One of these might be better if you anticipate a lot of clamping of work to your DP table but you sacrifice versatility.

I have a crossfeed vise but rarely use it. I've also rarely use a DP angle vise.

 

[exmaxima1]

It really depends on your projects. For me, this is what I always have at the DP since you can use it on 5 of it's 6 sides. Don't even think of getting one without the two V grooves in the stationary jaw.:

I like V-groove idea, though I rarely use it. For me, stepped jaws are the most important. Makes things much faster, and saves scarring the vise

 

[NC Rick]

Nice drill press! I’m with Dave on the vise selection, being able to tip the vise on its side adds a lot to versatility. And x-y table (preferably with graduated rotation also) is good if you have to layout accurate hole patterns. You can do the math or use an internet calculator for hole patterns in a circle as an example. Learn to use a spot drill if you are using one of those. Forget about milling with one.

 

[shawhite]

Either Heinrich or wahlstrom for me. Can find them used for around $100.

https://www.heinrichco.com/sdvise.htm

http://www.penntoolco.com/wahlstrom-float-lock-drill-press-vise-1/

 

[zkling]

For that drill press, a vise like the first one dave posted, a fence and a few good sized c or f clamps should do all you need.

Putting a float lock style safety vise on that small of a drill press will be a royal pain (in my opinion).

 

[lilredex]

My most used DP vise is a HF type mounted on a track. Easy on, easy off ....never an excuse for accident prone hand holding stuff.

Believe yours also has a rectangular table.

 

[shawhite]

Those type of vises take up a lot of vertical height on a bench top press which has limited headroom as it is. I can set up my float lock quicker than I could clamp something in one of the screw type vices. I would personally use a clamp vise before I use the screw type drill vise. Unless I needed parallels or a v block.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Yost-6-in-Drill-Press-Vise-Clamp-DC-6/207206028

 

[rmack898]

I bought a 4" and a 6" South Bend vise when Grizzly first bought the SB name.

These are fairly nice quality Taiwan made and I would buy them again if I needed another.


https://www.grizzly.com/products/South-Bend-4-Precision-Drill-Press-Vise/SB1215

 

[1956ford]

Thank you all. Outstanding information. I will follow up your suggestions and links.

El Wifo and I are looking at homes in Arkansas soon and some have shops, so hoping one works out.

 

[tarmy]

I have a vice...but I use this 95% of the time...

 

[matt_i]

My favorite drill press vise is an abused 6" Kurt milling vise knockoff. It weighs ~50-60 lbs.

I like the Heinrich for fast clamping but nothing will touch the mass of the Kurt knockoff.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Delta Homecraft 11" drill presses are impressively heavy for their size, but the table is not too large. I would get a 3" Palmgren like Davefr showed in the post above.

 

[Rabid Badger]

I picked up one of these at a yard sale for $5. You can remove the vise from the tilting base if you want to flip it around.

http://www.penntoolco.com/11252/