Zoro is currently listing the Fein Versamag Vice with Magnet for $349. That's $100 less than normally seen. 15% off coupons are pretty easy to come by, and they will let you apply it on top of the sale prices. Lands it at $297.
Fein Versamag Vice with Magnet <$300
- Thread starter DennisVog
- Start date
Duker
Well-known member
Last edited:
FEIN VersaMAG ~ Powerful Rapid Clamping System
It would appear there will be more accessories released for this.
It would appear there will be more accessories released for this.
I'd be worried welding that close to a permanent magnet for fear of heating up the magnet past it's Curie temperature. I realize there's a lot of thermal mass between the plate and the clamp, so it may not be an issue, but it would **** to nuke a 300 vise.
I'm sure their warranty is great, but there always seem to be ways to get around honoring a warranty at the fringes of the intended use case. For example the product information indicates that the magnet should only be used at an ambient temperature between minus 15° Celsius and 45° Celsius. How do you reconcile that with something that's going to be a couple hundred degrees after having been welded on?
Anyway, I'm not trying to tear it down. And I just got my 15% code from Zoro so I'll likely order one of the vises. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the implications of using it for welding as it would be incredibly convenient to pop it off my drill press table and clamp it down to my welding table.
brandonsmash
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2016
- Messages
- 215
I saw that -15 to 45C thing in the manual when I opened mine. Quite frankly, that makes my use case a bit more difficult: I often need a vise when working outdoors, and it's >45C for a solid 2-3 months here.
I'm on the fence about the welding platform, though. It's such a small work envelope; would that little thing really offer that much utility? The trick of this vise is in the magnetic base: If you have a steel horizontal surface to which to mount the vise, why wouldn't you just use that as your welding platform? I suppose if you really like those clamps for setup on small parts, okay, but that seems like a fairly minor edge case for a comparatively spendy (tiny) table.
I suspect the prescribed temperature range is more to prevent it being used under truly harmful conditions, rather than to preclude it's use outdoors on a hot day, although that does seem like an arbitrarily low max temp.
I agree about the welding platform being small, although I can see use cases where it would be nice to create a small clampable area that is (for example) mounted perpendicular, or at other set angles relative to one's main welding work surface. I made up a little work table for just such a purpose by drilling holes in a piece of plate, but I often have to clamp or bolt it in place. That's where the magnet would be nice.
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Just got mine today. A few observations:
- The packaging was very, very nice.
- Someone in another thread asked where this is made. The answer is: India!
- In that other same thread, someone was asking about the slop in the head and whether the dynamic jaw would lift up in use. I took a few quick measurements and found the dynamic jaw has between 1 and 1.5 degrees of "yaw". I was able to squeeze a .003" shim under one side of the dynamic jaw's sliding surface, but then the other side was pushed down tight. I didn't have two .001" shims to try under both sides, so I set a depth gauge up on some blocks and took an initial measurement, then forced a wedge under the jaw and took a second measurement. Looks like just under .002" of lift in the middle, which is pretty consistent with the shims.
- I clamped a lifting bolt in the jaws and tried pulling the vise off my little welding table with a hoist. I used a crane scale to see how hard I was pulling but I ended up just pulling my little table off the ground. It apparently weighs about 180 lbs so that was the max I could test without stacking a bunch of heavy stuff on the table (which would have inevitable fallen off when the magnet finally let go). In short, I don't think the strength of the magnet is going to be the shortcoming here.
The fit and finish is pretty okay. The machining marks on the sliding surfaces indicated some questionable tool path choices but I'm sure they had their reasons, and they passed the "fingernail" test.
The black oxide finish on the handle seemed a little iffy but the finish on the jaws seems better. The spring in the mag handle is nice and crisp, and the action of the button is nice. I like the little green indicator o-ring on the handle that tells you it's locked down. No major casting flaws on thr vise itself and the powder cost looks good.
It's only a 4" vise, but that's what I wanted. I don't have a production table on my drill press and there's really not room for my 6" Cardinal speed vise.
There was a lot of play between the dovetails on the vise and the mag base, but then I realized there are a couple of "gib screws" you can tighten to lock them down (at the cost of being able to quickly separate the vise and the base. Maybe there's some advantage to leaving it loose so the bit can center itself in the punch/pilot hole?
Anyhow, obviously no real use yet but I'm excited to ty it out. The time saved clamping the vise down will more than make up for the time lost tightening the clamp screw compared to the speed vise. Someone should make a Cardinal style speed vide with a mag base!
- The packaging was very, very nice.
- Someone in another thread asked where this is made. The answer is: India!
- In that other same thread, someone was asking about the slop in the head and whether the dynamic jaw would lift up in use. I took a few quick measurements and found the dynamic jaw has between 1 and 1.5 degrees of "yaw". I was able to squeeze a .003" shim under one side of the dynamic jaw's sliding surface, but then the other side was pushed down tight. I didn't have two .001" shims to try under both sides, so I set a depth gauge up on some blocks and took an initial measurement, then forced a wedge under the jaw and took a second measurement. Looks like just under .002" of lift in the middle, which is pretty consistent with the shims.
- I clamped a lifting bolt in the jaws and tried pulling the vise off my little welding table with a hoist. I used a crane scale to see how hard I was pulling but I ended up just pulling my little table off the ground. It apparently weighs about 180 lbs so that was the max I could test without stacking a bunch of heavy stuff on the table (which would have inevitable fallen off when the magnet finally let go). In short, I don't think the strength of the magnet is going to be the shortcoming here.
The fit and finish is pretty okay. The machining marks on the sliding surfaces indicated some questionable tool path choices but I'm sure they had their reasons, and they passed the "fingernail" test.
The black oxide finish on the handle seemed a little iffy but the finish on the jaws seems better. The spring in the mag handle is nice and crisp, and the action of the button is nice. I like the little green indicator o-ring on the handle that tells you it's locked down. No major casting flaws on thr vise itself and the powder cost looks good.
It's only a 4" vise, but that's what I wanted. I don't have a production table on my drill press and there's really not room for my 6" Cardinal speed vise.
There was a lot of play between the dovetails on the vise and the mag base, but then I realized there are a couple of "gib screws" you can tighten to lock them down (at the cost of being able to quickly separate the vise and the base. Maybe there's some advantage to leaving it loose so the bit can center itself in the punch/pilot hole?
Anyhow, obviously no real use yet but I'm excited to ty it out. The time saved clamping the vise down will more than make up for the time lost tightening the clamp screw compared to the speed vise. Someone should make a Cardinal style speed vide with a mag base!
Attachments
RichieP_MechE
Well-known member
Ebay deal on this vise - they are running an extra 20% off for the next two hours, total should end up at $287.97
Fein 90701004020 VERSAMAG Vise Set w/ Jaw Width of 4" | eBay
SKU 90701004020. The vise has a clamping range of 4-1/4 in and a jaw width of 4 in. Jaw height 1.57 in. Jaw width 4 in. Portable, flexible, ready for fast use. Its compact size and narrow permanent magnet adapts to any workstation.
www.ebay.com