HF Swivel Base Vice?

[Greatwhitewing]

Is the harbor Freight 6" Swivel Vice something I will regret? Would like a somewhat large vice but don't have hundreds in my budget for it.

Homeowner use in unheated sometimes damp location.

 

[cowboy73]

I would wait and look around for an old, used made in USA vise. These import vises aren't very durable and don't take much abuse to break. It's not about their country of origin but the quality of the materials used to make them.

 

[bdkruger1]

Chinese casting = ****.

 

[Steevo]

They are not good quality, but are better than no vise at all.
I own six vises. The good ones are where I use them most, but I do have one like you posted, bolted to a plywood shelf/bench in my garden shed. It works for what I use it for in that situation.

 

[paullie]

i got one just like that but it's bigger and have beat the **** out of it. For the $$$ i figured if it breaks who cares? But i have had it for 4+ years and its still fine. My dad has a BIG OLD vice and once he kicks the bucket then i will have a "good" vice.

 

[Flathead Johnny]

that vise will do fine for 99+% of people, if you are torching stuff in it then smashing it with a hammer and old vintage one it what you want

 

[EJM02]

Craigslist is your best friend. Search for 'vise' in the general search as people don't always categorize things correctly on C-list. Then, my little trick to finding things on craigslist.... spell it like a dumb ***.... Search for 'vice', notice the 'c' where the 's' should be. Then try both words but pluralize them because craigslist is a character specific seach engine. I scored my AMERICAN MADE Athol for 30 bucks. IT was listed as a vice in the home appliance section. Good Luck!

 

[Provincial]

I had a couple of the HF 6" vises at my rock quarry. I bought them because my workers abused or stole any good tools I supplied. Since they were abused, the weak points showed up fast. The jaw faces are soft and scar up easily. The swivel base is a weak point, and we would discard it after it broke and just bolt the remaining part of the vise directly to the bench. We never broke a main or moving jaw casting or bent anything out of alignment.

They are cheap asian stuff, but will hold up adequately unless subject to major abuse. Because you are looking at a 6" vise, you are less likely to exceed it's limits. A 4" vise would be much easer to overstress. With the asian stuff, bigger is much better, although I broke the movable jaw off an Alltrade 6" vise once.

 

[Greatwhitewing]

I will try some variations of the spelling but generally CL doesn't do well in somewhat my rural area plus the time involved going and checking stuff out is a real detriment for me.

Craigslist is your best friend. Search for 'vise' in the general search as people don't always categorize things correctly on C-list. Then, my little trick to finding things on craigslist.... spell it like a dumb ***.... Search for 'vice', notice the 'c' where the 's' should be. Then try both words but pluralize them because craigslist is a character specific seach engine. I scored my AMERICAN MADE Athol for 30 bucks. IT was listed as a vice in the home appliance section. Good Luck!

 

[Steevo]

Craigslist is your best friend. Search for 'vise' in the general search as people don't always categorize things correctly on C-list. Then, my little trick to finding things on craigslist.... spell it like a dumb ***.... Search for 'vice', notice the 'c' where the 's' should be. Then try both words but pluralize them because craigslist is a character specific seach engine. I scored my AMERICAN MADE Athol for 30 bucks. IT was listed as a vice in the home appliance section. Good Luck!

The Craftsman I purchased last week was advertised as a "vice". The Athol I got early in 2011 was also listed as a "vice". My biggest vice is vises. Well, maybe second biggest vice.

 

[5lima30]

I like you could not find any decent used vises at a fair price in my area. So I bought the 6" Irwin from Home Depot (about $60 w/my military discount). I have been very satisfied with it and have used it for heating and bending horseshoes regularly. IMHO it seems to be better quality than the HF ones. BTW it has a lifetime warranty.

 

[Greatwhitewing]

Good to know, thanks

I like you could not find any decent used vises at a fair price in my area. So I bought the 6" Irwin from Home Depot (about $60 w/my military discount). I have been very satisfied with it and have used it for heating and bending horseshoes regularly. IMHO it seems to be better quality than the HF ones. BTW it has a lifetime warranty.

 

[JimVonBaden]

i got one just like that but it's bigger and have beat the **** out of it. For the $$$ i figured if it breaks who cares? But i have had it for 4+ years and its still fine. My dad has a BIG OLD vice and once he kicks the bucket then i will have a "good" vice.

I have the 5" one, and I have beat it silly. No issues. How much can you mess up a hunk of steal?

That said, if you use it a LOT, and are hard on it, likely you would be better off with a used higher quality one.

Jim

PS I have a LOT of HF stuff, and most of it works just fine.

 

[jamesc]

here in canada we have princess auto, pretty much harbour frieght, anyway my old boss bought a 6" vise there and they have a lifetime warrenty, in 6 months we broke 2 but we were very hard on them, this was in a auto repair shop that saw some heavy truck so we got into some heavy stuff.

 

[Larwyn]

I have a homemade pedestal that I keep my beater vise on. I always just get whatever vise HF has on sale when I break one. I guess I finally lucked out with the one I got about 10 years ago, it's not the type that you posted above but it is from Harbor Freight. It is the vise that I abuse the most; heating, welding, bending and beating on it and it just keeps on going. It is the 4th vise to be used on this stand. The Columbian D46 on my workbench is babied in comparison.

 

[01ssreda4]

I've got the 5 inch version and it has never missed a beat and I have used it a ton in the last few years.

 

[hoblick]

i bought a 5" from Tractor supply.. cant remember the brand, buts it was $49.. its actually a pretty nice vise.. better quality than the HF one.. atleast to me'

 

[zollster]

Save up your money and buy a Wilton Tradesman, I know, they are alot of money, but it will be last vice you ever buy. We have an 8" @ work, like it so much bought a 6.5" for home. Watch ebay, I was the only person to bid on mine and got it for starting bid!