How often do you swivel your vise?

[Ultradog MN]

I have a C3 6" Wilton vise that I have never mounted.
It has the swivel base.
I understand that it customary to mount a vise so that the stationary jaw sticks out farther than the edge of the bench - so you can stand a long piece vertical and still clamp it.
I think that makes my vise handle stick out too far.
I would prefer to have the handle closer to the edge of the bench and from past experience rarely swivel my vises.
I am thinking about eliminating the swivel base and bolting it down to my steel table with just the 2 hold down clamps.
BUT...
I would make slots in the table so I could slide the vise in or out as needed. That would reduce the "stick out" by nearly 5 inches AND let me stand a piece vertically.
BUT it would not swivel then.
I would prefer no swivel and less stick out.
What do you guys say?
How often do you swivel your vises?

 

[isb cornbinder]

I do not have a record of that action. If I were to hazzard a guess, I would suggest, every time I use the vice.

 

[MovingAlong]

How often do you swivel your vises?

Every time I need too, the work dictates the positioning. But since I don't work in your shop, feel free to mount yours however you like.

 

[General Geoff]

How often do you swivel your vises?

I like to wander down into the workshop once in awhile just to give em a little swivel

 

[Lou's Garage]

I use my swivel quite often. I'm guessing but maybe a third of the time. If you're concerned about space, I have one vise mounted to a plate that fits into a trailer hitch receiver. The receiver is bolted to the underside of the bench. When I'm not using it, it gets put away. I sometimes just sit it on top of the bench for light jobs. Bonus, it fits in the receivers on my vehicles for mobile use.

Lou Manglass

 

[cretedog]

I have a C3 6" Wilton vise that I have never mounted.
It has the swivel base.
I understand that it customary to mount a vise so that the stationary jaw sticks out farther than the edge of the bench - so you can stand a long piece vertical and still clamp it.
I think that makes my vise handle stick out too far.
I would prefer to have the handle closer to the edge of the bench and from past experience rarely swivel my vises.
I am thinking about eliminating the swivel base and bolting it down to my steel table with just the 2 hold down clamps.
BUT...
I would make slots in the table so I could slide the vise in or out as needed. That would reduce the "stick out" by nearly 5 inches AND let me stand a piece vertically.
BUT it would not swivel then.
I would prefer no swivel and less stick out.
What do you guys say?
How often do you swivel your vises?

Very seldom. And I like your idea of slotting the bench top…

And I wish Wiltons had a tab and third mounting hole in the back…

 

[RTM]

About every third or fourth time I use it. Mine is in a bad spot, and anything long requires me to swivel it. I leave it that way till something doesn’t fit with it swiveled, and move it where it fits, and is comfortable to use. I don’t have a huge space around my vise.

 

[Jgaz]

I have quite tight quarters in my garage shop.
My vise is almost always turned 90* after use so it doesn’t stick out into aisle.

 

[dr_clyde]

Almost never. My most used vise doesn’t even have a swivel base.

 

[GeoBruin]

Every time I use it, because when it is not in use, it is swivelled so it doesn't hang so far off the edge of the bench.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I think the real answer is Both! I have a bigger vise with no swivel and lots of room around it. I also have a medium sized vise with a swivel base on a work bench. I do used the swivel base 30% of the time. The later gets used most.

 

[Plastikosmd]

0 times but with twin parallel vices I can pick and chose the optimal arrangement.

Having them parallel is a huge benefit for long objects

I’m surprised many don’t do this. Right one does swivel but no need

 

[larry_g]

0 times but with twin parallel vices I can pick and chose the optimal arrangement.

Having them parallel is a huge benefit for long objects

I’m surprised many don’t do this. Right one does swivel but no need

I have a vise on a stand that is purposely the height of my fixed vises so that I can accomplish the same goal of having a long piece mounted with two vises.

So answer the OP's question I do not swivel the vise often. I have three mounted vises, and two on stands so I often select the vise that will get the job done without having to mess about with moving the vise or other stuff that may be in the way.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[finn]

All the time. In fact, I also have an imported vice of some unknown brand in my shed where I do chainsaw work, among other things. That particular vice doesn’t stick out far enough, which is frustrating, to say the least.

I haven’t looked closely, but I think it’s a design issue, not a mounting problem.

 

[Davefr]

I don't swivel often but all it takes is a few times and having that capability is a "must have" IMHO. I have no issue having the stationary jaw protrude from the corner of the bench when positioned in both the X and Y axis.

 

[bassJAM]

I have 3 vises. One is fixed and 90° to the edge of the table and used mostly for gun work. The other 2 in my garage swivel, and spend 90% of their time perpendicular to the edge of the table, I only need to swivel them occasionally.

 

[charbar]

0 times but with twin parallel vices I can pick and chose the optimal arrangement.

Having them parallel is a huge benefit for long objects

I’m surprised many don’t do this. Right one does swivel but no need

That's a really good idea.

99% of the time that I have to swivel mine is so that I can rest the end of something long on the bench and still have it clamped in the vice. Two vices mounted like that would make my life much more convenient, but the second one would be in my way a lot of times.

To answer the OP's question...I swivel mine quite often. It mainly gets used for work on driveshafts, drag links, tie rods etc where I need the other end supported......so personally I wouldn't even think about not having a swivel vice.

 

[RMERR]

I really dislike a vise on my work benches. Always in the way in my experience. I have two large Wiltons, a 1760 tradesman and an 800 both mounted on heavy pedestals with low profile casters. One has a swivel (which I rarely turn) and one fixed. I can rotate each pedestal to accomodate anything I'm working on. Yes, it takes up some floor space, but pedestal mounting really works for me.

 

[niget2002]

I have mine on the corner of my bench. In normal operation, the fixed jaws do not stick out passed the edge of the bench so I can easily walk past it.

If I pivot the vise 90 degrees, then the fixed jaw sticks out past the end of the bench for clamping taller items.

I do not pivot the vise very often. My metal cutoff saw is right next to the vise. I rotate the vise more for larger metal tubes to clear the vise than I do for clamping things.

I have the benefit of my bench the vise is on being close to the middle of my shop, so I have easy access from two sides.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I got it mounted yesterday.
I removed the swivel base.
I had thought about putting slots in the base to slide it but that would have required I cut two 5/8" slots 5 1/2" long through 1 1/8" of steel. So I just drilled 4 holes and will unbolt and move it as needed. I doubt it will get moved often.
Next step will be to weld up a number of holes in the top of the vise stand I built, get it sand blasted and paint it.
Slowly, slowly catchee monkey.

 

[seber]

Probably half the time. Being able to get the right angle makes working on parts easier. But I have a drill press that gets in the way also. That accounts for part of the swiveling.

 

[Blt2Lst]

both mounted on heavy pedestals with low profile casters.

Those are some really nice heavy duty pedestals you have there.

 

[Beerhippie]

I have two vises mounted to my bench--one swivel-base, one fixed. I don't recall the last time I used the swivel of the swivel-base.

OTOH, my swivel-base Asian POS (that I've been using going on thirty years now), has rotating jaws. That feature I do use almost daily. The fixed-base vise--a very early Reed 4 1/2"--has pivoting jaws. Again, a feature I use fairly often, but not as often as the rotating jaws.

 

[RMERR]

I got it mounted yesterday.

Looks good. That's some serious beef in that stand, perfect for a monster C3.

 

[impactims]

I have never swiveled my vise.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Since I started the Refurb of the garage, maybe once or twice, since 2009.

 

[2oolhound]

I have about 6 vises mounted for use in the shop. Most are on receiver hitch mounts but a few are permanently bolted and don't swivel. The swivel types get swiveled often.