I need some ad-VICE

[Rusty67]

I'm looking to buy a vice for myself to use. I want something with some serious holding power. I was thinking something in the range of a 6" to 8" opening. I'm happy to buy a used vice, I just need to know what I should be looking at. I want to buy this once and have it forever. I'd like to be able to press bushings into control arms with it, install AN fittings and what ever else I might need to clamp stuff down to do.

At the end of the day I'm looking for a seriously badass vice that can hold or press anything I want to throw at it.

What should I be looking at ?

 

[balane]

Here's a really heavy duty vise in your area. It will last several lifetimes.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/tls/4601078809.html

 

[franzdom]

So you want vise advice?

Something in the neighborhood of a Wilton 1750 would fit your bill, except for the part of the pressing control arm bushings, I don't think my vise or most any is up to that task.

EDIT: That Athol knows what he is talking about!

 

[Rusty67]

Wow, that thing looks awesome !

I think when it comes to control arm bushings I am more concerned about pressing them in. I usually replace stock bushings with poly and I'm getting tired of using my ball joint service tool to do it.

 

[drivesitfar]

Rusty: i'd buy a nice big old vise like the Athol, Rock Island, Reed, Morgan, Wilton and Record and more and not in any particular order. that said i'd also buy a small press for the press work you have because any vise might have an issue with that.

I've seen presses for $50 to $100 in my area which is usually about the same pricing as yours so look for one and then get a good 4 inch jaw or wider old vise that isn't beat to ****. that should last you about 50 years or so.

 

[Rusty67]

A press... I want one.... eventually. I don't have a good spot for one at the moment unfortunately.

 

[1982fxr]

budget?

 

[ZRX61]

What part of LA? I have a couple for sale.

 

[catsteve]

Dawn 150mm offset vice.

Check out the Vises of GJ thread. Remember you can never have too many vices

you need this.

https://www.toolmart.com.au/brand/dawn/60197.html

Guaranteed UNBREAKABLE 6' offest vice. I have one of these. I use it every time i am in the garage.

or…

google 'Bugatti vise'.

I'd like to own one of these. just to polish.

 

[Rusty67]

I'm looking in the 200-500 dollar range. I could stretch it a bit. I'm not sure it I wanna spend 1000....

I'm the the valley.

 

[ZRX61]

Well, if you want to drive up to Lancaster I can sort you a pair (swivel & static) of Columbians with 4 1/2 Jaws... for the lower end of your budget.

pics coming....

 

[ZRX61]

 

[Rusty67]

Re: Dawn 150mm offset vice.

Check out the Vises of GJ thread. Remember you can never have too many vices

you need this.

https://www.toolmart.com.au/brand/dawn/60197.html

Guaranteed UNBREAKABLE 6' offest vice. I have one of these. I use it every time i am in the garage.

or…

google 'Bugatti vise'.

I'd like to own one of these. just to polish.

You can never have too many vices, only too few workbenches to bolt them to.

 

[ZRX61]

btw, the swivel base is a 604 1/2 model, the static is a 504 1/2. They're beasts.

 

[wrenchguy]

btw, the swivel base is a 604 1/2 model, the static is a 504 1/2. They're beasts.

some nice vintage american made iron there, u can't go wrong, good pricing too.

 

[ZRX61]

some nice vintage american made iron there, u can't go wrong, good pricing too.

Thanks, I've held off on cosmetically restoring them for now, but they work perfectly

 

[exmaxima1]

You need a table top press.
check hf and northern.
some are two ton units and cost $75ish.
It takes up no more room than a vise.


vises are for holding things....

Jeez, I wish someone told me that last year. I used my 6-inch Polish-made vise to press in the upper thrust arm bushings for my BMW and it was so easy that I thought that vises were used for that. I will look into that...

 

[Fretters]

Using a vice as a press is one of those things which may go well forever and a day. When it does go wrong, however, it does so with a vengeance. This, for example, is a Swindens, (they're not exactly what one might call a shoddy vice), which was used as a press.

 

[exmaxima1]

Using a vice as a press is one of those things which may go well forever and a day. When it does go wrong, however, it does so with a vengeance.

I was under the impression that as long as the handle doesn't bend, it was ok to keep cranking. I can see that vise breaking if you used a cheater bar on it, but I would have thought that the vise would be engineered to handle whatever torque you could apply unaided. Of course if you bring a hammer into the mix, all bets are off!

 

[EOC_Jason]

When he's not looking, swipe the Prentiss too!!!!

 

[ZRX61]

When he's not looking, swipe the Prentiss too!!!!

Lol, there's a pair of those too, one static, one swivel.

AND a pair of RockIslands, but they're not going anywhere.

 

[oldldh]

Slide on over and see ZRX61...

Get both the offered vises...

And all your clamping needs will be solved...

 

[Rusty67]

Hahaha, well it sounds like there is a consensus that those used vices will meet my needs.

 

[Rusty67]

I was under the impression that as long as the handle doesn't bend, it was ok to keep cranking. I can see that vise breaking if you used a cheater bar on it, but I would have thought that the vise would be engineered to handle whatever torque you could apply unaided. Of course if you bring a hammer into the mix, all bets are off!

Agreed. I wouldn't use a cheater bar on my vice to try and press anything. I would think as a vice should handle what ever I throw at it without bending the bar, no ????? I'm strong for my size for sure but I'm not gonna bend the bar on a vice that big....

 

[drivesitfar]

Rusty: i'll put in my 2 cents and say that if ZRX is within driving distance it sounds like you can get 2 awesome Columbians for what you would pay for one new vise that wouldn't probably be as well built as either one of his. they are not little vises so remember to screw your bench into the wall's studs if you are mounting on a wood bench and even a metal bench should be secured somehow.

Ex: too many of the old guys put pipes and other extensions on the handles of those old vises and that's why you see so many of them bent. the old vises were overbuilt for the jobs they were made for which isn't a press or an anvil, but if you saw your Gramps using it as one i'm sure you would do the same.

It's probably why so many of the old good vise companies couldn't stay in business because they had so many returns they refunded even though they were used incorrectly when they broke.

Sure you can use them as a press, but i'd hate to have restored a nice 150 pound 6 incher that i thought could handle anything and bust off the dynamic jaw because i used it as one. i shared this video in a big wrench thread, but it does apply here too. see how little pressure the guy in the video puts on his handle to tighten it and then two guys get on that huge torque wrench and it stays in place and surprising doesn't break the vise either.

this isn't recommended for a vise either, but they can take a beating and survive (most of the time)

 

[Rusty67]

That video was amazing.... I know I'll never use it but I want that torque wrench !

Also, amazing how little torque he put on that guy and it stayed in place.

 

[drivesitfar]

even more amazing was the holding power of the clamping tool they were testing to see if the bolt would move.

I think that was a 6 inch Leinen (German vice) or a close relative and i have one and it's pretty cool the way the back jaw moves back and the front jaw stays in plays. the Polish make a FPU vice that is similar and also a nice vice.

lots of choices and just find the one you like looking at as much as you like using it is my thinking as long as it does the work it is asked to.

good luck vise hunt

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Spelling POLICE here........................

ViCe...... a type of Criminal activity.

ViSe...... a device used to Squeeze things.

Pay attention to the bold letters, they will help you remember which is wich.

Charles

 

[jakemac]

From Wiki -

A vise (American) or vice (British) is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever.

Spelling POLICE here........................

Pay attention to the bold letters, they will help you remember which is wich.

Charles

I believe that it's spelled which.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I believe that it's spelled which.

Done on purpose............ Ever heard of Which Wich Sandwiches?

And I don't give a darn how those blokes on that island spell it......

Charles

 

[drivesitfar]

Charles: your humor is hard to catch at first or even at all, but you did have a good comeback word to use. not sure why you chose my post to make that point, but i agree if that helps.

i don't think Germany is on an island and they spell it the same way. or maybe that is the English (British) translation of the German and Polish ads. I have been searching for vises and vices for a long time now and no matter how they spell it they are a great tool and i have to use both spellings in my searching.

i'm sure there are many many tools that have a name that can't be found in are aborted English, but maybe in the Urban dictionary.

Jake: thanks for the assist.

All: by the way the vise on the wood is the Polish vice that is only a 3 inch wide jaw and that's why i was editing trying to get it at the end which never happened so it's there and on this post too now.

 

[Fretters]

i don't think Germany is on an island and they spell it the same way. or maybe that is the English (British) translation of the German and Polish ads. I have been searching for vises and vices for a long time now and no matter how they spell it they are a great tool and i have to use both spellings in my searching.

Vice is likely the way most of the rest of the world spells it too. One good thing about Empires and Colonies is that the mother tongue becomes the precedent. Plus, seeing as English is a hodge podge of most European languages, it's likely a safe bet.

 

[ZRX61]

Yup, Fretters nailed it.

 

[jakemac]

Done on purpose............ Ever heard of Which Wich Sandwiches?

Never heard of Which Wich Sandwiches, but I now get the humour.

 

[oldldh]

Quite!!!


That quote was from the centre of the catalogue...


There'll always be an England...

 

[Fretters]

There'll always be an England...

Git. I'll be humming that tune all night now.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Never heard of Which Wich Sandwiches, but I now get the humour.

http://www.whichwich.com/#!/

The Italian Grinder is especially good.

Charles

 

[drivesitfar]

Charles: now i get it.

i see they have several stores in Atlanta area and one in Augusta if i ever make it to the Masters golf tourney. they have one in Washington that is about 30 minutes from my house so i'll have to give it a try as long as they don't ask me to spell it.

I'm 100% Norwegian so it takes me almost as long as the English to get a good joke. anybody see the TV show called last comic standing and listen to Rod Man? now that guy can talk about almost anything and make you laugh.

cheers

 

[ZRX61]

When he's not looking, swipe the Prentiss too!!!!

He's coming by next Saturday to pick up the swivel Columbian & the Prentiss.

... now I'll have an orphan Columbia & an orphan Prentiss.. hmm..

(Not sure what happened to the pic)

 

[drivesitfar]

Rusty: sounds like you are going to have a couple nice old US vises on your bench real soon.

ZR: your vises will only be lonely until you use the funds to buy them 150 to 250 pound relative to bring to your garage. thanks for passing on some good old vises to someone that will know how to use them.