Irwin Vises

[monomach]

I've been checking Craigslist daily for 6 months hoping to find a 6" vise. So far, there's been nary a one.

Home Depot had the Irwin on clearance for $41, so I went ahead and grabbed it.

I promise you, it is exactly the same as the Harbor Freight "Central Forge" 6".

The jaws are V-shaped and line up perfectly, the screw is covered and turns easily with one finger, so that's nice, at least. If it handles medium-duty at-home work, it's worth $41, but we'll see. I'm going to stress test it tomorrow and see whether it cracks.

But yeah...point of the thread is Irwin = Harbor Freight. Be warned.

 

[drivesitfar]

as you may have read on the vise thread i do buy a few vises and i like old US ones the best, then European old ones. i know yours is an import, but honestly if you don't abuse it they might last for a long time, but too many guys want to reef on them or beat the **** out of their vises and even the old US ones won't last under those conditions.

one thing you have been looking for is getting really rare are good 6 inch and bigger wide jaws so with that comes the added expense to get one. sure they come up on Ebay if you want to add to the price the shipping but it's not the only tool we want to buy for our shop.

i'm guessing your vise might weigh 30-40 pounds give or take? some 4 inch old US vises weigh twice that amount. honestly i could probably be fine with a 4 inch vise for maybe 90% of the work i do. it's just nicer to put my work in a 175 pounder because i own it.

now that you have a vise keep your eye open for an old Reed, Rock Island, Morgan, Athol and a host of others that have great 4 and 5 inch vises that weigh about 70 pounds and are very nice to use.

good luck with the Irwin.

 

[oldldh]

There's a nice Starrett 924 1/2 on Ebay, right now...


Super stout, about 75 pounds of clampdom goodness...


Along with a bunch of other brands...Reed, Athol, Wilton, Parker, etc...


$ inches and up are where you want to be...

 

[scw1991]

Buy what you want to buy. For $41, that's not bad and it will last you forever if you take care of it, don't abuse it and use it for it's intended purpose. Too many folks think that if you can break a tool then it is a POS.

 

[IndyGarage]

I've got an Irwin one that is similar to that. I found it on clearance at Menards a few years ago. It's OK for 90% of what I use a vise for.

but it's not even in the same league as my old Columbian and Parker vises.

 

[davethorik]

having never looked at one of these close up, the only cheap thing that jumps out at me is the slide only fits to the vise body a 1/2" or so at the top. the Good vises use the entire slide as contact surface. for home use and for that price I'd say you did good.