Jaw Horse vs Bech Vise / both / Milwaukee Packout Work Surface

[ddc9999]

I currently don’t have any type of vise at home and it’s certainly annoying. I don’t have a work bench to mount a bench vise too and I prefer to keep my two car garage for parking cars. When I do work on the cars or if I need space in the garage, it’s nice not to have it cluttered with ****. So everything is based on saving space.

I can easily store a folded up jaw horse and it seems pretty great for what I’d use it for. Can use it in the garage, or wheel it to the driveway, etc. Seems like the biggest con is you aren’t gonna be able to dial how hard you clamp like a vise can which means possibly crushing the work item (hollow pipe for example). Other thoughts of mine are getting a packout work surface and putting a vise on that since I have the packout wheeled bottom and their medium sized one that are very heavy since they’re full. Also I could potentially put a vise on plywood on a jawhorse.

Any thoughts based on your experiences?

Jaw Horse? If so, sheetmaster one considering if anything it’s bigger and more stable of a base?

Vise mounted to plywood on jawhorse as a later upgrade?

Skip the jaw horse and put a vise on a Milwaukee packout work surface?




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[kngelv]

The Milwaukee idea is a bad one. The Jawhorse will work and you can set the tension based on how pressure you place on the lever. A better idea if you need the space is to use a stand like people use for bench grinders.

James

 

[KenB]

Hard to beat a Workmate 425. Metal and wood (mostly). Portable, collapsible, sturdy. Could add a traditional vise, if needed. Also accommodates custom mounted platforms - vise, chop saw, grinder, welding table, etc. I use 2x4s screwed to various 3/4 in. fixture plates that can be clamped solidly in place by the Workmate jaws.

Ken

 

[ddc9999]

The Milwaukee idea is a bad one. The Jawhorse will work and you can set the tension based on how pressure you place on the lever. A better idea if you need the space is to use a stand like people use for bench grinders.

James

I don’t want to bolt the bench grinder / vise stand to the garage floor though to unless I get a large base on it probably won’t be stable. Another point I forgot to mention is it’d be nice to eventually be able to mount a miter saw stand or even a mini job site table saw to it using probably a piece of plywood as well.

Any recommendation for a bench grinder stand like you mentioned that wouldn’t need to be bolted down? I don’t have a bench grinder but I’d certainly like one in the future too.


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[ddc9999]

Hard to beat a Workmate 425. Metal and wood (mostly). Portable, collapsible, sturdy. Could add a traditional vise, if needed. Also accommodates custom mounted platforms - vise, chop saw, grinder, welding table, etc.

Ken

Never heard of this. Very interesting. Seeing as I have saw horses this seems like more functionality than what a jaw horse would give so long as I set up the right attachments. Will be doing more research on it. Thanks for another suggestion.

Still welcome to others! I only have the money to figure this out one way and then I’m stuck with it haha.


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[dscheidt]

I can easily store a folded up jaw horse and it seems pretty great for what I’d use it for. Can use it in the garage, or wheel it to the driveway, etc. Seems like the biggest con is you aren’t gonna be able to dial how hard you clamp like a vise can which means possibly crushing the work item (hollow pipe for example). Other thoughts of mine are getting a packout work surface and putting a vise on that since I have the packout wheeled bottom and their medium sized one that are very heavy since they’re full. Also I could potentially put a vise on plywood on a jawhorse.

Any thoughts based on your experiences?
l

I have both a jaw horse and bench vises. A jaw horse is not a substitute for a bench vise; nor is a bench vise a substitute for a jaw jorse. There is substantial overlap in what you can do with them, of course, but there are plenty of things you can do with one, but not the other. I have mounted a small bench vise to a timber and clamped that into the jaw horse. that works well for delicate vise operations and pressing, where you don't need a massive or firmly bolted table to keep the vise from moving around.

What you need depends on what you're doing. For construction type stuff, a jawhorse is much more useful. For mechanical stuff, you need a bench vise.

 

[ChevyEFI]

Assemble something simple you can weigh down (maybe a tri-pod with room for a few free-weight plates per leg) but move. You'll be able to try it out, figure out if you want to mount grinder and vise interchangeably or together, and maybe figure a way to tilt it to wheel it around. Maybe you'll find the perfect spot and find bolting it down is what you want. Or not.

 

[ddc9999]

I have both a jaw horse and bench vises. A jaw horse is not a substitute for a bench vise; nor is a bench vise a substitute for a jaw jorse. There is substantial overlap in what you can do with them, of course, but there are plenty of things you can do with one, but not the other. I have mounted a small bench vise to a timber and clamped that into the jaw horse. that works well for delicate vise operations and pressing, where you don't need a massive or firmly bolted table to keep the vise from moving around.



What you need depends on what you're doing. For construction type stuff, a jawhorse is much more useful. For mechanical stuff, you need a bench vise.

How do you feel about the stability of the jawhorse with and without a vise attached? The workbench also mentioned could have a bench vise attached to it too. So seems like both a jawhorse or B&D Workbench can be “upgraded” to use a bench vise, so stability is probably what I care most about. Looks like I can add some weight to the B&D workbench too if needed on it’s underneath tray.

Things I’d use a vise in general for (jaw or bench) are:

-holding a car part tight to either use a puller or press tool on
-holding a car part or other moderately weighing metal component to file or grind or use a hand drill on
-holding pipe to cut with a grinder or sawzall
-very light bending operations (think brake line size)
-occasional clamping of wood for similar types of operations, though I find saw horses faster and rarely clamp my work unless I need the extra stability.


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[IndyGarage]

I have both a jaw horse and bench vises. A jaw horse is not a substitute for a bench vise; nor is a bench vise a substitute for a jaw jorse. There is substantial overlap in what you can do with them, of course, but there are plenty of things you can do with one, but not the other. I have mounted a small bench vise to a timber and clamped that into the jaw horse. that works well for delicate vise operations and pressing, where you don't need a massive or firmly bolted table to keep the vise from moving around.

What you need depends on what you're doing. For construction type stuff, a jawhorse is much more useful. For mechanical stuff, you need a bench vise.

This is exactly right. I have one Jawhorse in the shop and another at home. It's one of my most useful tools.

I have several tools mounted on a small piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a short piece of 4x4 so I can mount them quickly in the Jawhorse. Kreg Jig, grinder/buffer, welding table. You could easily mount a bench vise that way as well.

The Jawhorse is extremely stable and strong. It will hold several hundred pounds of weight. I've used it to hold the weight of a V6 engine. It can tip if the weight gets unbalanced side-to-side. For example I clamped a heavy 12 foot 2 x 12 in it, and cut one end and it tipped over on me. Most of the time if you keep things centered it's not a problem. The workbench top they sold with them is about 30 inches wide and I could stand in the middle and it wouldn't tip, but if I put my weight at the edge it would probably start to tip.

You can vary the clamp force by how much pressure you put on the foot pedal when you are clamping - from fairly light pressure to extremely tight. I've done every one of the things you describe above with my Jawhorse. I would say it can do 95% of the things you use a bench vise for, and many things that you can't use a bench vise for. One of the big advantages over a bench vise is that you use your foot to set the clamp, leaving both hands to position the item in the clamp - that allows you to put larger/heavier items in the Jawhorse that would be difficult to hold with one hand.

I also have the welding kit, which includes a very handy arm with a c-clamp that can be oriented in almost any position that can provide additional clamping.

I've owned a workmate, and in my opinion the Jawhorse is 10X as useful as the workmate is.

 

[subroc]

Nothing replaces a large bench vice on a fixed work bench.

That said, lot of ways to be effective with temporarily permanent set-ups.

I use Workmates all the time. Have 3 pairs. The jaws aren't the most effective vice but they work well enough. I use them for temp benches, work surfaces, project surfaces, outfeed tables, breaking down plywood, parts cleaning, layout, etc. I would recommend them to anyone that needs such a thing.

But, when selecting temporary solutions, you need to prioritize what the job is. If work holding is the major consideration from what I have seen on the internet, YouTube, the Jawhorse looks pretty effective to me.

BTW, both of these solutions seem to be a "money well spent" kind of solution. Even if you end up with more permanent shop situation, they will still be useful in that kind of environment.

I just took a look at both the current crop of workmates and the Jawhorse offerings. They surely don't give them away.

Pick the priority. Select the solution form there.

Good luck. Interested in what you decide and how you prioritize the features of what you end up with.

 

[ddc9999]

This is exactly right. I have one Jawhorse in the shop and another at home. It's one of my most useful tools.

I have several tools mounted on a small piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a short piece of 4x4 so I can mount them quickly in the Jawhorse. Kreg Jig, grinder/buffer, welding table. You could easily mount a bench vise that way as well.

The Jawhorse is extremely stable and strong. It will hold several hundred pounds of weight. I've used it to hold the weight of a V6 engine. It can tip if the weight gets unbalanced side-to-side. For example I clamped a heavy 12 foot 2 x 12 in it, and cut one end and it tipped over on me. Most of the time if you keep things centered it's not a problem. The workbench top they sold with them is about 30 inches wide and I could stand in the middle and it wouldn't tip, but if I put my weight at the edge it would probably start to tip.

You can vary the clamp force by how much pressure you put on the foot pedal when you are clamping - from fairly light pressure to extremely tight. I've done every one of the things you describe above with my Jawhorse. I would say it can do 95% of the things you use a bench vise for, and many things that you can't use a bench vise for. One of the big advantages over a bench vise is that you use your foot to set the clamp, leaving both hands to position the item in the clamp - that allows you to put larger/heavier items in the Jawhorse that would be difficult to hold with one hand.

I also have the welding kit, which includes a very handy arm with a c-clamp that can be oriented in almost any position that can provide additional clamping.

I've owned a workmate, and in my opinion the Jawhorse is 10X as useful as the workmate is.

Thanks. I think I’m going with the jaw horse. Even if I needed more stability for a long item, I can always brace it in a second point with another saw horse if needed. Sounds plenty stable for what I’d use it for.

Did you get the sheetmaster one that’s larger and heavier (pro for what you can grab plus more stable, but heavier which isn’t too bad, I’m young) or did you get the regular one?

Also, how the hell did you clamp an engine in it? I’d love to see a picture of that.

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[dscheidt]

How do you feel about the stability of the jawhorse with and without a vise attached? The workbench also mentioned could have a bench vise attached to it too. So seems like both a jawhorse or B&D Workbench can be “upgraded” to use a bench vise, so stability is probably what I care most about. Looks like I can add some weight to the B&D workbench too if needed on it’s underneath tray.

the jawhorse is pretty stable, the three feet are spread out enough. The issue with using a vise in it, or doing some operations in the jawhorse's own jaws is that it doesn't weigh enough. (I have a sheetmaster, so about 50 pounds.) You can put your feet in the stirrups of the legs (I don't know that the other model has them, most of the clones don't, either.), which helps some, if what you're doing lets you do that or you have a handy helper. using it a sawhorse, or bench holder, or a saw stand, this isn't usually a problem. When using it to hold a long timber (a piece of telephone pole) and cutting the end off, it did want to tip over. I have a pair of saw horses the same height, which solve that problem.

 

[ddc9999]

the jawhorse is pretty stable, the three feet are spread out enough. The issue with using a vise in it, or doing some operations in the jawhorse's own jaws is that it doesn't weigh enough. (I have a sheetmaster, so about 50 pounds.) You can put your feet in the stirrups of the legs (I don't know that the other model has them, most of the clones don't, either.), which helps some, if what you're doing lets you do that or you have a handy helper. using it a sawhorse, or bench holder, or a saw stand, this isn't usually a problem. When using it to hold a long timber (a piece of telephone pole) and cutting the end off, it did want to tip over. I have a pair of saw horses the same height, which solve that problem.

Thanks for the tip. I also have sawhorses I can use to increase the stability when clamping large items. Rockwell even sells and adjustable height sawhorse with its own mini clamping ability if I ever was that desperate.

I think the sheetmaster will meet the vast majority of my needs and be a great step up from the nothing I have now.


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[IndyGarage]

Also, how the hell did you clamp an engine in it? I’d love to see a picture of that.

I didn't clamp the engine in it. The car was on a lift, and I needed to hold the engine up after I pulled the transmission (front wheel drive) and removed the front engine mount - I would say 90% of the engine weight was on the Jawhorse. I was a little worried it would collapse, but I needed to figure out something quick and it was available.

I just have the standard one. I would think the only reason to have the bigger one is to hold 4x8 sheets of plywood. I haven't really had a need for that.

 

[ddc9999]

I didn't clamp the engine in it. The car was on a lift, and I needed to hold the engine up after I pulled the transmission (front wheel drive) and removed the front engine mount - I would say 90% of the engine weight was on the Jawhorse. I was a little worried it would collapse, but I needed to figure out something quick and it was available.



I just have the standard one. I would think the only reason to have the bigger one is to hold 4x8 sheets of plywood. I haven't really had a need for that.

That makes wayyy more sense. Thanks for the story.


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