Question about vises

[Wayne T.]

Would anyone know if the Bessey BV-DF5SB 5" Industrial bench vise, the Yost Heavy Duty FSV-5 5" forged steel vise, and the Ridgid F-50 series vises are essentially the same vise?

Their plan form is similar and their PSI ratings are similar. And would they be comparable in durability to, say, the Wilton Tradesman or machinist's vises?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

BTID,

Wayne T.

 

[rusty_ratchet]

I bought a Ridgid F-45 vise and was very disappointed. The jaws were not parallel. Ridgid has a system for truing the alignment of the jaws, but even that wouldn't bring them into alignment so I sent it back.

I'm not familiar with the Bessey, but will probably get serious about getting a Yost once I have a steady income again.

 

[neophyte]

Would anyone know if the Bessey BV-DF5SB 5" Industrial bench vise, the Yost Heavy Duty FSV-5 5" forged steel vise, and the Ridgid F-50 series vises are essentially the same vise?

Their plan form is similar and their PSI ratings are similar. And would they be comparable in durability to, say, the Wilton Tradesman or machinist's vises?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

BTID,

Wayne T.

I don't own any of the vises and haven't seen them in person, but there are distinct differences between the vises. All three Vises are manufactured from fabricated steel parts, some of which are forged, the vise beams are likely formed from heavy sheet steel.

The Ridgid vise is manufactured in Germany, or manufactured in Germany from German and Polish parts according to one Amazon review. The Ridgid vise is, or at least was, sold under the Matador, and Peddinghaus brands, and all three brand names used to appear on the paperwork.

I'm not sure the COO on the Yost vise. It does look almost identical to the Ridgid. The exceptions are that the Yost vise is manufactured with replaceable jaws and pipe jaws, which aren't available on the Ridgid. The other difference is the weight which is lighter for the Yost vise. Facom offers an almost identical vise in Europe. The Facom also has replaceable jaws and the weight is almost identical to the Yost. The part number is 1223.125.

The Bessey vise looks very similar to some older Matador vises, but I'd guess it may be manufactured in Turkey by a company called Kanca that manufactures forgings for some German automobile manufacturers. Kanca also manufactures vises for at least one of the German tool manufacturers. I believe the adjustment mechanism is different on the Bessey vise. Looking thru Kanca's catalog the Bessey looks like it may be one of the FortissimoFix models.

This is Kanca's website.

http://www.kanca.com.tr/Default.asp...ategoryID=6&GroupID=15&CatName=Fortissimo Fix

And their catalog.

http://www.kanca.com.tr/download/pdf/ElAletleri_EN.pdf

As far as the weight difference between the Ridgid and Yost vises, its possible some of the manufacturing specs are different since it likely wouldn't be too hard to manufacture a few of the parts out of lighter gauge steel.

 

[Wayne T.]

I don't own any of the vises and haven't seen them in person, but there are distinct differences between the vises. All three Vises are manufactured from fabricated steel parts, some of which are forged, the vise beams are likely formed from heavy sheet steel. .

...different on the Bessey vise. Looking thru Kanca's catalog the Bessey looks like it may be one of the FortissimoFix models.

This is Kanca's website.

http://www.kanca.com.tr/Default.asp...ategoryID=6&GroupID=15&CatName=Fortissimo Fix

And their catalog.

http://www.kanca.com.tr/download/pdf/ElAletleri_EN.pdf

As far as the weight difference between the Ridgid and Yost vises, its possible some of the manufacturing specs are different since it likely wouldn't be too hard to manufacture a few of the parts out of lighter gauge steel.

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your responses. I'll keep researching. The Yost 865 and Wilton bullet style vises seem still to be calling my name. The Wilton's prices seem to be a bit high, but...

Thanks.


BTID,
Wayne T.

 

[bobcatdan]

Shop around for a USA made yost vise, I have the seen the prices vary greatly for the same vise. You can buy direct, but their prices are on the higher end. Northern tends to be the lowest price, but seems to have an ok selection at best.