The Versa-Vise

[Ryan]

I had never heard of one until I stumbled on one the other day on the Garage Journal forum. A search brought up the above video... Neat, neat little vise......
To read the rest of this blog entry from The Garage Journal, click here.

 

[mtwaterguy]

Neat vise. The only problem I see is that you need to loosen clamp in order to swivel the vise.
Probably just need to work with it awhile.

 

[McFarmer]

I bought a workbench that had one on, and a Jorgensen quick release vise.

I never seem to have a use for it, good idea, but never seems to be the right one to use.

 

[Banjorear]

Dang, that would be a great 2nd vice to compliment a larger one. Love the design.

 

[66HertzClone]

That is very nice, a quick search revealed this the extra base is included but it needs drilling and to be tapped. I might get one of these.

 

[Bears Fan]

Oh great now another tool on my list to find or buy!!! Really versatile, I want one now, pretty cool...This is why i love the Garage Journal...

 

[7th Kahuna]

Great, now I want one too.

 

[sjkonk]

Copies are available from Grizzly Industrial for not much $$$. No COO listed, but I'm assuming China as is much of Grizzlys product lineup.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Parrot-Vise/D3125

 

[Zrexxer]

No COO listed, but I'm assuming China as is much of Grizzlys product lineup.http://www.grizzly.com/products/Parrot-Vise/D3125

I'd say that was a pretty fair guess.

 

[sjkonk]

Hah, well look at that. My dad has one as his main vise on his bench. Suits him well as a luthier. With a set of the slip jaws, it works pretty well for guitarbuilding.

 

[ken w.]

I have the Brownell's gunsmith version of this. Same vise but add a lot more to the price.mine is made in the USA tho.That kind of vise is best used on the open corner of a bench.

 

[Thumper68]

I have a knock off that I keep on the bench where I work on the RC stuff, very nice for holding stuff for tapping, filing and what not.

 

[oldldh]

GJ member "Balane" overhauls things and sells them on Ebay...

This hasn't made his Ebay store, yet...so PM him, if you're interested...

An American made VersaVise...

 

[Waltrip88]

I found one at an estate sale for around $10 and flipped it on ebay for $150. They are on there all the time. Price ranges from $75-250.

 

[zcar751]

Got to get one of those for sure.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Here is a link to a posting I made a while back with the manual for the Versa Vise. I like the extra attachments but I have never seen them available.

Also note that there are two different versions of the original Versa-vise. There is a tall jaw and a short jaw version.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193882

 

[Tarnished]

Have this similar early version of the Versa Vise. Made by Jacobson Mfg. Only one I have ever seen. Great little vise.

 

[the gypsy]

I like it. But I must admit there is not much I dislike on the Journal.

 

[Outlawmws]

Commonly sold for gunsmith work and commonly refered to as a "gunsmith's vise" as well.

The made them with tall "pattern-makers" jaws like Balane's, and a shorter jaw like in Ryan's Blog entry.

Definitely not for heavy use, but extremely handy for quickly positioning parts for work.

There is an adapter for putting into the base, and turning the vise on it's side (not sure of the vid showed that, didn't need to watch it; got three of them myself...), so it is even handier.

on mounting on a corner, of a bench. Another option is to mount it on a mounting plate, put a "grip bar" on the bottom, and the clamp that into a bench vise (machinist or wood workers) or even a B&D Work mate.

Tarnished, Love the Jacobson! Does cinching the vise lock it in place also?

 

[Fretters]

Commonly sold for gunsmith work and commonly refered to as a "gunsmith's vise" as well.

Parrot vice, (vise), is another term they tend to crop up under too.

Tarnished, Love the Jacobson!

You're not alone. That's a **** bit of kit.

 

[Tarnished]

Outlaw: Yes, tightening the jaws on the work clamps the jaws onto the base and locks it. Works the same when on it's side. I use it a lot for small light projects.

 

[Firefighter315]

Does anyone have any idea where parts could be located for the Versa-Vise? I have an old one that my dad had on his work bench for years and I need to replace the threaded spindle that operates it. (sorry, don't know the correct term) I uh, MAY have held something in it a couple of years ago to tack together real quick with some flux-core and managed to get it boogered up with some spatter. I can't move it either way now to see about removing it. I'd hate to get rid of it, but don't know any resources for a rebuild.

Great little vise to have around for those smaller or unusual jobs.

Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions anyone may have.

Erik

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I see the value of this vise for a woodworker but is it really a good vise for a little bit of everything and more metal than wood?

Interested to hear some feedback as "yours truly" happens to be looking for a medium sized vise.

 

[Outlawmws]

When you are dealing with small parts and doing a lot of hand filing or scraping, you want the part positioned so you can:

a. See what you are doing
b. Do the job cleanly an accurately so positioning for angle of attack is crucial.

A lot of gunsmithing is hand work at times, so yes, definitely for metal, less so Balanes version, with the tall jaws; that would be good for small wood carving or checkering and fitting jobs on stocks.

 

[balane]

I've had the opportunity to spend time with and play around with both styles, the tall jaw and the wide jaw style. What I've found is that because either one can be mounted firmly at ninety degree angles, I don't even understand the need for both styles to exist. My guess is that it was marketing driven. Because of the versatile mounting system I honestly don't have a preference of one over the other regardless of what (small) work I'm doing. These definitely aren't designed for large or heavy duty work though and I would consider these to be serious vises for the hobbyist only. They won't replace either a large machinist vise or wood worker vise but should be considered a tool to accentuate them when the need for small, detailed work arises. One thing is for certain though, these are extremely well made tools, built to last. Every one I've had has impressed me with its solid materials and construction. These aren't toys.

 

[BMcC]

Looks like the Woodcraft version of this vise is on sale for $55:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/144592/WoodRiver-Universal-Vise.aspx

Somebody talk me out of it...

 

[gahrajmahal]

Thanks Ryan for posting this and others for posting the available knockoff's. I always hate my regular machinists vise when I would like to rotate it. I usually nick one of my knuckles while doing it. Will bookmark this post so I can find it later.

 

[drivesitfar]

Ryan: i haven't had one of these Versa Vises in my hands in person, but i saw that video maybe 6 months or longer when Balane first posted one on his stump on the vise thread. it's been on my short list to buy one and I've yet to find one in the wild and probably because Balane has his Versa magnet pulling them all to his stump. it's a cool vise and a lot of knock offs.

now seeing Tarnished Jacobson vise i think i want his more than a Versa.

Tarnished can you tell me (us) how much yours weighs and did it come with that steel plate stand or did you make it for your vise?

 

[Tarnished]

Ryan:
now seeing Tarnished Jacobson vise i think i want his more than a Versa.

Tarnished can you tell me (us) how much yours weighs and did it come with that steel plate stand or did you make it for your vise?

Drivesit: Can't tell you exactly how much it weights, and it's -5deg out there at the moment. probably in the neighbor hood of 20-25lbs. Yes it came with the 3 point steel mount. These pics before I cleaned it up are all I can get to for the moment. The dark wooden piece it is mounted to appears to be part of some work surface mounting before it was removed.

Added pic of cleaned up and one of the post mount FYI

 

[CDD]

Here is a link to a posting I made a while back with the manual for the Versa Vise. I like the extra attachments but I have never seen them available.

Also note that there are two different versions of the original Versa-vise. There is a tall jaw and a short jaw version.

I made a PDF file with the pictures provided by tool_scrounge for the members that would like it in this format. ( The file attached is a link for the download)

I like the vise let see if I can score one.

 

[Outlawmws]

Pic of the actual accessories, (4 of the "accessories" were alternative bases. I've never seen any of them in the wild...)

 

[Outlawmws]

BTW CCD: you "file" is text, not a pdf.

 

[CDD]

BTW CCD: you "file" is text, not a pdf.

Yes sir it is, since there is cap on the size of PDF file you can upload to the forum.

Copy the link into your favorite browser and download away

 

[Outlawmws]

Probably easier to double click on the original photo, (it opens in a new window) click once more to expand it, and save the pic, (which is what I did.)

 

[CDD]

Probably easier to double click on the original photo, (it opens in a new window) click once more to expand it, and save the pic, (which is what I did.)

Yeap! Same here I just put them all together into single file.

Go ahead give it a try and see which one suits you better

 

[Gregg33]

Pretty versatile tool. I would likely use that more as a clamp or to hold odd shaped objects on my bench than as a go to vise.

 

[Zrexxer]

Yes sir it is, since there is cap on the size of PDF file you can upload to the forum.

Copy the link into your favorite browser and download away

Yeah, clicking on some alphanumeric gibberish on an offshore website is a great idea...

 

[CDD]

Yeah, clicking on some alphanumeric gibberish on an offshore website is a great idea...

If you don't want to download it then don't.

I took of my time to make the file and upload it in benefit of the members.

At this time, has any member complaint about the file being malicious?

So please hold your keyboard on making any bad comment about me.

 

[mike_paxton]

Last year, came across a broken Versa-Vise (i.e. break in the cast and broken main screw. see last two pics).

Bought it anyway and put in storage, hoping to run across another one and these additional parts might be useful.

 

[Outlawmws]

I wonder if it was broken trying to get it apart? That main screw has some sort of one way lock on it.