Vice in an apartment. Ideas?

[Fixr]

Clamp this baby vise on the counter top or kitchen table

I bought one of those and it is WAY nicer than I expected. When I replaced it with the big Doyle multi-vise, it moved to the welding area.

 

[Nutria]

I bolted a 3" Littlestown vise to an outside door of a storage space in a small home many years ago. Goofy, but it worked for lots of things.

 

[RTM]

I recall buying a Zyless vise as my go to vise for maybe the first 10 years of home ownership. I would clip it to a small workbench, sawhorse, stair tread, rack or whatever to use it in several different situations and positions. they used to sell new at local home shows for about $200, but I bet you can find one on Craigslist for under $100 or maybe on Ebay

Zyliss, the vise most likely to be found New, IOB, at a garage or estate sale. I think I've seen at least 15 of them, apparently unused. Buddy was given one my his inlaws one year for Christmas. After they left, he reboxed it, and moved it twice from CA to CT to PA. Think it's still in the box, almost 15 years later .

 

[finn]

I found a Wilton 3 1/2 inch vice in my mom”s basement when we were cleaning out the house. Don’t know how old it is, but I suspect late seventies or early eighties. It certainly wasn’t there when I moved out in 1972.

I sort of ridiculed it as probably useless, but when we bought our winter house in Az., I threw it in the van for potential use.

I ended up buying a small Craftsman five or six drawer lower cabinet, “scratch and dent” for $125, and a piece of plywood that overhangs on both sides, to use as a rolling workbench in our tiny 20’x20’ garage.

Worked perfectly in a limited space. Only thing I would do differently is buy one of those fake butcher block tops sold at HD or IKEA. Probably have to cut it down, though.

I mounted a small grinder on the other end of my “ workbench “.

Can’t really do any heavy pounding or metal bending on that little vice, but it’s surprisingly useful.

 

[CoogarXR]

When I was a kid living at home, I had a clamp-on vise that I put on my desk when I needed it. It worked well for me.

Hell, even as an adult... and I'm ashamed to admit it to you guys... But my big vise in the garage isn't bolted down. It's just sitting on my bench. I can't decide where to officially bolt it down, so it just sits there. It's so damn heavy that I rarely do anything with it that makes it move, so it doesn't bother me.

 

[finn]

When I was a kid living at home, I had a clamp-on vise that I put on my desk when I needed it. It worked well for me.

Hell, even as an adult... and I'm ashamed to admit it to you guys... But my big vise in the garage isn't bolted down. It's just sitting on my bench. I can't decide where to officially bolt it down, so it just sits there. It's so damn heavy that I rarely do anything with it that makes it move, so it doesn't bother me.

Be careful. You might be banned for such sacrilegious thoughts.

 

[jayemm]

Went with the 80 mm York Standard model. The history appeals to me.

They’re not quite as pretty as the ‘bullet’ Wiltons of old, but they’ve still got something special going on.

Couldn’t find a shop within reasonable driving distance so ordered from a Czech store I found on the web.

Not entirely convinced the 80 mm model will be sufficient for everything I want to do even in an apartment context, but it will be ideal for some jobs and leave room for a bigger vice in my future, when I have a permanent bench.

I’ll get this in my hands before I decide on a mounting arrangement. Kinda hard for me to visualise the size and possible strength – and therefore what sort of mount will be needed – without having it in my paws.

For versatility, I mounted my small Wilton (SBV-100 as mentioned earlier) on a 1/4" steel plate. Holes were drilled and tapped to allow positions for the rear jaw to either be inside the edge of the plate (less likely to tip when applying downward force) or slightly over the edge to allow for longer pieces. Used C-clamps to mount to portable workstand or table edge. Added some self adhesive medium hard felt on the bottom for just using on table top to avoid scratching (like working with small pieces or holding things for soldering etc.) These are solid little vises. You should be pleased with yours and a 3-1/2" jaw width (80mm) is still plenty usable.

 

[Beerhippie]

Speaking from experience, keep your vices quiet in the apartment if you don't want to meet the nice folks in blue.

 

[jayemm]

Went with the 80 mm York Standard model. The history appeals to me.

They’re not quite as pretty as the ‘bullet’ Wiltons of old, but they’ve still got something special going on.

Couldn’t find a shop within reasonable driving distance so ordered from a Czech store I found on the web.

Not entirely convinced the 80 mm model will be sufficient for everything I want to do even in an apartment context, but it will be ideal for some jobs and leave room for a bigger vice in my future, when I have a permanent bench.

I’ll get this in my hands before I decide on a mounting arrangement. Kinda hard for me to visualise the size and possible strength – and therefore what sort of mount will be needed – without having it in my paws.

Just remembered to add a few comments on this style of vise which may save you some trouble. The spindle threads into a steel tube which although long, only has ~1'' of threads at the end which engages the spindle. I drew a black line on the shaft of mine to show when there are ~ 3 threads engaged. This was to prevent ripping out the end thread of the tube if only a partial thread was engaged and the vise cranked tight. The tube is removable by removing the end cap and driving out the solid pin that retains the tube.