What Do You Use a Vise For?

[freudianfloyd]

I'm new to the vise scene, but I've been reading everything I can on them. In my dad's garage, a vise is a do-all, we use it as a press, anvil, brake, third hand, just about anything. They were meant to be abused...

Anyway, after reading all of the posts about what NOT to use them for, it seems to me they are only recommended for holding things. So what is the point of an extra large vise? I understand and do a good job of taking care of my tools, I'm just confused as to what the extra large vises are for. Maybe I'm just way off point.

 

[winlinmac]

I would believe extra large vises would be suitable for larger scale work, as in holding larger objects. I've always wondered by getting a new vise. I'd be cautious of the vises sold at Harbor Freight Tools.

 

[Packard V8]

They were meant to be abused...

There's were we get into the finer points of vise use and abuse. One who works intelligently with tools and equipment should never bend or break a vise, but they are ultimately a consumable. In the engine shop where I still work a couple of days a week, there is an old Parker which is a beaten wreck. That it has survived more than fifty years of commercial bench use is a testament to the quality built in. I'm trying to get the owner to take it out of service long enough for me to rebuild the screw collar. However, it has been used to it's purpose. Those painted ladies sitting unused on show shop benches are just set decorations.

Agree, a vise is not an anvil. However, those who say, "Never hammer on a vise." are dismissing the fact many manufacturers, including the fanboy favorite Wilton, machine an anvil surface on their vises. They assume the user will employ skill and experience knowing what size hammer and how hard a hit is reasonable on what size vise.

Cheater bars are just that - for those who don't have the correct tools and try to cheat by using one too small for the job. Vise handles are of a length to protect the screw and body from damage by overtightening. I'd put cheater bars in the abuse category.

The occasional file mark, saw nick or hammer ding just come with the vise earning its' place on the workbench. Jaws are again a consumable. Use as designed and replace as needed.

Your opinions and results may vary.

jack vines, who's worked them hard for sixty years but never broken or bent a vise.

 

[PFSard]

Jack >> Well said.

 

[freudianfloyd]

There's were we get into the finer points of vise use and abuse. One who works intelligently with tools and equipment should never bend or break a vise, but they are ultimately a consumable. In the engine shop where I still work a couple of days a week, there is an old Parker which is a beaten wreck. That it has survived more than fifty years of commercial bench use is a testament to the quality built in. I'm trying to get the owner to take it out of service long enough for me to rebuild the screw collar. However, it has been used to it's purpose. Those painted ladies sitting unused on show shop benches are just set decorations.

Agree, a vise is not an anvil. However, those who say, "Never hammer on a vise." are dismissing the fact many manufacturers, including the fanboy favorite Wilton, machine an anvil surface on their vises. They assume the user will employ skill and experience knowing what size hammer and how hard a hit is reasonable on what size vise.

Cheater bars are just that - for those who don't have the correct tools and try to cheat by using one too small for the job. Vise handles are of a length to protect the screw and body from damage by overtightening. I'd put cheater bars in the abuse category.

The occasional file mark, saw nick or hammer ding just come with the vise earning its' place on the workbench. Jaws are again a consumable. Use as designed and replace as needed.

Your opinions and results may vary.

jack vines, who's worked them hard for sixty years but never broken or bent a vise.

That's what I'm getting at. I am in the process of restoring a Reed vise I just picked up. The guy I got it from said it had been on his Dad's farm since the early 60's. I plan on using it after I get it rebuilt, I know most people wouldn't. Anyway, if people are using vises just for holding things while they work on them, does it really matter how tough they are? My Chinese ones can hold stuff just fine, but I expect this Reed to be able to handle ANYTHING I need it for. Isn't that what they were really designed for?

 

[DandDMachine]

Jack you said it perfectly. In my opinion if you want it to just hold something go ahead and buy a cheap vise but if you are going to put it through some abuse you better get a good one. In my shop I have a Parker 974-1/2 and a Morgan 150 as my primary vises. I hope they dont break but I paid a combined total of $30 for both of them. If they break I will have to buy another one. I primarily use them for holding items but the most abusive thing I do is use them to R & R U-joints. I have been doing this for more than 20 years and have yet to break one. My customers bring in u joints all the time and tell me they broke their vise. They must have cheap vises.

 

[canuckian]

I pretty much only use mine for holding a workpiece. I have a press for pressing and a small anvil if I have to wail on something. The only time I whack the anvils on my vises is for something light like straightening a nail or something small like that.

 

[matemike]

I mounted my single stage reloading press on a block of 2X6 wood. I use my large vise (of the two that I own) to hold that block of wood while I re-size brass and press bullets into prepped brass. Works very well. Then I can put all the reloading stuff back away and not have my garage look like an artillery arsenal all the time.

 

[logical]

I think as long as your idea of abuse doesn't damage the screw or other moving parts to the point that it becomes too sloppy to do what you expect of it...abuse away.

Obviously, some will hold up to a lot more than others. I think we've all run across used vises with jaws that no longer close evenly or have been cracked and welded back together. It's no different than any other tool, they all will wear out at some point. A good vise isn't a precision instrument but they are not indestructible.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Some people borrow their Mother-in-Law's Buick to haul their pigs to market
Some people use their vise for a anvil or press
Some people?

An older brother once wanted to use my vise to hammer something straight.. I showed him my anvil, and said that's not what my vise is for.
Another example of Some people.......the world has been invaded by them.

 

[Jo Diesel]

I beat the **** out of vises. Use a 4lb sledge on mine all the time and use the hammer to tighten the screw. Have only broken a couple in the 35 years I have spent working on trucks and they were cheap cast iron junk.
If they break or the screws go bad buy a better one. Get at least a 6" to beat on. I have a 4" bolted to my tool box that I use all the time but it is a cheap HF unit and I don't whale on that one.
Thinkin about welding a receiver to my bench and then mount my grinder and vice to a hitch tube so they are removable

 

[freudianfloyd]

Some people borrow their Mother-in-Law's Buick to haul their pigs to market
Some people use their vise for a anvil or press
Some people?

An older brother once wanted to use my vise to hammer something straight.. I showed him my anvil, and said that's not what my vise is for.
Another example of Some people.......the world has been invaded by them.

So you are part of the holding parts only group? What is the purpose of a high end vise? What abuse does one get on a vise by holding things? If they don't get any abuse, why does everybody want a bigger, heavier one?

What I gather, is that short of beating on it like a traditional anvil, and using a cheater bar on the handle, nothing else is really abuse. Correct? If one of the resident vise gurus on this site walked into my garage and saw me pressing ball joints with my vise, but not by using a cheater bar, would their jaws hit the ground?

 

[freudianfloyd]

I think as long as your idea of abuse doesn't damage the screw or other moving parts to the point that it becomes too sloppy to do what you expect of it...abuse away.

Obviously, some will hold up to a lot more than others. I think we've all run across used vices with jaws that no longer close evenly or have been cracked and welded back together. It's no different than any other tool, they all will wear out at some point. A good vise isn't a precision instrument but they are not indestructible.

I agree with this

 

[Buckgnarly]

I just usually avoid taking any tool advice from people on here who have "collections" of whatever tool I am looking for advice on....

 

[General Geoff]

Bigger/heavier vises can withstand holding stuff in a death grip, over and over again, day in & day out, for decades. That IS ultimately what a vise is made to do. Sheet metal brake usage and *light* press usage is also not abuse for the heavier duty ones. Anything requiring much more than a ton of force to press, shouldn't be pressed with a vise.

I have seen auto parts manufacturer-provided instructions which specified using a vise and a couple of large sockets to bend a shifter linkage rod to a certain angle, for a particular application. Not exactly the correct tools for such a job, but it's what most DIY'ers would have handy.

I've used lighter duty HF-sourced vises, and the bottom line is that they will do almost everything a huge, expensive Wilton, Columbian, Reed, etc. vise will do. They just won't do it for as long, or with as much precision.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

So you are part of the holding parts only group? What is the purpose of a high end vise? What abuse does one get on a vise by holding things? If they don't get any abuse, why does everybody want a bigger, heavier one?

What I gather, is that short of beating on it like a traditional anvil, and using a cheater bar on the handle, nothing else is really abuse. Correct? If one of the resident vise gurus on this site walked into my garage and saw me pressing ball joints with my vise, but not by using a cheater bar, would their jaws hit the ground?

Being that I have eight vises that range from 6" down to 2", a well equipped 40 ton hydraulic press, two porta power sets, a roller filled with gear pullers, two torches, and an anvil; I see no reason not to use the proper equipment while working in my shop... I take care of my equipment, but see no problem using a piece of equipment for a job that is within it's limits.

To answer your question about a bigger and heavier vise; they will hold bigger and heavier parts...

I use mine for Holding component parts while removing or installing seals and races, drilling, tapping , cleaning, torqueing fasteners, straightening, and other chores. A good vise is the universal hold-al that can pinch, press, and push as well.. I have no issues with using a vise for a project it can apparently handle.... Mine do get used.. But I doubt you will see a cheater bar on my vise handle or flat out beat on...

If the vise is the only means you have to get a job done,,,,,,,,,,,by all means,,,,,,,,,,,get the job done....that is what you bought it for?

 

[Mikerodrig27]

I've got a cheap vise and I still cannot break it.

 

[trackwelder]

I have used vises like most here have commented above. Also I'm guilty of beating on a part with no mercy while its in a vise. I have snapped a few but really could care less when the **** hits the fan and I'm trying to fix something. I just grab one of a dozen or better spares and bolt it up.

 

[CNGsaves]

+1 for Packard v8/Jack Vines post above !!

As kid, we had no money for press . . . thus, vise was the press. As kid, we had no money for anvil . . . thus, vise did get used to whack some stuff with BFH.

I distinctly remember using hammer to tighten vise, or tighten swivel holds as I was straightening piece of rebar or some other steel item and vise kept swiveling. With better tools that I have now, I doubt I'd need to do this much today, even with my worst beater vise.

Lots of bearings and U-joints were "pressed" together in my dad's or grandpa's vises back in the day. I'd do the same today if no actual press available.

OP . . . you're likely in much better financial position today than your dad was back in the day. Thus, you can decide WHICH vise (of many) that you want to handle the mean and nasty work !!

 

[ripperd]

I have a craftsman 5.5" and if It will work for what I'm trying to do, I'll use it. Pounding, bending, crushing, holding, etc. Its a tool. If it gets a couple scratches, no big deal.

On the other-hand, I don't do any fine or precision metalwork.

 

[bobcatdan]

My vises are for holding stuff. None of my vises have an anvil style beating area. So unless I'm beating on things clamped in them, I don't beat on them. I have a heavy steel bench to beat on. I don't use them as press because I have both an arbor and hydraulic press.

 

[zkling]

I'm new to the vise scene, but I've been reading everything I can on them. In my dad's garage, a vise is a do-all, we use it as a press, anvil, brake, third hand, just about anything. They were meant to be abused...

Anyway, after reading all of the posts about what NOT to use them for, it seems to me they are only recommended for holding things. So what is the point of an extra large vise? I understand and do a good job of taking care of my tools, I'm just confused as to what the extra large vises are for. Maybe I'm just way off point.

Yep.

So what is the point of an extra large vise?

Based on the previous statement and knowledge gained, one might be able to deduce that an extra large vise is for holding extra large items.

 

[Project_shadow]

To hold on to whatever is needed for any project at any time,
Hitting, cutting, or welding it's probably holding the object of the project