What vise to buy

[J1973s]

What jaw width would be recommended for a general purpose garage vise?
Locally there is a Reed 203 which has the 3 1/2” jaws and an American made craftsman w 4” jaws for sale. Both have the swivel base and both are in quite good shape. The Reed seems heavier duty but the Craftsman has the wider jaws.
Any thoughts or recommendations?
Thanks in advance.

 

[J1973s]

The Craftsman is a model 391.

 

[coljar]

I have several, but if I only have one to choose from, it wouldn't be smaller than a 4".

 

[Pathfinders]

Good question. Might as well ask what type of oil should I use. I am just kidding.
As coljar said nothing smaller than 4". You can use a big vise for small work. It is hard using a small vise for large projects.

 

[J1973s]

I really like the Reed as it’s the most solid vise I’ve ever seen but I’m not sold on the 3 1/2” jaws either. Wish it was a 204.

 

[ZRX61]

I'd buy both of them.

 

[TailGunner3000]

Normally I'm a bigger-is-better guy, but if you're only choosing between those two, I'd go with the Reed. It's just a better vise.

But in truth, for general purpose work, either will work fine. The half inch jaw width likely won't make much difference, but price might.

 

[Farmall450]

Normally I'm a bigger-is-better guy, but if you're only choosing between those two, I'd go with the Reed. It's just a better vise.

But in truth, for general purpose work, either will work fine. The half inch jaw width likely won't make much difference, but price might.

Agreed w/ both of these points

 

[couch67]

agreed 1/2" wont make a difference, pick the one you like.

man I am gonna regret this post.

 

[skulldrinker]

I like my Parker 4". I don't see any benifit for diy use of any bigger jaws.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[jubilee]

I have a 5” and 8” in the garage. 8” sees probably 90% of the action. For small stuff, I have various sizes of C-clamps welded together. One clamp to work bench and other to job.

 

[A**holes Garage]

I have a few Wilton 69999 vises that have served me well over the years

 

[exmaxima1]

AFAIK, if it's a Reed 203, it has 3-inch wide jaws. The model 203-1/2 had 3.5-inch jaws.

 

[matt_i]

I like the lines of the Reed, I would pick that one unless its priced way high.

 

[sberry]

I have a 5, for me a 6 would be a little better but it is what it is. If you want to collect then there are lots of others, if you want to work a rotator with pipe jaws is where its at.

 

[J1973s]

Bought the Reed which was a 203 1/2 rather than the 203. It’s in very good condition and I’m rather excited about it.

 

[J1973s]

More pics

 

[Troyman]

I went from a 4 1/2" Sears to a 6" Wilton. Big difference -love the larger vise, easy to hold an item without hurting myself. Purchases on Offerup for $100.

 

[W.O.B.]

Rigid forged vices are strong and cheap, at least for strong built vices. If that is too far outside the price range, you might consider the vice from Fireball Tool. It appears to be a bit smaller knock-off of the Rigid and there are some good destruction videos of it on YouTube......... Full disclosure: I have not had my hands on the Fireball vice personally, but will be ordering a couple for my fan table, due to the aforementioned destruction videos.

 

[SGKent]

buying the Reed was a good decision. Craftsman are great if the right year and manufacturer. They are awful if the wrong year and manufacturer.

 

[pelletman]

You made a good choice at least from manufacturer perspective. Not much better than Reeds. I have a 5" Columbian 605 and and a Parker 945 1/2 and I like those sizes best. 4 just seems a bit too small for what I use them for. I have a reed 4" 204R I really like but I consider it a small vise. All depends on what you are doing I guess

 

[Lucky13driver]

I have a 4 inch and a 6 inch I like them hot but use the 6 inch almost all the time. I lucked out and found A Wilton bullet vise from an estate sale all it needed was a paint job.

 

[J1973s]

Thanks for all the input. After I bought the Reed I found a Columbian D45 M 3 that I picked up pretty cheap. Good shape but the swivel base and the swivel base lock are seized at present though I’m pretty sure I can get things unstuck.

 

[ZRX61]

Bought the Reed which was a 203 1/2 rather than the 203. It’s in very good condition and I’m rather excited about it.

I'd have to do something about the damage to the top (from a grinder?) I'd probably fill it with JB Weld if it was going to get a coat of paint. If I decided to get a bit enthusiastic, I'd bead-blast the trench to clean it up. Then fire up the TIG & fill it with steel. Just for the aesthetics.

 

[TMcCay]

You made the right choice. The Reed will serve you well.

 

[hippie2cams]

I think the first thing I did would be to mount that vice, before it falls on your little pinky toes. Why does everyone take pictures of their bare feet in the garage. Think how bad that would hurt if you bumped that vice while looking through your phone!!!

 

[urchinhead]

After wearing boots all day 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, bare feet sound great in the garage! But I’ll stick with tennis shoes for now.

 

[Hobbit]

Having had only 6" vises all my life I couldn't imagine a smaller one. Other features to consider are pipe jaws and anvil size.

 

[zkling]

If you can only have one....Get a milhoff.