Bench Vise (any sugguestions?)

Let's talk Bench Vises, what brand do you have? Do you like it, does it see heavy use?

I've got two vises, one inside and one on a small work bench outside.

The one inside is on it's third set of jaws. The few times I've missed while hammering something clamped in it, the jaws broke.

The one outside was a cheapo vise that my brother picked up at a swap meet for like $20 bucks used. We were heating and bending something and the little but of pressure it took to bend it completely tore the vise to shreds. It's broken and completely useless.

So we're looking to replace these once and for all with something that's gonna last.

I've been looking and I can't find anything made in the U.S.A. I Saw that Ridgid makes a vise in Germany that's drop forged steel rather than the cast garbage everyone else seems to offer.

Any suggestions?

 

One word - Wilton .

If you can find a Vintage Wilton vise they are " Made in America ". Don't be fooled by the new cheap junk with a Wilton sticker on it being sold today at some tool stores.


My 2 cents,

CBB

 

one like this, ive been pounding, welding, cutting, jumping and twisting one of these for over a decade!!!

crazy backyard right get a vintage one if ya can, check out farm auctions, but northerntool.com has new styles for $150

 

Second the crazy guy. if you can find a old Wilton or any other made in USA vises in decent shape it will be way better then almost anything that you can find new. I made the mistake of buying a Craftsman and for many reasons it sucked I tossed it for scrap as soon as I found a old one.

 

I have a large heavy, somewhat antique Cole vise that I paid $100 for....

I also have a small Craftsmen that I got used 35 years ago - it has stood up to abuse without breaking...
.

 

I have a vintage Ridged brand vice I bought for 50 bucks older but new when I bought it from an estate sale , I love it it would withstand any abuse you could give it , then in the other garage I have a large no name brand that is a good vice but the jaw scews stripped I need to fix it

 

only had this pic,but wilton all the way

 

I'm going to get flamed for this one but I don't care. I bought a Harbor Freight one years ago because it, literally, was all I could afford with the jaw width as big as it was. I have beaten on, welded on, burned with a torch, whatever and it still works like it did when I bought it (grabs on to loose things and doesn't let go till I want it to). I confess I did have to put locktite on the crank handle and the pipe grippers fell out the first day and I eventually lost one of the sets of teeth, then threw the rest away because I would never use them anyway and I got tired of them falling out and startling me...

If it ever dies, I'm going Wilton. Stupid think won't break though. Maybe the 9 pound hammer...

 

Don't buy a HIT, or any other cheap oriental rubbish for that matter. I've used one that was such bad casting they had put a layer of bondi over it. Guess what happened after the first hit with a hammer!!?? Record (English I think) are a great mechanics/engineers vice, tough as old boots.

 

I went thru this a couple of years ago. Wilton used to make good stuff but the new ones are shit and made in China of course.

The only company I could find that still made one in the U.S. was Reed and they are expensive as hell.

http://www.reedmfgco.com/


If money was no object I would have bought a new Reed.

Unfortunately that's not the case

I wound up finding a used american made Wilton and an old Chas Parker.

Surely there are other american made vises but I couldn't find them.

 

I agree. I almost always go for old U.S.A. tools but
I have the exact one pictured and it's been of great service. Has a lot going for it design wise too with the rotating jaws, pipe jaws and that flat pad on top.
Think I paid $75.00 for mine @ swap meet.

 

Like others have said you probably won't find a new one that's anywhere near as good as an old one.

Good old ones to look for.

Reed
Wilton
Prentiss
Parker
Chas. Parker
Yost
Columbian


Columbian still makes vises but i'm pretty sure they are imported now, so look for the old ones.

 

my old vice, new stand that Mr. Dan Woods gave me for x-mas. really really cool

 

Sooo, wheeeennnn do you leave for the airport?
that's one cool stand

 

Nice, in fact looks too nice to use!

You guys in the US seem spoiled for choice, I haven't heard of most of those listed. American tools are very expensive here - very good, but very expensive.

 

Wilton still makes top-notch vise. Don't be fooled by the import crap you see in Home Dept with their name on it.

There's two schools of thought here: One, buy cheap imports, beat the piss out of them, throw 'em away when- not if- the break. Get a cheap one for $60, it lasts a couple of years, replace it.

Or two, invest in one that'll last you a lifetime.

The cost is the same. One's just spread out over a longer period.

A good Wilton- my personal fave- will run you $600 to $800. But you'll hand it down to your grandkids. Mine's better than forty years old, and spent the first half of it's life in a union maintenence shop. I've pressed wrist pins out with it and haven't been able to spring it.

I also have a large Morgan I got used, but I understand Morgan is still in business. Not as "tight" as the Wilton, but plenty beefy.

Doc.

 

gonna have to agree with crazy back yard i have and use a wilton. ive been using a wilton for about 2 years now and its better then sliced bread, and before me it spent 3 years on a drilling rig and it still works fine. but like alot of things wilton is often imitated for a true wilton bench vise 8" with swivel and 2 different jaws and allthe bells a whisles should not cost les then 850$ i stole mine so it was free but i looked them up online and they are truly expensive. but the bonus to that is they have a "no fuckin around act of god warrenty" i put a 5 foot snype on mine a cranked the life out of it to attempt to break and return it to wilton and get a new one even with the snype it did not break, and still works fine.

P.S. mine is a "wilton tradesman stock # 63202

 

What he said.

 

I have 3, Reed,Columbia, and a Wilton,, all old ,,,,all garage/yard sales. all repainted and would not part with them......

 

I have an old wilton that belonged to my grandfather,you can feel the difference!

 

Here is the king of vises, but the one I have cost over $900 new. Wilton of course. They sell at tool auctions for over $400 used. Nice part is, if you manage to break it, you can get the parts to repair it, most times under warrentee.

I also have an old Monarch that is excellent.

 

Cheap China stuff- I have just binned a Torque wrench. It was good for 2 heads & an intake.
- ANyway.. Check out this Bugatti- made vice. Flat anvil & Hardened jaws. Drool..

 

Wilton for sure (even though i just cracked it, lol)

-Brad

 

chas parker all the way..check ur local salvage yard they are always bolted to the rear bumpers of service trucks found many that way.can be had for 20 buck usually

 

I have had excellent luck with the Ken Tool vices and as a fellow gear head I have beaten the crap out of mine and love it! I have the big boy #64800 and they retail for around $350.00 depending on where you go but here is a link for it and others and the service parts http://www.kentool.com/img/Repair%20Parts%20and%20Accessories.pdf
NAPA sells them and others as well. It is a China but I believe it is a better piece then you get at HF and others. Yes, a new Whilton is $900 and up, this is a great vise for the money and they do make smaller ones. This one does open up to 11" via the reversible jaw.

 

I have a few of 'em, all made by Columbian (Ohio built IIRC) and all out of an old tool shop in Detroit. My big one has a swivel rear jaw that comes in real handy for grabbing angled pieces.

I don't have any good pics but they were covered in years of grime, I cleaned up up, disassembled sprayed them with an epoxy hammered paint then put 'em back together - the brass shop tags are still in tact some of my favorite pieces.

My suggestion is to check the flea markets, craigslist, local shops etc and get a nice old piece. Mine I am dating in the 40s/50s from what I have seen online and they are better than anything you can get new.

 

Don't be afraid of an old Athol USA if you run across one in your price range at a swap,tag, yard, estate sale etc. Along with others, I have beat on 'em hard at various work locations for over 35 years with no problems.

Biggest problem I've found with inexpensive "global" stuff is material quality control. Some you can beat on for a few times and get purchase price value, others break on the first tender job for a net loss [time as well as hassle not to mention safety issues].

Can't always do it but try to pitch my tent in the camp that looks a little harder, might spend a bit more, for good, old, "been tried", made in USA tooling. Cry once on the price and forget it, the tool is there and works better when you need it, odds are safer as well.

 

I have this same vise. I had to loctite a lot of stuff, and took it apart and greased it real well. It's still working after a decade of motorcycle and car projects.
The only thing I don't like about mine is the dogs that hold the vise from rotating don't always hold if I have something long clamped up.
I like this style because it presents many different work angles.
Nonetheless, it's still a cheap chinese vise, and I know some day it will fail. My friends at the swap meets around here get BIG money for Wilton.

 

check the classifieds on the hamb's sister site.... garagejournal.com

 

"The only thing I don't like about mine is the dogs that hold the vise from rotating don't always hold if I have something long clamped up."
The Ken Tool vise has teeth in the rotator to lock solid, only problem is to move you have to unthread the adjustments a ways to change position, but locks like hell.