Vises

[Roy Wall]

Hey guys,

I was at woodcraft the other day...looking at this and that...

They had several styles of vises: Asian, German, nock-offs....and the prices were all over the place.:eek:

German bench vise w/ quick release was $169 and the end vise was $129. The "made in China" were about half priced - they had coarser threads and no Quick release.. Then I started thinking about the LV twin-screw- it seems like a "best buy compared to the German made.

So....what do you guys use? And is it like most everything else; you get what you pay for??:eek: :eek:

[Mark Singer]

Roy ,
A vise should be an integral part of a bench. You can certainly add a vise, or design a bench and decide which vises you need for the type of work you will be doing. The Veritas Twin screw is good for panels as an end vise. The front and tail vise combo is good for general hand work and also machine work. I think you really need to think about how you will use the bench. I have a big Record 53 on my back bench....that is a really good vise and has the quick adjust lever....it was never an integrated part of that bench so it really didn't work as well as the Diffenbach bench I use now

[Tim Sproul]

A lot of it has to do with what you do and the way you do it.

I like Kirby's idea that stock should not be clamped or "vised" when surface planing. Hence, boards are planed using stops but are free to skitter about if I get sloppy with my technique.

If you cut joinery on the bench, a vise is almost required....or you'll want a few holdfasts and the appropriate holes to place those in. Mortising can be done with just a stop...though it is often helpful to hold down the stock too. Tenon cutting and especially dovetail sawing scream for a twin-screw vise or similar.

I have some "temporary" benches around now and plans are to make 3 nice benches. One in the Roubo style/tradition for use mainly in milling lumber. Another in the Kirby fashion for smoothing and general joinery work. The third in a "modern" style similar to the Veritas or Charlesworth benches with the center tool tray for joinery work. And an assembly table should also be counted as a bench so that makes for 4 good workbenches planned.

[Tom LaRussa]

So....what do you guys use? And is it like most everything else; you get what you pay for??:eek: :eek:
I'm of the "use-really-cheap-until-I-can-afford-really-expensive" school.

So at the moment I have a pair of $19 Chinese knockoffs from a company called Wholesale Tool. Surprisingly, they have the quick release mechanism and are, so far as I can tell, identical but for paint to other knockoffs selling for much more.

They are very nice vises for $19.

Note I say FOR $19.

I've seen a very similar model on sale at Woodcraft for about $30-something, which is pretty comparable if you don't have a Wholesale Tool outlet near you, but do have a Woodcraft.

On the other hand, some day, when I save up the dough to build a "real" bench, I'm probably either going to go with the traditional dovetailed vise-thingies or with the Lee Valley whole-hog setup.

[Alan Turner]

Each to his own as far as vises go, but I have an Emmert No. 2 on my 6 ft. bench, together with a traditional tail vise, and this combo is ideal for my work, which includes both hand and machine work. The Emmerts are hard to find, and can be spendy, but once you use the iron hand, it is hard to go back to a regular front vise. Its only downside is that it is not a quick action style. But,the threads on the lead screw are 4 tpi, so it is still pretty quick.

[John Weber]

Roy,

I use a pair of old high school vises. They are not fancy, but strong and square. Neither has quick release and other then I should have started my bench dog row at 3" spaced every 6" rather then 6" spaced every 6", they work great. I've also thought of burying the face vise in the bench top, and I'm going to add some risers to the top at some point so I might do it then. I guess my bench is sort of in-between a work bench and a traditional ww bench, but it fits my needs for now. I'm not sure if you are looking at a metal vise or a wood vise, but Lee Valley has some metal vises that look very close to the old Record quick release metal vises. If I were going with a metal vise I think that is the way I would go. I've also read plenty of positive comments about thier wood vises as well.

John

Here is my bowling alley bench, I made several years back:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/pond/shoptourbench-p.jpg

[Steve Cox]

I have Record 53 with its face buried in the bench edge for a face vise and a Veritas twin screw on the end as a tail vise. Along with lots of dog holes they work great for everything I do.

[James Carmichael]

The Groz vises at woodcraft look pretty good. I had purchased a Shop Fox, sold it thinking I wasn't going to build a WW bench. Now I've vascilated back :confused: But the Groz looks better and costs a little less, has a much beefier dog.

Are the older Wilton/Columbian's good vises? There is a local used tool dealer who always has a big pile of them priced $65 apiece, I believe they're all 7".

I saw that Anant is now making the Record vises after purchasing the rights from Rubbermaid, or whomever swallowed Record. Can't remember where I saw them, but the prices looked reasonable, the 53ED was around $120.

FYI, I heard from WoodCraft Bands that Rubbermaid has also purchased Lenox.

[Ken Garlock]

I received my Highland Hardware catalog last week.

They are advertising a Record vise clone made in India by Anant (Highland already carries the Anant brand of planes.) They say that Anant bought the tooling for the Record vises and are now making the "same" vise that was made under the Record brand. Highland claims the quality is there. The prices run in the 110 to 130 range.

I was not able to find the Anant vise at the Highland website. :confused:

[James Carmichael]

I received my Highland Hardware catalog last week.

They are advertising a Record vise clone made in India by Anant (Highland already carries the Anant brand of planes.) They say that Anant bought the tooling for the Record vises and are now making the "same" vise that was made under the Record brand. Highland claims the quality is there. The prices run in the 110 to 130 range.

I was not able to find the Anant vise at the Highland website. :confused:

Thanks Ken, that's where I saw it, in my paper HH catalog that came last week. I get so many, I can't keep track!