Things To Know When Buying A Bench Vise
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- If you are trying to figure out which bench vise of the many vises on the market, you might find some help in this video. I talk about what kind of uses you can expect out of cast iron vises and how to not use a cast iron vise if you purchase one so that it will last a long time.
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I just bought myself the 3inch from harbor freight along with their peg board work bench table. I picked the 3inch mostly because it looks the right size for a 24x48 inch table top.Like you I just need a 3rd hand for general small use an I am 65yrs old so no crazy hammering or beating for me.You have given the best information for a vise purchase. Thax a lot GODBLESS.....
My favorite bench vise is a Wilton Tradesman made in USA (beware many Wilton's are imported now) . For a low cost vise the 5 inch Harbor Freight rotating/swivel all purpose is not bad for the money. Too many people think vises are arbor presses, bending brakes or Anvils, Also people use cheater bars and hammers on the handles another bad idea and even hammer on the swivel clamps. The handles of a vise are designed at the factory to limit screw torque to within the design limits a bent handle is a sure sign of vise abuse. Well done review, Derick you have a clear idea of what a gray iron bench vise can and can not do and conveyed your message well.
Thank you! I appreciate your comment. It can handle more abuse than I was explaining in the video, as I have pounded on it quite a bit, but I have accepted the risk I am taking and have only myself to blame if something breaks.
Well done video !! Honest, true information. No "B.S.". Thanks. This helped greatly choosing a vise for myself. Blessings to you and yours.
Right on. Thanks for watching!
Great video, very informative, keep them coming!
SSC1995 Thanks for watching!
Cool, informative. Thanks, good to know.,👍
Good review. I agree with you on that some people give bad reviews because their using a tool wrong.
Happens all the time. Thanks for watching.
They made some good vintage vises world wide you have to test the strength and good reviews good hunting!!!
top man - thank you for sharing your research - subscribed in first minute - keep it coming please sir
Thanks for watching and subbing!
My first bench vise was a 4 1/2 work pro but just upgraded to a 6" forward.. the 6 inch is so much bigger and more solid. I definitely abused the first one but it stood up to the test
I want to check those Forward vises out sometime!
Good advice. Thanks
Yeah thanks for watching.
Hey,
Thanks for the vidoe. I have just gotten the IRWIN Multi Purpose Bench Vise (5") (4935505). This vise is very good and not only looks cool, but very well built. It is about 130-150USD but this is still on a cheaper side. (Amazon also has it).
Those Irwin vises are not horrible. I like them. I had a little 4” to start off with as my first vise. Still around as far as I know. Gave it to my dad as he strangely never had one .
i was thinking of buying a general purpose vise and thinking about the harbor freight 6 inch, after seeing your video i went to harbor freight with my 20% coupon and bought it , thanks !
Awesome! Hope it serves you well for years and years to come!
Nice video. Though I don’t think it’s ever really recommended to ever use a cheater bar or sledge hammer on the tightening bar. There’s also now austempered ductile iron (ADI) vises rated at 130,000 psi tensile strength which for similar size comparison are supposed to be “stronger” than forged steel vises.
Good review
Thanks for the info! My first bench vise is from harden steel but the "washer" part keeps falling off that clamps it to the table 😑. Don't think I can peen it over so its time to upgrade!
Thanks for watching, glad I could help!
Thanks. I'm not so afraid that buying a similar (if not the same) vise at HF would be a waste of money anymore. All the affordable (to me) models are made overseas now, even lower-range Wiltons. Therefore, if made in USA isn't even an option for me right now, it's good to know Harbor Freight isn't really any riskier than any other, despite any reviews saying that they're low quality or broke too easily. I'm finding similar negative reviews of ALL the overseas vises, so thanks for helping me understand what's what.
Even then I’d have to say that if they didn’t get a dud, then they probably just abused the vise to break it. I mean there are a lot of better vises out there than this that can handle more abuse, and sometime you need to have a vise that can withstand more but for the general person, this vise is going to do fine.
Thank you for the useful inf
Glad it was helpful!
Super cool
My first and last vise is a secondhand one, free or allmost free and verry good quality. My first one was a Triump, second one sambre-et-meuse 125 it opens 270mm steel cast.
Sounds like a nice bench vise!
The negative on cast iron is the 30,000 psi tensile strength. If that is the limit of someone's budget, go for it and just be gentle with it, and it will serve them well. A little more money can buy ductile iron (60,000 psi). Much more likely to break a cast iron vise, because the metal is brittle. But this one will likely serve just fine. If anyone really wants a very strong vise without breaking the bank, look up the Yost ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron). Rated at 130,000 psi, which makes it 4x the strength of cast iron, and double that of ductile iron.
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Great video. Out of all your research, what do you think about the 5" Dewalt? I watched a strongest vise video and it seemed to hold up really well, but then I read some bad reviews on amazon. Weird thing is I can't find anywhere to buy it either. Did they discontinue it maybe?
I didn’t necessarily research every vise out there but more what the material it’s made out of means, what a good design is and for what purpose. I used a 4” Bessy that worked fine. Owned a 4” Irwin that worked ok too. The Harbor Freight vise had been holding up great. I can’t find a DeWalt vise anywhere either. I’d also check out the Tekton vises.
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects Awesome! Yeah, it's so strange how it doesnt come up anywhere for sale? Thanks so much for the advice.
Thx for a review for this DIY guy(me). In your opinion, is there any advantages to having a swivel option on a vise?
For me, not really. I suppose it depends on your application. To me it just makes it a possible weak point if your not regularly using the other side. But I’ve never owned a swivel vise so I can’t really say for sure.
Great question. To me, the swivel is the known weak point in this type of vise. Mount it correctly, and you shouldn't need the swivel feature, and you will have a much stronger vise for your money.
How wide does the 4 and a half vice open up? Lookin to buy a bench vice but I need one tho open up 5 inches or more. Let me know👍
Sorry man I don’t really know, I’d go check the specs on the HF website.
I have a very heavy, huge, old vise It looks great but it is made in China should i worry about it? I know when you buy a pipe wrench you want to avoid the cheap China made and go with made in USA so I dont know if I should try to sell it
Hey so it’s hard to say really without seeing it but I honestly would just hang on to it and use it until it fails. I don’t see any reason to get rid of it if it’s still in good shape. Maybe save up the cash and stuff it under the mattress for a better one and if it ever breaks then you already got the money for another one. Just my opinion.
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects Derek I followed your advice and I saved up some money and I just got a Charles Parker 249X, it’s a beast and now I gave the other one to my brother thanks buddy
Could you provide a one year later update?
As in an update for the Harbor Freight bench vise?
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects Yes please
@@Rot05 I can put it in the works. Though I may try to do it in a different way to keep it interesting. Thanks for watching and commenting.
My jaws broke while i was trying to lock in my barrel rod, it kept slipping
Wow, you must have just gotten a dud.
Id hope so i was pretty pisses
My vise is cast and it is cheap..... got it from a estate sale😩🙁
There is a vise brand on Amazon called "Forward" if I remember right. They sell a 6 inch vise made of ductile iron (stronger) for about $120. Looks like a good vise. I want to pick one up. Just can't justify it!
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects TY
Vice? I have no vice, I'm as pure as the driven snow! But I drifted..
Smug Smugly 👍🏼
I beat the hell out of my shitty old 3" vice, never had an issue
yep your comment about them being a third hand is correct. they're a very strong third hand and not made to absorb big blows with hammers. people online are beyond fucking stupid they'll buy this for $50 and think it performs as a $600 forged steel vise of the same size and.
My Vise is a red grizzly 50LB one. I'm a mechanic and do random small stuff on it. more than enough for me.
I have actually beat this thing up quite a bit more than I thought I originally would. Its holding up GREAT. Still not pounding on the handle with a hammer and smashing things up with it. But I have used it to bend some crooked sheet metal straight and things like that. I am sure happy with mine. Thanks for your input!
Are dewalt bench vises good ?
Most Dewalt products are good. I have never used a Dewalt vise. That might be one of those things that your paying extra for the name and not the quality but I can’t really say for sure, as I have never owned one.
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects I just started buying tools a few years ago and most of my general tools are husky but I've been curious about tools Milwaukee has been putting out like sockets, hand tools etc.
Anthony Valadez I’m newer to it myself. I used to be anti Harbor Freight but I have come back on that a little and decided there is a lot of good stuff there, you just have to know what it is. Also, they have been changing for the better with new products too. My first cordless tool brand was/is Milwuakee back in my days of doing HVAC and Plumbjng. Once I stopped doing trade work I decided I wanted to get more affordable tools cordless power tools where not only the tools cost less but the batteries and accessories are a lot more reasonable. So I got Bauer from Harbor Freight and have been pleased so far. Sometime I wonder if I should have just invested the same money in Milwuakee stuff even if it meant waiting longer to get tools. Anyway. Husky makes good hand tools. Everything is really hit or miss. Sometimes you paid to much for a name when something less popular and expensive is just as good, other times you go cheap and have to buy twice. I’m eventually going to do a video series where I show what tools I think are the best value for the dollar. But there is a lot of research and experience that would go into those so they are a ways away.
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects your totally right about brands having hit or miss tools that are quality and sometimes they arent. I look forward to any future videos you put out. I'm only 35 and still have tons to learn about tools.
@@DereksWorkshopAndProjects hey just saw your from Az also..I'm in phx
Today restore a old rusted crappy vise it's good for the soul!!! You will feel like a hundred bucks!!!
I'd like to find an old Wilton!
Mate, let's stop for a second and be reasonable. There is a reason these are big and heavy; if they can't take a beat, they are crap. They have an anvil, which tells me you are expected to beat the crap out of them. I bet you, you don't know for what the 30k psi stand... Hint: Not for clamping power! You should be able to bend a metal sheet or a rod with any of those; you should be able to unlock a torqued screw with any of those. Should you expect performance at that price-point? Nope! When it comes to a vise, I have my own criteria: #1. It's the most important tool in anyone's set-up; #2. It should hold whatever you clamp; #3. It should hold a torque found on your machinery of the type you own and this is how you should decide what vise is best for you. You should be able to verify the torque setting on your torque wrench - that's my point; #4. It should be smooth; #5. It should have the least amount of play you can afford. This being said, I have a recommendation for you, but you will have to go as high as $250-ish... It's a German made vise called Ridgid Peddinghaus F45. It's forged, comes with a lifetime warranty and you won't believe you wasted time of your life with anything else. It's sold in the US of A at ZORO and also for order at Home Depot. You might be looking at Wilton US made ones which run starting at about $350, but they don't come close in any of the mentioned categories. stay safe and get only the best, as an old guy told me in a hardware store 30 years ago in Germany, while l was looking at a cheap drill: The next one will cost you whatever you spend on this crap on top of it's price... Great lesson...
You know what’s funny? I was literally using this vise as a brake yesterday, I was bending shelves out of scrap sheet metal for a electrical box cabinet I was making to hold fluid cans and oils and things. I clamped it between two pieces of square tubing and then cut a little perforation out of it cause it’s 14 gauge steel and then bent it over and used a ball peen hammer to hit it all flat with a sharp flat edge and I thought to myself “I underestimated this vise really bad in that video. I told people not to use it as a sheet metal bending brake and here I am using it as a sheet metal break and pounding on it. I probably need to remake that video”.
So yeah, even for this $50 vise, it can take much more abuse and work. I’m not going to say this is all bad advice, I mean if you treat it nice it’ll last forever, even the worst one (hint this one is not the worst one, your should check out the best vise video by fireball tool). I was just trying to point out that if you hammer down on a cheap Chinese $50 cast iron vise, don’t expect it to last forever. If you want a vise than can be hammered on and still last, buy a ductile iron or cast steel vise, or something of higher quality in general. Thanks for your comment, I don’t disagree with you for the most part. This video could use some revising.
The Irwin & Central Forge vises can't be rated more than 10,000 or 15,000 psi.
You cannot achieve a 30,000 psi rating from grey cast iron.
Vises rated at 30,000 or 60,000 psi are cast from ductile iron.
Also... the reason a lot of people broke the Central Forge & Irwin vises, is because they are hollow cast grey iron. They are weak even for general light duty use.