Can i get some recommendations on good bench vices in the 100-150 dollar range. I will be using it to hold steel while i cut it out with a hacksaw. I been using F clamps on my work bench to hold the steel down and it's not working to great. Should i stay away from cast iron and go with ductile or steel vises? Plus my work bench has that crappy compacted wood for the surface, am thinking i should get a nice thick slab of real hard wood for a new top.
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A good bench vise?
- Thread starter SethO
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2014
- Messages
- 439
Yup. The vise is only as good as what it's attached to. That said, for what you'll be doing, a $100-$150 vise is probably overkill. A $50 4 inch vise would likely serve you just as well, as long as you take the time and use the right hardware to mount it securely. Like anything, the system is only as good as it's weakest link. Generally more expensive vises just open wider, so take that into consideration. Anything you're cutting by hand with a hacksaw probably isn't going to be that big.
...Or get the Wilton and never buy another vise again--no matter what you need to hold.
My experience has been that it is much easier to hacksaw steel when it is clamped down flat on the work bench then when it is held vertically in a vice. Unless of course the vice rotates, mine does not. Also on my workbench, I made a protrusion from a 2x4, that sticks out from the main work surface. It makes for a nice platform to clamp onto and to sand blades on.