Advice for inexpensive drill press vice.

[skillgannon]

The first one I bought was just to cheap. I thought it would be fun but the bottom isn't even flat. It's not a high end press anyway but I want one that would work. I can upgrade it down the road if it will get me by for a couple of years.

 

[joedhiggins]

How flat do you need it? Do you just want the paralells to be paralell to the press table? If you are looking for seriously flat you may want a machinist vise.

If all you want is decently parallel flats, I have bought a few in the 20-50$ range that fit that bill. Mostly off amazon.

 

[Lieblad]

Good luck.
”Inexpensive” and ”vise” dont go together.
That said, I have a 3” Grizzly was about 25$. Its ok, but terrible crap compared to my Speedvises or old Wiltons.
Fwiw, most budget vises will be made in China with any number of brand names applied. Would never buy a Chinesesium vise without seeing the specific one and maybe picking thru several first to know how accurate its fit-up is.

 

[john april]

shars sells some drill press vises that are higher quality than the harbor freight versions, but not as nice as the kurt versions which usually cost a few hundred. i have the shars 3" drill press vise and it is much better than the cheap ones. http://www.shars.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?cat=901&dir=asc&order=price&q=3"+vise

 

[kuraki]

I almost never use a vise on the drill press, except to hold small parts. For doing that, I got one of these that I'm pretty happy with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NG08TAE/ref=dp_prsubs_1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NG08TAE/ref=dp_prsubs_1
Maybe if I didn't have a mill I would want a bigger better drill vise.

 

[HSC ///]

I never use a vise on a drill press either

 

[Michael Black]

I found a certified refurbished Wilton 3" drill press vise like this one and I love it. Mine was actually a bit cheaper, so you can probably find one like mine for more like $30 if you poke around some more. This was just a quick search. They have a nice flat base so parallels work and it seems really well made.

 

[scott.livesey]

try one from a big box hardware store like homedepot or lowes. if not happy, they will give you a refund no question.

 

[Drew Riley]

try one from a big box hardware store like homedepot or lowes. if not happy, they will give you a refund no question.

Agreed. I bought one from Menards for less that $30 years ago. It’s not the greatest, and I bought it before I had a mill, mainly to hold round stock occasionally, but it works well enough. Haven’t used it in years though.