Vise Choice

May 20, 2005 9 Replies

I need a 6" table vise. I have seen Sears, Wilton, and Kobalt in the last three days. They all look pretty stout, and are around $70US.



Anyone have any preferrences? Horror stories?



I need it to hold things, and not for an anvil or really heavy work.



Steve


"SteveB" wrote in news:Akuje.11259$gp.9190@fed1read03:

Wilton

Get a real Wilton... don't think your gonna find one in the $70 range though...

Good Luck!

Erik

At $70 you probably can just pick what color you like as they are all imported. I would probably pay attention to which one will give you the best warranty service if it fails. Does Sears offer, in writing, lifetime warranty on there vise? How about the Wilton guy? A good Wilton vise is a wonderful tool but the $70 one is just another import. lg no neat sig line

There are still some new-surplus Record machinists vises floating around from the factory close-out a couple years ago; I bought one a couple months ago on Ebay for cheaper than scrap steel price, delivered, brand-new in the original box. It's a great vise. The

6-inch ones are harder to find than the 4", but are available if you hunt around.

Regards,

Bob

Get a wilton. My last one was $400 and worth every penny. Went through a string of cheap vices and learned that they are not worth buying. They don't hold, jaws will bend out of parrallel and will only cause damage to your work

Yup. Wilton machinist's vise. A 6" will be $5-600 or so depending on whether you get a swivel base. I've seen a 6" Sears. A coworker burdened us with a bunch of Sears junk. This vise was very light, had very thin jaws, and the jaws would spring with any amount of pressure like undoing a stuck fitting. Just a busted knuckle waiting to happen.

Pete Keillor

You could keep an eye out for a good deal on a used shop vise. About 20 years ago I paid over $60.00 for a battered up old vise that weighed well over 60 pounds. The vise has seen real heavy duty service as a bearing press and stood up to poundings I'm sure it was never designed for. I hate to say it but it probably has a lot more good years left than I do.

Jimbo

That old vise I was talking about is a LIENAN F150. Just out of curiosity has anyone out there ever heard of that brand of vise?

Jimbo

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