Vise?

[HornyToad]

I am about to start reloading and I am setting up my bench, but before I buy a vise I was wondering if there is a vise or type of vise most of you might recommend.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

I've been using a simple bench vise for years and it handles most tasks just fine, I think it's only a 4 1/2" model or so. It works fine for securing rifles and stuff. I do want to get a model that will allow me to swivel the gun up and down, as well as side to side.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Wilton or Irwin/Record. Product lines vary a lot, start comparing features and prices.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Check Craig’s list and fb marketplace. Vintage vices are readily available cheap and are way better than most of the new made in china crap.

want the ultimate gun reloading room vise?

Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

From the same company that brought you the Parker shotgun. Built like a Swiss watch.

cheers, Sirhr

PS. I also have a small machinist vice in my reloading shop. Very precise and ground jaws. If you don’t want to hold things in blacksmith vice... machinist vise is one to have as well.

 

[Mauser06]

A vise for what uses??? There's a variety of bench vises out there and some are more suited for different tasks than others.

 

[Mauser06]

I am in the process of setting up my new work area....I have several "needs" and probably already need to expand the bench lol. It's still a mess as you can see. Some organization and storage and I will be set.








Hard to see the vises. The green one with the flintlock stock in the jaws is a Patterns Makers Vise. The jaws both spin 360 as does the vise head itself. The jaws are like a rubbery/plastic deal... Good for holding gunstocks and such. I use it to build flintlock longrifle stocks.

The black one of a typical shop vise. It spins 360 and the head swivels. Nice for working on other projects.

 

[...]

protip: buy the biggest bench vise you can reasonably fit.

also avoid anything Chinese......they have a tendency to fill in large casting voids with bondo then paint over it...

spend the money and buy German or American, buy vintage if you have to, bench vises are pretty easy to clean up and restore.

 

[powerspc]

Check Craig’s list and fb marketplace. Vintage vices are readily available cheap and are way better than most of the new made in china crap.

want the ultimate gun reloading room vise?

Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

From the same company that brought you the Parker shotgun. Built like a Swiss watch.

cheers, Sirhr

PS. I also have a small machinist vice in my reloading shop. Very precise and ground jaws. If you don’t want to hold things in blacksmith vice... machinist vise is one to have as well.

Awesome, have a Charlie Parker as well; got it up in Vermont at some antique kind of place. Built like a brick shithouse.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Awesome, have a Charlie Parker as well; got it up in Vermont at some antique kind of place. Built like a brick shithouse.

I still want one. Shipping is a killer. I have a whole wall of Parker Shotguns. I need a vise to go with them.

Post a picture! I love those things!

Cheers, Sirhr

 

[db2000]

Check Craig’s list and fb marketplace. Vintage vices are readily available cheap and are way better than most of the new made in china crap.

want the ultimate gun reloading room vise?

Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Charles Parker Bech Vise at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

From the same company that brought you the Parker shotgun. Built like a Swiss watch.

cheers, Sirhr

PS. I also have a small machinist vice in my reloading shop. Very precise and ground jaws. If you don’t want to hold things in blacksmith vice... machinist vise is one to have as well.

On the eBay site:
"I only communicate in English"

 

[Powder_Burns]

Vanderman steamfitter’s vise ca 1891
Big fucker, built like a tank.

 

[Strykervet]

I got one at Lowes or HD, it's blue and it's, oh, six inches wide? Your basic full size shop vice, nothing fancy. It was cheap.

And it also gets the job done. If I ever break it, THEN I'll go and get a better steel job. That's how I do tools, I get a plethora of cheap shit, always have what I need, use it, the shit I use most gets worn or broken and replaced with quality parts or kits. Torx bits for example. The cheap kit with literally EVERY driver blade made is handy as hell, but I wore out the torx heads fast. The tool steel shit I got now won't be wearing out for a loooong time and I swear it looks made for an impact tool.

So I'd get whatever HD or Lowes has on sale that gets the job done, not a tiny job but a full size vice, and go from there.

While you're there, grab a few pieces of junk lumber if you don't have some. An oak 1x2 would be nice, a couple 2x4's and then you may need to make some jigs for this or that. I bolt my Dillon swaging tool on 2x4 with another piece of lumber screwed to that and lock it into the vice to use. When I lock barrels down I have these polymer barrel blocks (I'd order some, cheap from Brownells) and I also have a couple pieces of plywood, etc., that I use with strips of leather from an old belt to clamp things I don't want damaged. And having some pieces that will prevent a piece from turning under torque can be handy (when applicable).

I'd love a legitimate barrel vice someday myself but haven't gotten to the point I NEED one... With jigs and blocks or whatever I've been able to make this one work.

Pretty sure it's Chinese. In fact, I'm pretty sure all the cast iron vices you're gonna find for sale in most stores are cast iron jobs from China. Fuck it. Get it. If it breaks, wears out or doesn't do the job, THEN get something else. May turn out you need a specialty vice and this one will be handy to have for other shit, sorta like keeping the single stage when you upgrade to a Dillon 650 when reloading. The old junk is still very much useful. Now if you break it...

I'm not sure what it takes to break a store bought vice but I think I was pretty close with that FN Mk20 barrel's flash hider recently... Thank god for the poly barrel blocks, not a mark one on it. And yes, I got that son of a bitch off.

 

[powerspc]

I still want one. Shipping is a killer. I have a whole wall of Parker Shotguns. I need a vise to go with them.

Post a picture! I love those things!

Cheers, Sirhr

 

[sam4886]

A pattern makers or guitar makers vise is the way to go for a gun bench. I use the shit out of mine. Grizzly, I think. There aren't that many options for them it seems.

 

[Fixr]

Wilton

 

[_Windrider_]

Wilton


View attachment 7404669

I have same vise. No base though. Been looking for a new one. Need to strip mine and repaint.

 

[Fixr]

I have same vise. No base though. Been looking for a new one. Need to strip mine and repaint.
View attachment 7404686

I bought that one and a twin in the early 80's, the last thing I did before closing my heavy equipment repair shop was bead blast and paint that one and take it home. The second one is still riding on the back of my 1986 service truck, not as pretty....

 

[_Windrider_]

I bought that one and a twin in the early 80's, the last thing I did before closing my heavy equipment repair shop was bead blast and paint that one and take it home. The second one is still riding on the back of my 1986 service truck, not as pretty....

I’m gonna cerakote it in multicam

 

[Sieg]

Thanks OP!

I just bought a vintage 3.5" US made Craftsman vice on Craigs List for $35, jaws are hardly marked!

 

[LeftyJason]

I would love to have one of these one day. Plans are available for $5. Crazy strong.



He does some great videos. Makes and sells the squares he uses.

 

[Mike Casselton]

I've got a nice Wilton that's been hanging out on the end of my bench for 4 years.
I suppose I should drill 4 holes and mount it while the boat is out of the garage.

 

[HornyToad]

A vise for what uses??? There's a variety of bench vises out there and some are more suited for different tasks than others.

AR builds, maintenance, and cleaning.

 

[Powder_Burns]

I have a wilton on my old reloading bench. Works great, in hindsight I would have opted for one with rotating jaws though.

 

[HornyToad]

I got one at Lowes or HD, it's blue and it's, oh, six inches wide? Your basic full size shop vice, nothing fancy. It was cheap.

And it also gets the job done. If I ever break it, THEN I'll go and get a better steel job. That's how I do tools, I get a plethora of cheap shit, always have what I need, use it, the shit I use most gets worn or broken and replaced with quality parts or kits. Torx bits for example. The cheap kit with literally EVERY driver blade made is handy as hell, but I wore out the torx heads fast. The tool steel shit I got now won't be wearing out for a loooong time and I swear it looks made for an impact tool.

So I'd get whatever HD or Lowes has on sale that gets the job done, not a tiny job but a full size vice, and go from there.

While you're there, grab a few pieces of junk lumber if you don't have some. An oak 1x2 would be nice, a couple 2x4's and then you may need to make some jigs for this or that. I bolt my Dillon swaging tool on 2x4 with another piece of lumber screwed to that and lock it into the vice to use. When I lock barrels down I have these polymer barrel blocks (I'd order some, cheap from Brownells) and I also have a couple pieces of plywood, etc., that I use with strips of leather from an old belt to clamp things I don't want damaged. And having some pieces that will prevent a piece from turning under torque can be handy (when applicable).

I'd love a legitimate barrel vice someday myself but haven't gotten to the point I NEED one... With jigs and blocks or whatever I've been able to make this one work.

Pretty sure it's Chinese. In fact, I'm pretty sure all the cast iron vices you're gonna find for sale in most stores are cast iron jobs from China. Fuck it. Get it. If it breaks, wears out or doesn't do the job, THEN get something else. May turn out you need a specialty vice and this one will be handy to have for other shit, sorta like keeping the single stage when you upgrade to a Dillon 650 when reloading. The old junk is still very much useful. Now if you break it...

I'm not sure what it takes to break a store bought vice but I think I was pretty close with that FN Mk20 barrel's flash hider recently... Thank god for the poly barrel blocks, not a mark one on it. And yes, I got that son of a bitch off.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[Sieg]

Here's my $35 craigslist purchase. 3.5" US made Craftsman. Didn't negotiate the asking price as the condition once sandblasted and painted will be near new.

 

[opeagle]

Wilton, beware of cheap ones. As others have noted, I’ve seen them broken. Usually a crappy casting.

 

[carbonbased]

I needed a vise to hold my 231 lbs anvil .

 

[HornyToad]

I needed a vise to hold my 231 lbs anvil . View attachment 7405648

Now that's a vise!

 

[Sieg]

Here's my $35 craigslist purchase. 3.5" US made Craftsman. Didn't negotiate the asking price as the condition once sandblasted and painted will be near new.

View attachment 7405307

View attachment 7405308

View attachment 7405311

Finished the vise restoration yesterday.....

 

[HornyToad]

Finished the vise restoration yesterday.....

What did you paint it with?

 

[makaug]

I like this vise since it can be used to hold items both horizontally and vertically.



Can be found stores like Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-5-i...-with-360-Degree-Swivel-Base-MPV500/313682981

I second the rotating head, it's really useful to be able to hold things vertically. I've been happy with the Yost 750-DI, which while being twice as expensive as the Wen, is also twice as heavy.

 

[Smokenaces]

Yost is another good vise.