# Workbench vise



## UKCat (Sep 27, 2012)

I am trying to find a good vise for my workbench. Does anyone have an opinion on a good vise that doesn't cost a $150 or more? I would like to get one that has dog holes, but isn't a must at this time. Thanks for any feedback.


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## exelectrician (Oct 3, 2011)

My idea of the best vise is, the Record woodworkers vise. But only the one made in England. All other copies are way less than the perfection these Made in England vises are. I have one, a well earned CL buy. I also have a Wilton which is okay.
E-Bay has a good Record 52ed on sale.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

The dog holes on most vises are created by adding a block of wood w/ you guessed it, dog holes.


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## jimbotheconflictor (Oct 1, 2012)

I went w/ a Groz 9" Rapid action as my entry level vise. I also lined the jaws and drilled dog holes.


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

I'm a fan of the lee valley quick release vises.


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## UKCat (Sep 27, 2012)

The lee valley looks like a good vise, but the Groz is more in my ballpark. Harbor freight has a 10" vise for $30 something and it looks like it has some good reviews, but I don't put a lot of faith in most of their products. Thanks for the info.


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## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

I bought that HF vise and am completely satisfied with it. Compare it to the vise Shop Fox sells on Amazon. They look exactly alike to me. I got mine for $27.


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## UKCat (Sep 27, 2012)

Nice bench cut worm! I may go ahead with that vice. I noticed that it doesn't have acme threads and thought it would work loose. Sounds like it is a good one though.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I'm a little biased but I like this one and this one. You can have a set of three like mine for about$30.

And yes, they work very well.


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## SnowFrog (Jun 6, 2011)

Hi there;

It maybe a good place to ask a related questions. When you buy a vise. Are the jaws always suppose to close parallel? That is that the top and the bottom of the jaw touch equally. There are no big woodworking store around me and when i went to compare, I noticed that many do not close evenly. Is this a big issue or are you suppose to make the jaw liner to match?


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## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

I also have the Harbor Freight vise. On sale and with a coupon, it can be had for 20 bucks, which is hard to beat. It works fairly well. The faces are not parallel, but I "fixed" that by making a jaw that's thicker on one end. I used a piece of 1 1/2" wood for the front jaw and drilled 3 dog holes in it. It does not have Acme threads, but I've not had any issues with pieces working loose. It is not quick release, and that gets old pretty quickly. It also squeaks a lot, no matter how much I lubricate it. Still, it was only 20 bucks…

If you're willing to spend a bit more money, I'm really intrigued by Lee Valley's new pipe vise:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69583&cat=1,41659

The depth of the jaw opening for this vise is limited only by the size of the pipe you use. It's quick release. You can buy extra bases and just move the front part all over your bench. Seems really cool.

Rich


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## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

If you live in UK, you might prefer to get the quick release vise sold by LeeValley directly from the manufacturer YORK.
Why ship it twice across the pond?

http://www.york.cz/en/category.do?categoryId=28

By the way, it is the model chosen by Paul Sellers for its New Legacy School in US.
http://www.newlegacywoodworking.com/2012/01/12/installing-vises/


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## SRWoodworker (Apr 23, 2007)

When I rebuilt my bench earlier this year, I took the recommendation of a Fine Woodworking review which highly rated the Jorgensen 10" bench vice (About $160). Has worked great. No complaints.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

I bought the Lee Valley economy face vise ($56 USD currently) and am very happy with it. I put 1 5/8" thick chops on that are 15" wide. It is not a perfect vise, but works very well. The top of the jaws are supposed to touch before the bottoms so that the work piece is always grabbed at the top, but they should only be ever so slightly not parallel. I still need to tweak my chops a hair, but I am totally pleased with it, as I used a smaller version of the HF vise for a while and was never happy with it.


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## AKSteve (Feb 4, 2012)

ShipWright those are awesome thanks for the inspiration, I have a cheapy vise that I just hate! those are so much better. And Cheaper!


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