Bench vise upgrade

[M-61]

If you look at the website pics closely and read the description you'll notice it's forged steel pieces with a welded construction - not cast.
Still a great price on what seems to be a solid unit.

Lots of types of steel out there. No clue how many different types.
Take say a 1” ball bearing and drop it on the flat. Lots of bounce. It’s really good and tough. If it just hits the steel and more or less just dies there… not so tough. I have an 18” piece of railroad track on my bench. Drop the bearing on that. Probably bounces 5 times. Want a bearing that size? Go to an auto repair shop and see if they have a dead CV joint in the garbage. Yank a bearing out of that. Also great for cleaning out the hose on my clogged vacuum hose.
I do recognize the vise. Never heard the term’ bullet’ vise, but that can be added to a ton of stuff I’m not familiar with the term.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Keep an eye on FB Marketplace in your area. You might get lucky.

 

[Syncrowave]

Unless it's something like a Wilton, if you just want a general purpose vise, I'd go with a cheapo Chicom.

I bought a 5" one for $50 about 10 years ago and mounted it on the welding table in my yard. Works great. Just this year, I bought another 5" (Vevor) for $43 delivered (Temu) to mount on my engine-drive welder trailer, looks pretty good to me.

Yeah, I've got a Wilton 6" "bullet" in the shop, and I've got a blacksmith's leg vise, but these cheapos work just fine for 95% of what I do. I don't use them for anvils (I have anvils for that) but FWIW, I believe they're both cast steel.

 

[Jerry Snyder]

The Wife unit saw that I needed a larger vise and is getting me a 6 inch Yost, I think.....I hope....
Thanks for all your ideas.

 

[Mulligan]

Search - Grizzly Industrial, Inc.

www.grizzly.com

CW

 

[LVLAaron]

If you look at the website pics closely and read the description you'll notice it's forged steel pieces with a welded construction - not cast.
Still a great price on what seems to be a solid unit.

He has a TON of incredible testing videos. If you're a fabricator / machine shop I'd say it's well worth the money. For a home shop, overkill.

 

[dusterdave173]

Screw New ones---Watch local auctions
I buy vises and restore them for spare $$
It surprises me at times I get a beauty of a Wilton or other vintage monster for a song then they get $100 for a cheapo china unit that is $60 at the store. Be patient you will score a beauty of a vintage USA for a deal!
Facebook Market is getting pretty scammy these days but once a week I snag another awesome vise. I low ball offer on every one near me. And half the time they cast come on
Antique malls always have a few. You just have to be patient you will get a steal
You can take it apart , get a nut if needed for peanuts! Grind,smooth it up, replace jaw pads if needed a can of spray paint and gob of grease then smile

 

[dusterdave173]

Watch local auctions
I buy vises and restore them for spare $$
It surprises me at times I get a beauty of a Wilton or other vintage monster for a song then they get $100 for a cheapo china unit that is $60 at the store. Be patient you will score a beauty of a vintage USA for a deal!
Facebook Market is getting pretty scammy these days but once a week I snag another awesome vise. I low ball offer on every one near me. And half the time they cast come on
Antique malls always have a few. You just have to be patient you will get a steal
You can take it apart , get a nut if needed for peanuts! Grind,smooth it up, replace jaw pads if needed a can of spray paint and gob of grease then smile

I scout junk yards too old plumbing trucks usually have one on the back. They always have stripped nut so I get them for $20 then get a $20 nut and bingo! Straighten out the bent handles is the only aggravating part. They are all bent

 

[ELR LVR]

I would avoid cheap china units even for home use
Plus they dont pay much detail to jaw alignment and fit
look at the vises tensile strength PSI rating
cast units are somewhere in the 30K psi range, (Cheap China Cast) they often break when putting much load on them,
Ductile and Forged are 60Kpsi and above