Machinests vice OK for light duty?

[Jon Paul]

I'm starting a new shop and I was wondering if I could get buy with a cheap bench vise for light duty smithing. I know they are cast iron and very brittle but if you are light will it last? I'm looking for a nice leg vise but coming up a little short. I've used multiple leg vises and those things you can beat the heck out of and don't wear. Any experience will help.

[mutant]

Use what you have until you can acquire better. Yea, the cheap vise will work and yea, the cheap vise probably won't last a long time. But then again, it's cheap!

[notownkid]

All that mutant says.  I ran auto dealership with pair shop, we used a number of not expensive cast vises as we needed 7 at a time worked for us and some got pounded on hard changing u-joints till we bought a small press.  Not everyone starts out with everything they want or think they need. 

[JHCC]

 And remember, if all you're doing is twisting and hot-bending without much hammering, there's less risk of breakage. If you're hammering hard (especially for upsetting a workpiece or the like), you're putting a lot more strain on the vice and creating a greater risk of breaking it.

[Tubalcain2]

 instead of buying a new cast iron bench vice, try looking for a used one. you will get more for your money that way. if you can find and old one, it will probably be better quality, too. I got an 4'' cast steel Erie for $40 at a flea market.

[Daswulf]

I'll agree with Tubalcain on his point. Better quality in an old vise and usually the same if not less cost as new. 

[C-1ToolSteel]

I agree with JHCC. For bending, twisting, and light hammering, a bench vise is more than enough. I rarely use my post vise for anything that a bench vise wouldn't handle. Keep in mind that a post vise isn't always "better". The post vise is undoubtedly tougher, but a bench vise has parallel jaws. Both of them have a place in a smithy. (Thus, the Fisher chain vise)

 

[Frosty]

Yeah, a bench vise will take a decent amount of moderate hammering, nothing compared to a leg vise but you can pretty much have at it with a 16oz. ball pein. Remember to direct your blows against the heal jaw, the one that doesn't move, to spare the screw and because it's the heaviest casting. The larger the vise the more the abuse, it seems to operate on a geometric ratio, an 8" bench vise will take well more than 4x the abuse of a 4"er.

You'll need to make some jaw slips or the knurled vise jaws will tear heck out of hot steel so unless you like the texture a couple angle iron slips are a must.

Just consider a bench vise you hammer on more than say sraitening nails or bending and twisting as a wear item, hammering will eat them up eventually. However if you shop yard/ garage/ etc. sales you run across them pretty regularly, 4" seem the most common but eventually you'll run across pure gold.

My best score to date was a 8" Wilton for $30 one of the guys at work was cleaning out his Father's work shop. His Dad kept injuring himself and the family had to do it for his safety. The last thing I want to do is take advantage of another's hard decisions, My sister and Mother had to clean out Dad's shop and most of his tools for the same reason but he got himself changing a light bulb, fell off a chair and broke his shoulder, he never recovered. The same model Wilton at the local "real" "Alaska Industrial Hardware" store is in the $1,200 range. 

And NO I'm not doing any serious hammering on it. 

Anyway, yes you can hammer on a bench vise just not hard nor for a long tmie without breaking it down but they're reasonably cheap if you're patient.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Tubalcain2]

39 minutes ago, Frosty said:

You'll need to make some jaw slips or the knurled vise jaws will tear heck out of hot steel so unless you like the texture a couple angle iron slips are a must.

 

true if your vice has teeth. mine is an old one and doesn't.

[Anachronist58]

Below illustrates a matter of scale - a Columbian 604, and a no-name jewellers vise with built-in anvil. The jewellers vise is of exceptional quality, and I can go at it with my 4 oz ball pien  all day. The Columbian has a split segment of locomotive rail between its teeth and is quite happy under heavier work. We always sacrifice durability when applying force to mechanical assemblies, but some of these older tools can really take a whoopin.

Robert Taylor

[gote]

In my part of the world you can find old cast steel vises at a reasonable price if you are lucky.. They can take a lot of pounding but of course not more than an anvil of the same weight. And the pounding should be on the fixed jaw if possible. 

[G-ManBart]

Used vise prices and availability seem to vary a lot with location.  In some places there are quite a few available and others nearly nonexistent.

Around here $100 will buy you a solid US made vise pretty easily if you know what to look for.  Wilton, Columbian, Reed, Erie, Yost, American Scale, Rock Island, Hollands, Athol, Athol/Starrett, Prentiss, Chas. Parker, Morgan, Ridge/Rigid, and various Craftsman vises are all names to look for.  Just know that even the "good" brands have had junk vises made overseas, so it's best to do a little research.

This site has most of the brands with pictures for most of the models....really handy reference:  http://scuttle.dayid.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[Marc1]

A fabricated offset vice, not cast, will take a lot of abuse too. I have an 8" one and use it for welding and sometimes give her a lot of abuse yet it takes it on the chin no problem. 

Eventually I broke the nut off the body and when i welded it back discovered it was actually poorly welded, so it's back on and still in one piece and all lines up.