What vise is the strongest?

Ken from ontario

Ken from ontario

H-M Supporter - Silver Member
H-M Supporter - Silver Member
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Dec 26, 2016
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I used to think the most common weakness in DIYer type/shop vises is the dynamic jaw breaking off but after watching this video, the spindle seem to snap first ,some of the vises in this video are (in my opinion) a crime to destroy but he went ahead and,, well,,,,, watch and cringe:
 
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welded steel fabricated if you can get one, I have a larger one than the link shows, but I bought it in the seventies after breaking a couple of cast ones with naughty cheater bars! It cost £24.00 then, and they are about £125 now!!
https://www.esska-tech.co.uk/shop/V...Steel-Welded--949114216491-19700#&gid=1&pid=1 Cast inor are the weakest, cast steel are substantially stronger, and the fabricated steel ones will strip the thread long before the steel gives up!
 
Ohh the cheater bar, how many vises met their demise because of it, but the problem we see with most of the cheaper vises is the low quality casting that causes the swivel base or the jaws to break without exerting much force, at least in this video the vises were of better quality.
 
There are all kinds of vises as well as sizes too. To expect from any of them more than they can give you is
pretty much abuse. If you need a larger work holding tool, then by all means get one. Anything can be broken
with enough force, keep that in mind. Use some good judgement and use the appropriate tool for whatever job your work entails.
 
I got rid of the swivel bases long ago. They are definitely the weakest link. As to the screw failures you will notice that in most of the cases, the ram is bending from the load which biases the screw and increases friction. I would judge the failure point to be when the ram begins to bend rather than when the screw breaks.

My old Yost No. 97 has been abused more than I care to think about. Sometime before I got it the back jaw broke off, presumably from someone treating it like an anvil. The steel jaws were permanently attached and someone just dressed up the casting to create a serviceable jaw. It has functioned in that manner for more than forty years. It happens to be mounted on a bench with some sensitive equipment so I don't do the shock test with it. I have several blacksmith's leg vises for that purpose.
 
These so-called build-in anvils on vises are worthless. If you take a vise apart and measure the anvil thickness, a lot of them is about 1/14" thick. Even a 1/2" thick steel plate would be far better. I keep a small anvil next to the vise just for that purpose.
 
cathead said:
Anything can be broken
with enough force, keep that in mind. Use some good judgement and use the appropriate tool for whatever job your work entails.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice!
 
Pontiac - you need something in the photo to give scale. Just offhand, it looks like a 6 or 8 incher.
 
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