For more information, please visit Types of Vises.
Like an extra set of hands, bench vices attach to your workbench to help you to hold wood, metal, and other materials securely in place while you work, freeing up both of your hands to perform the action you need to complete – for example, sawing, filing, or drilling.
Different types of vices support different functions and are designed to be used with specific materials. Being able to tell each vice type apart, and its main uses, is the key to working with vices safely, as well as ensuring the quality of your workmanship.
Bench vices are one of the most popular types of vices used by professional tradespeople, craft hobbyists, and home DIYers.
Common bench vice parts and functions include:
the part that affixes to the workbench.
this moves backwards and forwards, as necessary, to grip the material you’re working on.
this is a fixed jaw that doesn’t move, but which faces the adjustable jaw.
interchangeable faces of the jaws, typically manufactured from hardened steel.
this turns to provide motion to the vice’s adjustable jaw.
the handle is connected to the spindle. It is hand-operated and turns the screw as you turn the handle, thereby making the jaw of the vice open or close (depending on the direction you turn the handle).
Different types of bench vice are designed to support different applications. That’s why you’ll find a wide variety of vices available on our website, ranging from a metalworking vice and a woodworking bench vice, right the way through to hand vices and a heavy duty bench vice.
To guide you in your vice selection, we’ve broken down the different vice types and their main uses:
A workshop bench vice with a fixed base is the most common of all vices.
Made from hardened steel or cast iron, they feature a fixed base that attaches to the workbench and components including a handle, spindle, an adjustable jaw, and a static jaw.
Swivel based bench vices are almost identical to a fixed base vice, with the exception that their base allows for the vice to rotate from side to side.
This vice type is handy when you don’t have a lot of room around you.
Vacuum vices are fitted with a suction pad that holds materials without the risk of marking them.
They are compatible with any material type, providing the workpiece has at least once flat and smooth surface.
Portable clamp-on vices are equipped with fold-out legs and a clamping system that enables you to work between locations.
You may find these on job sites or for indoor work at client residences. The adjustable jaw in these devices is controlled with a foot pedal instead of the usual handle.
Drill press vices are designed for use with pillar drills.
They feature a clamping system that stabilises the vice to your workbench and expandable jaws that hold your workpieces securely in place during drilling.
A metal working vices sometimes referred to as a machinist’s vice or an engineer’s vice.
Designed for metalworking applications, metalworking vices feature replaceable jaws, that can be covered with a soft material to protect the component during use.
A woodworking vice is designed to hold wood.
Contrary to other vice types, woodworking vices feature two in-built guide rods, which ensure that both the static and adjustable jaws always remain parallel.
Used primarily in the plumbing industry, pipe vices are designed to hold circular tubes or rods and are the perfect vice to choose when you need to cut threads into pipes.
In a pipe vice, the static jaw is shaped into an arch and the base allows it to be clamped to the end of a workbench. Some bench vices can be used as pipe vices, simply by screwing on a pair of interchangeable pipe gripping jaws.
Hand vices are designed for smaller workpieces and more intricate applications. Used widely in jewellery assembly, hand vices – like locking pliers – allow you to grip small components of any shape, keeping your fingers clear while performing tasks such as polishing and sanding.
Many hand vice types come with head pins that enable you to clamp fiddly components more securely. Others feature a removable handle cover, giving you the option to insert the vice head into a bench vice.
A heavy-duty bench vice is what is known as a forged vice. This means that the vice has been made from a solid chunk of metal, which has been heated and hammered into shape, as opposed to cast from molten metal poured into a mould.
Heavy-duty vices are generally more solid, durable, and stronger than their casted counterparts. They are the type of vice used by blacksmiths and can withstand heavier blows without compromising their integrity.
When using a vice, it’s important to ensure that the jaw opening aligns with your workpiece. Using the wrong size jaw can cause the material in your vice to slip, putting you at risk of injury, or even damaging your vice.
To determine the correct jaw size to use each time, measure the dimensions of your workpiece and refer to your manufacturer’s instructions for guidance.
What you intend to put into your vice also has a bearing on the vice type you choose.
If you’re working with metals, you should opt for a metalworking vice. For wood, you want a woodworking vice, and for pipes or rods, you need a pipe vice.
Metalworking vices are also compatible with more fragile materials, providing the jaw faces are fitted with a soft covering. If you want to ensure the workpiece isn’t marked in any way, you should consider using a vacuum vice.
The position of your vice and the clearance you have around it to work is another factor you need to consider when choosing a vice to invest in.
Portable vices are great if you conduct most of your work on location, for example on a construction site. If you mainly work on a workbench, a fixed base or a swivel base vice is likely to better suit your needs.
While a fixed base will only allow you to work in one position, a swivel base vice can rotate, giving you more flexibility. This can be a helpful vice type to choose if your workspace is small or an irregular shape.
Vices like any tool accessory can deteriorate over prolonged use and with natural wear.
The good news is it’s possible to pick-up spare parts to replace certain components of your bench vice, allowing you to responsibly extend its lifetime.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Collet for Milling.
Bench vice spare parts typically include jaws, bases, and clamping screws. Just be sure to double check when you’re buying your vice that it’s compatible with interchangeable parts.
Although perfectly safe when operated correctly, vices can lead to injuries if not properly handled or maintained. Some tips for working safely with vices include:
Looking to expand your vice collection or add in a vice with workbench to your tool arsenal? Choose from our most popular bench vices or browse our full Red Box Tools vice selection.
BAHCO 834V-7
HEAVY DUTY SQUARE GUIDE BENCH VICE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE JAWS
FACOM 1224.150E
WORKSITE-MAINTENANCE FIXED VICES WITH INTERCHANGEABLE JAWS
DRAPER 68090
150MM BENCH VICE
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Think of a bench vise as a tool that's as essential to your success as a hand plane, router, or tablesaw. Although clamps might substitute in some situations, they tend to get in the way, and a vise gives you freedom to do almost any type of work.
Woodworking vises differ from metalworking vises in that they attach to the bottom of the bench surface or are built into it, with (typically wood) jaws flush with the benchtop. Metalworking vises usually mount to the top of a bench.
Woodworking vises vary in price from about $30 to as much as $400. Generally, once you decide on a particular style of vise, the more you spend, the better the quality and effectiveness of that vise. Now let's take a look at the most common types of vises for woodworking.
Front vises
As the name implies, these mount to the front (long edge) of the bench, typically on a left-hand corner. Left-handed folks usually prefer a front vise mounted on the right corner.
Face vise
These come in two styles: one with steel or cast-iron jaws you can use as is or add auxiliary wooden jaws [Photos A and C], and the other with no jaws, requiring you to build wooden jaws [Photos B, D, and E]. The first typically costs more, but installs easier. For both styles, mount the inner jaw flush with the benchtop surface and edge (or apron), so that you can secure long workpieces in the vise and also clamp the board's far end to the bench for added stability. Your benchtop must clear the bench base or legs for mounting. Make sure the mounting plate and rails won't interfere with dogholes made to use with an end or tail vise [Photo E].
Bolt or screw this type of face vise onto an existing benchtop in less than an hour. You might have to shim it to flush the jaws with the benchtop and notch the benchtop to align the inner jaw with the edge.
This vise hardware requires a shop-made outer jaw of 1 1⁄2–3" thick hardwood with dogholes (if you so choose) for holding stock with bench dogs. The benchtop’s edge or apron typically serves as the inner jaw.
A pivoting-jaw vise holds irregular-shape stock without racking the jaws. You also can remove the pivoting jaw for parallel-jaw clamping. Magnet-lined wood jaw pads stay in place without screws.
A cast-iron-jaw vise can be recessed into the bottom of a bench for maximum strength and stability. A thick outer jaw distributes clamping force over a wide surface area.
Add shop-made accessories to your workbench. woodmagazine.com/workbenchupgrades
Shoulder vise
Found traditionally on Scandinavian-style workbenches, a shoulder vise's greatest advantage is open space between the jaws, free of support rails or a screw. The benchtop or apron serves as the fixed jaw, while the movable jaw travels on a single screw [Photo F]. Because the outer jaw has a tongue that slides in a groove on the fixed arm, it has enough play to let you clamp uneven-shaped workpieces.
A shoulder vise gives you floor-to-ceiling clamping space between its jaws. A threaded bushing mortised into the vise shoulder (unseen) keeps the screw on track.
Leg vise
As the name implies, this vise installs into the bench leg, which sometimes serves as the fixed jaw. Build the outer jaw from thick stock about three-quarters of the leg's length. You can buy the hardware to make a leg vise for about $100.
Things to know:
* These can be built two ways: With an inset leg [Photo G], you get more toe-kick space below. The fixed jaw is what you build it up to be (in this case, simply the bench's apron). With a flush-fitting vise, the leg itself serves as a full-length fixed jaw. In both cases, keep the movable jaw 21⁄2 –3" thick to avoid deflection.
A leg vise moves via a single screw with a pinned sliding guide rail to maintain parallelism. The guide-rail pin rests against end-grain hard-maple pads that prevent compressing the softer alder leg of this bench.
* The pin and sliding guide rail keep the jaw parallel for even clamping force. Reposition the pin for the workpiece you're clamping.
* A low screw location decreases clamping force and increases deflection, so install the screw 8–9" below the benchtop.
* A leg vise excels at holding long stock on edge; you can also clamp the workpiece to the benchtop edge for added stability.
* With only a single screw, you can clamp boards vertically on either side of the screw.
* Scissor-type variations replace the sliding guide rail and maintain jaw parallelism, but cost about $100–$200 and work best with a flush leg.
* These can be difficult to retrofit to an existing bench, depending on the leg style, size, and placement on your bench. (However, you can build up some legs to make a leg vise work.)
End vises
These mount to the end of the bench and typically work with bench dogs along the length of the benchtop. If you prefer rectangular dogholes, cut those notches in the boards before gluing them to the benchtop; round holes can be drilled before or after assembly.
Tail vise
A traditional tail vise [Photos H and I] consists of a rectangular or L-shape block of wood (the jaw) fastened to a steel or cast-iron fixture that slides back and forth in a cutaway corner of the bench.
A long mortise accepts the screw and threaded fixture, and the upper guide rail fits in the slot. (A lower guide rail, not shown, mounts beneath the jaw.) The tail vise slides back and forth along the guide rails, held in place by the screw assembly.
End vise
Essentially a large face vise, this type usually spans most, if not all, of the benchtop's width [Photo J]. Typically, you use two rows of bench dogs to hold long or wide stock.
The timing chain on a twin-screw end vise syncs the screws. You can adjust either screw should the vise jaws get out of parallel. You can intentionally make the jaws unparallel for clamping irregular-shape workpieces.
Wagon vise
A condensed version of a tail vise, a wagon vise [Photos K and L] holds long stock securely, but with less capacity (because a tail vise opens beyond the bench's end).
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