- Joined
- May 23, 2017
- Messages
- 1,268
I thought I'd put this together as a basic how to guide on selecting a vise for your shop. I'm somewhat of a vise collector and have at least a dozen of them around here in various places, so I figured I might be able to help someone by sharing what I've learned in the last couple years of playing with these things. First up is some advice on buying a vise. Don't buy a new one. My experience with Chinese vises is sub par castings, and very poor fit and finish. They work provided you don't beat on them though. However once you try a good vise you'll never be able to go back. The only "good" new vises I'm aware of still being made are the Morgan's (now in Milwaukee, mine are older Chicago era) and the Wilton machinist bullets. Expect to pay upwards of $500 for a new 3" version of either.
Craigslist and patience is the best option. Deals are out there, they can just be difficult to find.
And one bit of housekeeping, vises are not anvils. Unless your vise looks like this (my 7.5" Peter Wright, but applies to any post or blacksmith vise)
it really shouldn't see hammering beyond driving out a stuck handle pin, or center punching holes. This is the result of excessive hammering
that is a beautiful old 3" American scale (Kansas city MO) that had the jaw support busted off. I've built it up with braze, and am ready to machine it. It can be repaired but unless it's a reasonably valuable vise such as this, it's usually not worth doing.
Hammering on the slide isn't recommended either. One of these bench blocks is a great project, and works very well for peening bolster pins, much better than a part of the vise would.
simply a piece of 4140 round stock (I faced and chamfered in the lathe, but it could all be done with a belt grinder or disc sander) that was hardened, and then lapped to a smooth, flat, and polished surface on top.
Back to vises, there are two sorts I would recommend to the knifemaker. The first is a regular machinist's vise, either swivel base or fixed base.
I have a 6" here because it looks good, but it's really too big for knife work. 3-3.5" jaws is about perfect for everything we do, and I'm planning on swapping it with one of my 3" vises before too long. A few things to look for When buying a vise is wear and damage. Try opening the vise with the handle. If it takes a full turn or more before the jaw starts moving it will require a thrust washer behind the screw in order to close up the wear. Next grab the moving jaw of the vise, and try to move it around any way you can. Forward and back movement indicated the nut needs to be shimmed. Excessive side to side or up hand down movement (say 1/8-1/4" or more) means either the vise was badly made, or its had a long life and is wearing out. You want your vise to be as tight as possible. Excessive denting or any cracks are signs of severe abuse, and should be avoided.
Now for the most useful vise (in my opinion) in a knife shop, the swivel jaw machinist vise. This one is a rock island, and happens to be a dual swivel (swivel jaw and base).
These are mostly antiques, and I don't believe anyone is still Making them, with the possible exception of Morgan. However used ones are out there, and I've found two for my shop. They are easy to identify by the pin sticking up from the back jaw. Be sure to look carefully around the jaw for cracks or welds. Some of these are broken, and some were welded solid by someone who didn't like the feature. I didn't have a tapered tang without a handle already on it, but imagine this broken pickaxe is a knife. I'm sure you can see why these are so useful. 
This vise has 3.5" jaws, and I use it for 99% of my work, dozens of times a day.
A few other things worth looking at are accessories to go with your vise. The first is soft jaws. You can either make solid aluminum, brass, copper, or micarta jaws, or make covers for them. I personally like solid copper jaws, but haven't had a chance to make them yet. For jaw covers I like having two sets around for each vise. One of copper, and one of 1/8" sheet lead. The lead jaws are especially nice for finished parts, as they will not mark anything.
Another thing that can be useful to have is a small toolmakers vise. These can be purchased from a machine shop supplier, or online. This one is actually a first year apprentice project from the local navy dockyard. It's not pretty but it works well. I use it for holding pieces 90 degrees to what the vise normally will.
A kmifemakers vise would fill this last role as well, and is probably a better option. I've just never taken the time to actually build one.
If you're interested in vises and would like to learn more, the "vises of garage journal" thread over there is a great resource. I go by vintage nut, but there are plenty of other members who's collections number in the hundreds, and everyone in that group is a great resource.
Craigslist and patience is the best option. Deals are out there, they can just be difficult to find.
And one bit of housekeeping, vises are not anvils. Unless your vise looks like this (my 7.5" Peter Wright, but applies to any post or blacksmith vise)
it really shouldn't see hammering beyond driving out a stuck handle pin, or center punching holes. This is the result of excessive hammering 
that is a beautiful old 3" American scale (Kansas city MO) that had the jaw support busted off. I've built it up with braze, and am ready to machine it. It can be repaired but unless it's a reasonably valuable vise such as this, it's usually not worth doing.Hammering on the slide isn't recommended either. One of these bench blocks is a great project, and works very well for peening bolster pins, much better than a part of the vise would.
simply a piece of 4140 round stock (I faced and chamfered in the lathe, but it could all be done with a belt grinder or disc sander) that was hardened, and then lapped to a smooth, flat, and polished surface on top. Back to vises, there are two sorts I would recommend to the knifemaker. The first is a regular machinist's vise, either swivel base or fixed base.
I have a 6" here because it looks good, but it's really too big for knife work. 3-3.5" jaws is about perfect for everything we do, and I'm planning on swapping it with one of my 3" vises before too long. A few things to look for When buying a vise is wear and damage. Try opening the vise with the handle. If it takes a full turn or more before the jaw starts moving it will require a thrust washer behind the screw in order to close up the wear. Next grab the moving jaw of the vise, and try to move it around any way you can. Forward and back movement indicated the nut needs to be shimmed. Excessive side to side or up hand down movement (say 1/8-1/4" or more) means either the vise was badly made, or its had a long life and is wearing out. You want your vise to be as tight as possible. Excessive denting or any cracks are signs of severe abuse, and should be avoided.
Now for the most useful vise (in my opinion) in a knife shop, the swivel jaw machinist vise. This one is a rock island, and happens to be a dual swivel (swivel jaw and base).
These are mostly antiques, and I don't believe anyone is still Making them, with the possible exception of Morgan. However used ones are out there, and I've found two for my shop. They are easy to identify by the pin sticking up from the back jaw. Be sure to look carefully around the jaw for cracks or welds. Some of these are broken, and some were welded solid by someone who didn't like the feature. I didn't have a tapered tang without a handle already on it, but imagine this broken pickaxe is a knife. I'm sure you can see why these are so useful. 
This vise has 3.5" jaws, and I use it for 99% of my work, dozens of times a day.
A few other things worth looking at are accessories to go with your vise. The first is soft jaws. You can either make solid aluminum, brass, copper, or micarta jaws, or make covers for them. I personally like solid copper jaws, but haven't had a chance to make them yet. For jaw covers I like having two sets around for each vise. One of copper, and one of 1/8" sheet lead. The lead jaws are especially nice for finished parts, as they will not mark anything.
Another thing that can be useful to have is a small toolmakers vise. These can be purchased from a machine shop supplier, or online. This one is actually a first year apprentice project from the local navy dockyard. It's not pretty but it works well. I use it for holding pieces 90 degrees to what the vise normally will.
A kmifemakers vise would fill this last role as well, and is probably a better option. I've just never taken the time to actually build one.
If you're interested in vises and would like to learn more, the "vises of garage journal" thread over there is a great resource. I go by vintage nut, but there are plenty of other members who's collections number in the hundreds, and everyone in that group is a great resource.
