CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
This i a super cheap vise!! I have a link if you want one in the comments of the video.
I really love it! I have bigger and better vises but this is just so handy!
CW
I found this quite useful..
- Thread starter CWLONGSHOT
- Start date
This i a super cheap vise!! I have a link if you want one in the comments of the video.
I really love it! I have bigger and better vises but this is just so handy!
CW
Mowgli Terry
Active Member
My version of the vice came from Harbor freight as an Xmas present. The vice works great for small parts. The vice fits neatly on the reloading bench and is moveable. Easy access to the small vice has speeded up repairs that would have shut things down for a time.
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
It was a play on words Jeff
Link is in the comments of the video pinned to be at top.
Link is in the comments of the video pinned to be at top.
Harbor Freight Tools – Quality Tools at Discount Prices Since 1977
Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!
Man! That IS cheap!
$22
Hoping there is one in the "local" store so I can skip a $15 shipping charge.
EDIT: Got it, Brian. Have to go to YouTube to view to see comments. I went straight to the site and snagged the link above too.
Last edited:
JonB
Halcyon member
As I stated at the other forum, I think this tiny vise looks like a great idea.
Then, I wandered over to HF website to see what customers were saying.
While there are many glowing reviews, there is a high number of poor reviews. Mostly about it breaking by the mount clamp. Maybe people are abusing it? maybe some units are just poorly cast?
ANYWAY,
I post here to ask CW, what do you think of that clamp mount area?
Can it be easily broken with "hand" tightening pressure, like some reviewers claimed?
Thanks for any info you might have.
I seen my local HF has some in stock, maybe I bring a chunk of wood along and test the clamping action in the store?
Then, I wandered over to HF website to see what customers were saying.
While there are many glowing reviews, there is a high number of poor reviews. Mostly about it breaking by the mount clamp. Maybe people are abusing it? maybe some units are just poorly cast?
ANYWAY,
I post here to ask CW, what do you think of that clamp mount area?
Can it be easily broken with "hand" tightening pressure, like some reviewers claimed?
Thanks for any info you might have.
I seen my local HF has some in stock, maybe I bring a chunk of wood along and test the clamping action in the store?
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I am a man of many Vices. 
But I could probably use another Vise.
But I could probably use another Vise.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
I clamped mine on when I got it home....it didn't break. My guess is they will all look good until it lets go. Truthfully I am going to permanently mount mine anyway. I am more worried about the locking screws that limit the rotation of the jaws in either plane. It looks like they are simple threaded jam bolts and they won't take a lot of abuse. This is a handy light duty vise. It isn't substantial enough to take a lot of heavy force or hammer blows.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I don't think that vise is intended to take a lot of force, but it looks useful for those times you need a third hand.
A set of soft jaws would probably be a good addition.
A set of soft jaws would probably be a good addition.
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
I have hammered in it for rear sites and such. But with knolege of what it is. If I Need ta pound Ill head for the 8" Wilton!!
No, I do not feel its weak. BUT... Ham hand a anvil and ya might find fault...
People always like to COM plain before they PRO claim. Its a cheap vise but its been exactly what this home/shade tree gun smith needs!
CW
Hard to say if t here were some with bad castings, or if someone was abusing them - and that can be subjective, but Harbor Freight seems to be about the most customer-oriented entity I've dealt with in a LONG time, so I would take the reports of breakage under consideration and proceed with that in mind. Note that I am not discounting the experiences, but keeping it in mind, but I do intend to grab one. I'm confident that HF woiuld do right by me if it simply broke when I clamped it onto a board.
I have a smaller clamp-on vise I bought several decades ago, pre-used/abused, and I have not managed to break it yet. The clamp is only going to hold on under so much abuse too, so this type of vise is going to impose certain limitations on its own. The "third hand" idea is exactly how I use the little one I have now and it's handy, but doesn't swivel on ANY axis, so this new one is still appealing to me - mostly for detail work, like cutting, filing, stoning, etc.
@CWLONGSHOT , I've looked at several pics of this, as well as you video, but I can't tell if there is a third mounting "ear" on the back or not. The two on the sides are plainly obvious, but is there a third one on the back of the vise? If so, my inclination would be to screw it to a hardwood board and c-clamp it down, like I do with my 3" vise, my Wilson case trimmer, my Lyman 45, a LEE Single-Stage )-press, etc. I think that if there are three mounting holes, I may just cut the clamp arm off anyway.
@Petrol & Powder , a set of "soft jaws" is something I've already started planning on, and since the stock jaws are removable, I'm already planning a few sets of jaws from 1" PVC stock, brass, beech or maple or whatever else - and I could dress them to be parallel with the jaws closed. Depending on the nature of the work-piece, those little free "fridge-magnets" with advertisements for insurance companies and such work well sometimes, don't take up a lot of the throat ans stick to the faces of the jaws, so you don't have to hold three things aligned as you clamp something.
I have a smaller clamp-on vise I bought several decades ago, pre-used/abused, and I have not managed to break it yet. The clamp is only going to hold on under so much abuse too, so this type of vise is going to impose certain limitations on its own. The "third hand" idea is exactly how I use the little one I have now and it's handy, but doesn't swivel on ANY axis, so this new one is still appealing to me - mostly for detail work, like cutting, filing, stoning, etc.
@CWLONGSHOT , I've looked at several pics of this, as well as you video, but I can't tell if there is a third mounting "ear" on the back or not. The two on the sides are plainly obvious, but is there a third one on the back of the vise? If so, my inclination would be to screw it to a hardwood board and c-clamp it down, like I do with my 3" vise, my Wilson case trimmer, my Lyman 45, a LEE Single-Stage )-press, etc. I think that if there are three mounting holes, I may just cut the clamp arm off anyway.
@Petrol & Powder , a set of "soft jaws" is something I've already started planning on, and since the stock jaws are removable, I'm already planning a few sets of jaws from 1" PVC stock, brass, beech or maple or whatever else - and I could dress them to be parallel with the jaws closed. Depending on the nature of the work-piece, those little free "fridge-magnets" with advertisements for insurance companies and such work well sometimes, don't take up a lot of the throat ans stick to the faces of the jaws, so you don't have to hold three things aligned as you clamp something.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
Yes!
My small Harbor Freight vise has 3 mounting holes in the flange, plus the clamp.
Thank you, Rick! Next time I'm in town, I'm going to look for one in HF. I'll just screw it down to a board and clamp the board down with a fast-acting clamp, like my other stuff. Very stable and very handy.
FrankCVA42
Active Member
Was in Harbor Freight today and of all the vises they had, this one they didn't have. Never went in one of their stores where I walked out empty handed. Will try again in a few weeks. Frank
Missionary
Well-Known Member
Versa-vise as been around for all life. They may be the Origonal.