The Best Bench Vise for Woodworking, Metalworking, and DIY Projects

Buyer’s Guide for Finding the Best Bench Vise

A reliable bench vise is an essential tool for a wide range of projects. In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know to make an informed decision, from understanding the different types of bench vises to key features to consider before making your purchase.

Features to Consider When Buying a Bench Vise

Material

Let’s start our guide with the material, as it is the most important thing for hardware. Bench vises are usually made from two types of iron and steel, known as cast iron and forged steel. Let’s talk about cast iron first, as it is the most popular material in the manufacturing of bench vises. It is more affordable than steel, but it is not as strong as the latter, i.e., it can apply pressure ranging from 19 thousand to 60 thousand PSI. It’s made from magnesium, carbon, and silicon, making it less hard and providing greater flexibility. When we include steel in the equation of carbon and silicon, we get a very strong material with less flexibility, which means more vibration when you work with the bench. Forged steel is made from steel subjected to high pressure, yielding an even more excellent-quality product that can apply pressure up to 90 thousand PSI. There is another material called grey iron, made from 95 percent iron. It is vital in quality while also being a good shock absorber.

Durability

It’s better to buy a bench vise of better quality once than spend money over and over again on substandard tools. For more durability, look for a bench vise with replaceable material like the jaws, as the jaws’ teeth after frequent use may require replacement, primarily made from iron.

Weight

If you visit a hardware store and pick two bench vises with the same features but different weights, you will feel that the heavier one is of better quality and material. Weight tells a lot about the hardware’s might. Heavy material will easily take all those strikes you make on the anvil and won’t break. But don’t go for a material that’s too heavy either; it may mostly be a result of lousy manufacturing techniques, especially when you’re choosing a steel bench vise.

Jaw width

Jaw width is the length between the jaws of the bench vise. If you are looking for a bench vise for home use, 3 to 5 inches should be suitable for you. However, for heavy-duty use, you can go for up to 7 inches. Find out the dimensions of the material/sheet you’ll be working with and then go for a suitable bench vise with the required jaw width.

Opening type

There are two ways to open the jaws of your bench vise — manual and quick release. Quick release allows the user to easily open up the tightly locked bolt with just one push. It would seem much now, but quick-release becomes pretty handy, primarily when you work with different sizes of objects.
It saves you a lot of time unscrewing that long bolt attached to the jaws. However, if you will be working with small objects typically of the same size, the manual opening won’t bother you.

Types of Jaws

You will be using bench vise for different projects, so it’s best to buy one with versatile uses. For example, you will be working with either pipes or straight objects (nylon and serrated). Usually, bench vises have jaws for both attached; if not, they have replaceable jaws that are either straight or curved depending upon the use. The most common jaw used in bench vises is the serrated jaw, which can usually hold straight objects and pipes. It’s best to choose a bench vise with a combination jaw if you work with straight objects and all kinds of pipes. However, if you are going to be working with PVC pipes and straight objects mostly, then the serrated one of higher quality will come at the same price and will get the job done!

Other Important Things to Consider

Base

Bench vises should be attached to some table or ground via, typically 4 bolts. These bolts are usually not included in an affordable bench vise package, so it’s essential to see if the bench vise you are planning to go for uses regular-size bolts that are easy to acquire from a nearby hardware store. Moreover, lighter bench vises may not even use bolts; they will attach through suction cups or clampings. You will be attaching your bench vise permanently or semi-permanently to a base. So to prevent the hassle of you moving around the hardware, there is a swivel attached to the bottom of most bench vises. These swivels can rotate 120, 180, 270, or even 360 degrees. Angle matters a lot when cutting or reshaping pipes and other hardware, so it’s best to look for bench vises with greater angles for rotation.

Anvil

Anvil seems to be an unimportant feature at first but comes very handy when working at home in a small workshop. It’s a perfect place for heavy hammer strikes for all that material you will use the bench vise to hold. So it’s best to look for this feature while buying a bench vise.

Handle

Long-length items produce greater torque. So it’s best to look for bigger handles when buying heavy-duty bench vises for grand projects. Handles come in the range of 2 to even 7 inches for tightening those jaws on a bench vise.