machine vice v bench vice

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simonineaston
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machine vice v bench vice

Post by simonineaston »

When I moved from a house to a flat, I got rid of selected items - you know the sort of thing... I had to let the staff go - I mean, there was no lawn to mow or flower beds to weed anymore. Another of the things that went was a large & very heavy bench-vice, as well as the large & heavy bench it was bolted to.
Today I popped my freewheel off, by clamping the extractor to the freewheel with the QR skewer, then clamping the extractor in a light machine-vice that's bolted to the kitchen table and then turning the whole wheel anti-clockwise. The machine-vice just about coped...
So my Q today is as follows: is there an important difference between the way a machine vice is constructed, versus a bench-vice? Or is it just a matter of mass - ie a bench-vice is just going to be bigger, heavier and more solid than a smaller, lighter machine-vice?
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
rjb
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by rjb »

Size and material is everything. I've seen bench and machine vices in all sorts of sizes. Machine vices are generally designed to bolt down onto the bed of machine tools such as lathes, miller's, pillar drills etc Steel versions weather cast or machined are pretty strong. I would avoid the plastic and aluminium ones. You could always mount a vice on a piece of scrap worktop then clamp it to your kitchen worktop like this to provide a useful kitchen accessory. Just what you needed to extract the last ounce of tomato puree from its tube. :lol:
3128e5db0660a12106a1c9d618690c40.jpg
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
Jdsk
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Jdsk »

I'd be interested in recommendations for a vice that would clamp to a Workmate, 150 mm or thereabouts.

Thanks

Jonathan
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Mick F
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Mick F »

Simon, do you have a balcony?
Is it possible to build a small but solid bench using 4x2 assembled using screws?
Four vertical legs, a crossmember or two, and planking for the top?

Bolt a bench vice to it.
Keep it oiled and it'll be fine in the open air.

Can be done?

If so, I'd be tempted if the situation ever arrives for me/us. I can't imagine a life without a bench vice.
Had one in a few places we've lived.
Mick F. Cornwall
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simonineaston
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by simonineaston »

Simon, do you have a balcony?
I do! A plan is starting to come together - today the tarp. I use to keep the sun from shining directly into my lounge is busy flapping about in the breeze - I'm thinking an inexpensive-but-sturdy bench vice will also do sterling work as an anchor.. !! ebay, here I come.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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Cugel
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Cugel »

Jdsk wrote: 26 Jun 2022, 2:04pm I'd be interested in recommendations for a vice that would clamp to a Workmate, 150 mm or thereabouts.

Thanks

Jonathan
Most machine vises will clamp in a Workmate, especially if first mounted on a chunk of wood that the Workmate jaws can grasp. AN alternative is to use the 19mm holes in a Workmate to put bolts through that screw to slots in a vise bottom. There are many kinds of machine vise, though.

Personally I've found this one to be the most versatile, as it can be turned to hold and access things in various orientations. Tightening the jaws on the workpiece also locks the vise in its orientation at the time.:

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminste ... beb4af432a

But this one can be useful too as it has three ground flat faces, any one of which can serve as it's bottom, meaning the jaws present to the user in one of three possible configurations. It needs a flat surface to stand on as well as a means to clamp the vise to that surface.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminste ... beb4af432a

*******

But for many vise operations, a Workmate is not going to be ideal. As you will know, they are not exactly rigid and immovable when you apply force to whatever is strapped in or on them. Many operations of things in a vise will have this movement of the Workmate, when a tool is applied to the workpiece, amplified by being in a vise.

What you really need is a proper workbench that's immovable because it weighs a ton and is built like the proverbial BS. :-)

Cugel
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al_yrpal
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by al_yrpal »

Jdsk wrote: 26 Jun 2022, 2:04pm I'd be interested in recommendations for a vice that would clamp to a Workmate, 150 mm or thereabouts.

Thanks

Jonathan
Bolt a proper Record style machine vice to an I section piece of hardwood with the grooves in the sides the precise thickness of the Workmates jaws.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Jdsk
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Jdsk »

al_yrpal wrote: 26 Jun 2022, 3:53pm
Jdsk wrote: 26 Jun 2022, 2:04pm I'd be interested in recommendations for a vice that would clamp to a Workmate, 150 mm or thereabouts.
Bolt a proper Record style machine vice to an I section piece of hardwood with the grooves in the sides the precise thickness of the Workmates jaws.
Thankyou.

Please could someone recommend a vice that meets this spec.

Jonathan
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al_yrpal
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by al_yrpal »

https://www.toolstation.com/irwin-recor ... lsrc=aw.ds

The top of the I beam should be thicker so that the toggle will clear the workmate jaw

Al
Last edited by al_yrpal on 26 Jun 2022, 6:13pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Jdsk
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Jdsk »

Thankyou

Jonathan
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by rogerzilla »

I fastened two pieces of hardwood together, one narrower than the other, so I have a "tongue" along the bottom of the larger piece. This tongue clamps into the Workmate but the weight is taken by the larger piece sitting on the Workmate's wooden jaws.

This works fine for a Record no.3, but might have a tendency to topple with a really huge vice.
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simonineaston
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by simonineaston »

I recently bought a WorkMate, partly 'cos of my move to a flat. I'm on the look-out for some suitable hardwood to make a pair of replacement jaws for the new WM's - which appear to be made out of pressed and painted Weetabix...
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Jdsk
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by Jdsk »

Bristol Wood Recycling Project?
https://www.bwrp.org.uk/woodshop

Jonathan
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al_yrpal
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by al_yrpal »

30 years ago I made a little bench from 1" square steel tubing and Speedframe joints. I topped it with a formica faced piece of laboratory shelving made from 15mm plywood. The bench is fixed to the wall and its rock solid. My Record vice is bolted to that.

I have just got several more lengths of laboratory shelving to go up here. Mounted on spur brackets its very strong stuff.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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Re: machine vice v bench vice

Post by jb »

To answer the original question - yes mass is everything.
A good heavy vice will absorb shock, resist deformation & generally do a vastly superior job than a lightweight table top vice.
But I appreciate that it's not generally desirable to have this quality of tool in the living quarters of the modern domus.
Cheers
J Bro
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