Building your own vise?

[mitch]

Precision self-centering vises on sale at Grizzly.com for $130. Good for a ball or pedestal.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Gr...nt+on+Grizzly's+Precision+Self-Centering+Vise

 

[JJ Roberts]

A good vise for a starter nice and compact. J.J.

 

[troutbox]

don't want to start a flame war, but when you buy chinese, you put your neighbor out of work.
if you can't afford an american made tool, then that means you need to save up. if you want to get paid a fair wage for your engraving, you should return the favor. just sayin.

 

[Jonathan.Silas]

don't want to start a flame war, but when you buy chinese, you put your neighbor out of work.
if you can't afford an american made tool, then that means you need to save up. if you want to get paid a fair wage for your engraving, you should return the favor. just sayin.

Grizzley is foreign made I'll grant you that, but they have several factors here in the states who put quite a few Americans to work. The owner is also super active in the shooting world and is a really decent guy.
It's not as cut and dry as only buy American. Most of us wouldn't even be on the internet without our foreign computers and phones.
Just as an aside I do agree with you though, best to buy what you can from your neighbors.

 

[Roger Bleile]

don't want to start a flame war, but when you buy chinese, you put your neighbor out of work.
if you can't afford an american made tool, then that means you need to save up. if you want to get paid a fair wage for your engraving, you should return the favor. just sayin.

Where did you see in that ad that the vise is made in China? I could not find a country of origin. Also, I have no problem buying any foreign product if an equal or better product is not made in the USA. I have seen that vise advertised by both Grizzly and Micro Mark but have not seen any self centering bench vise offered for sale that I know to be made in the USA. A real prize would be to find one of those self centering bench vises that the Italians use but of course they are not made in the US either.

 

[Roger Bleile]

Precision self-centering vises on sale at Grizzly.com for $130. Good for a ball or pedestal.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Precision-Self-Centering-Vise/H7576?trk_msg=5UJKTDTFA254DBMVHQEHFPMFJC&trk_contact=BDB4M35EQ4UP33GEJ8GP2ICDUK&trk_sid=VORQT4EO06KOIFQRBO4HHQ6I94&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Self-Centering+Vise-H7576&utm_campaign=Deep+Discount+on+Grizzly's+Precision+Self-Centering+Vise

These would make a good H&C vise mounted on the corner of a bench or a post however they lack jaw depth for some gun work.

 

[Strelok]

don't want to start a flame war, but when you buy chinese, you put your neighbor out of work.
if you can't afford an american made tool, then that means you need to save up. if you want to get paid a fair wage for your engraving, you should return the favor. just sayin.

"We also have offices in Taiwan and China with our own quality control engineers that oversee the production of our equipment. "

Straight from Grizzly's website. Not swaying one way or the other, this vise appears to be a really nice starter vise for the budget-minded consumer. It's also got a much lower profile than a lot of others out there and has some good reviews to boot.

"Made in China/Taiwan" does not mean bad. There's no such thing as an American made car anymore, but I'm sure you still drive. If you buy from an American company that happens to have parts manufactured overseas are you still putting your neighbor out of a job?

 

[sam]

don't want to start a flame war, but when you buy chinese, you put your neighbor out of work.
if you can't afford an american made tool, then that means you need to save up. if you want to get paid a fair wage for your engraving, you should return the favor. just sayin.

Then don't start one.

 

[sam]

These would make a good H&C vise mounted on the corner of a bench or a post however they lack jaw depth for some gun work.

That's what I was thinking about the low depth of the jaws, but some taller jaw plates could be installed to give it more depth, and I might make different handle for it.

Looks pretty good to me, and the price is very reasonable.

 

[troutbox]

"Where did you see in that ad that the vise is made in China? I could not find a country of origin."

it's common knowledge among machinists and woodworkers that grizzly is synonymous with chinese made products. and people like me are the reason that you don't have a country of origin listed. when i was a kid, i did not understand what "buy american" meant. now that much of the manufacturing has been sent overseas, i understand.

 

[troutbox]

"Then don't start one."

i wasn't trying to start one, but i had to point out something, and as a result it might appear that way.

 

[JJ Roberts]

When I started I made my first vise out a bowling ball & a mechanist's vise I found at a flea market.Picture of the bowling vise on my face book page. J.J.

 

[highveldt]

A conversation of 100 years ago at the Gunmakers Arms public house in Price Street Birmingham, England from 27 August 1919 has been picked up from far in outer space by a new space listening technology invented by the Japanese companies Sony and Mitsubishi.----note: we all know that the English were 100 years ahead of the USA in the industrial revolution and the Japanese were in the dark ages still 500 years after they stole the secret to making swords and knife blades from the even darker era Chinese.

"Blimey lads (Simon speaking) my brother Tim tells me that Westley Richards has bought one of those cheap piece of junk milling machines from America--I think it is made by some outfit over there named Brown & somebody. Why did not not buy a good English made mill if they had to have one, anyway we do not need those milling machines anyway, we can still use our files and do it quicker and better. Next thing you know they will be buying one of those cheap American lathes, which can never be made as good as a Colchester lathe. And speaking of files, Arthur Howell down in Weaman Street bought a gross of 3-square 12 inch American made files made by some company named Nicholson--he will really be sorry when he goes to filing up actions with those crappy files.

Peter Smith, an apprentice engraver speaks up: "My brother Malcolm works at Mr. Kell's shop in London and Malcolm bought one of those Starrett made in America 2 inch dividers and he says that he likes it better laying out flower bouquets than his English Wilkerson, and it was 1/2 the price."

Up speaks Simon in reply: "What does an engraver know about gunmaking, engravers are a pence a dozen, they don't make a third of the money we barrel makers make--they would not know a good piece of tool steel if it was stuck in their thumb. I have never heard of this chap Kell, he must not be much of an engraver or he would be up here in Birmingham." .............

 

[Doctorslava]

I used Kurt vise for some CNC 5 axis machine. As far as I know, it is built in USA. It is superb quality vise, but for different money.
https://www.kurtworkholding.com/workholding/self-centering.php

 

[Roger Bleile]

This is what a proper self centering bench vise for gun engraving looks like. Note the depth of the jaws.

 

[gcleaker]

You just don't find a vises like that just anywhere.

 

[JJ Roberts]

I bought a Ray Le Tourneau vise when they first came out 45 lb. made in the good old U.S.A. J.J.

 

[papart1]

I've got one of those crappy Kurt vises,6", weighs about as much as the junk Bridgeport mill under it. You guys just think about that for a while..................

 

[papart1]

Hay Mr. Rog.............its hard to find that vise your posting, got any idea where they could be bought please?

 

[highveldt]

Hay Mr. Rog.............its hard to find that vise your posting, got any idea where they could be bought please?

They are still made in Italy for one country and I suspect they are made in France also. In this style of vice the jaws are forged and therefore the skill of the maker matters a great deal. I suspect that they are still made in Poland and the Czech republic as well. I had an Italian gunsmiths catalogue a couple of years back that listed them as well as the other style of self centering vice (forged jaws) that do not have "legs" such as the vice in the photo. (leg and "post" vices were still made in the USA for blacksmiths and specialty metal forging work until about 60 years ago) An email sent to one of the engraving houses in Val Trompia, Italy should give you a source. Just use one of the internet translators to translate your message into Italian and send it off.