Minimum vice size??

[KennVFRidr]

What do you think would be the smallest sized vise for use in rifle dissassembly/reassembly on a portable workbench???

I have a HD 6" vice mounted outside, but no good space for a bench inside. Considering a small benchtop mounted in my Black and Decker Workmate...then bolt a smaller vice to the benchtop... Any thoughts appreciated?

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[MikeInOr]

It really depends on what you are doing. I have several workmates and I love them but there is only so much torque they will take which is mainly limited by their weight.

A vise on a trailer hitch receiver will have the whole mass of the vehicle it is on to counteract twisting forces applied to the work.

For barrel work you really need a barrel vise securely mounted to a large object (like the cement floor in a garage).

If you just need to hold pieces as you are filing them or other small work a decent quality 4" vise will handle small tasks well. (Cheap vises are usually crap no matter what size they are.)

I use a small Panavise on my kitchen table for small intricate work so I can sit in the comfort of my house instead of heating the whole shop for a small job. The Panavise is great for stuff like intricate soldering jobs. Some day I will make a big box to go around the Panavise to catch springs that always seem to want to take off and hide.

For general rifle dissembly/reassembly I can't ever remember needing a vise for just a simple take-down.

 

[Vernonia MW]

I got started with a little 3" bench vise for AR work. I now use a 4" Craftsman swivel vise with aluminum jaws for over 90% of my projects. I have a 6" Wilton right next to the 4" Craftsman, and the only time it really gets used for gun stuff is when I am riveting something.

 

[P7M13]

I can't imagine anything less than my 5" HF or my 6" Wilton.
When I need more space, I unbolt it from the bench top. I have one of those suction cup 3" vise for electronics, but that's all it's good for.

 

[Greg S]

I think the smallest I've used for 1911 building is a 3" Wilton machinist with swivel base. I'm partial to the cheap $100 chicom 5-6" dbl jaw swivel vise particularly for hand checkering and old school slide tightening.

The biggest thing to figure is

How big jaw width, depth and thickness of the item you want to hold and how tight you need hold it.

How much $ your willing to spend.

I've almost bought a Wilton baby bullet 2" but they want crazy money for them.

Another good medium strength is the parrot vise which is great for stock work.

Amazon.com

 

[thorborg]

Vice choice depend deeply on use, most 4" preferable swivel head does perfect for general stuff



but things like cutting, heavy filing, and pounding, punching, chiseling, a solid bench is more important than the vise. any solid 4-6" vice can modify the jaws with brass, leather wood, etc.

If you just need to hold stuff for light buffing and filing or general disassembly, you can C clamp or better a nice set of mini bar clamps

to hold a wooden parallel jaw clamp to your bench, in a variety of positions, especially if you have two.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Buy once cry once. Yay hernias!

 

[doninoregon]

no good space for a bench inside

I've seen shop vises mounted on a steel pipe welded to a big steel wheel.

 

[bcp]

What do you think would be the smallest sized vise for use in rifle dissassembly/reassembly on a portable workbench???

I have a HD 6" vice mounted outside, but no good space for a bench inside. Considering a small benchtop mounted in my Black and Decker Workmate...then bolt a smaller vice to the benchtop... Any thoughts appreciated?

Doesn't the Workmate have a clamping feature, that you could make some wooden jaws for?

Bruce

 

[Tony617]

I bought a Husky folding leg work bench and bought a fairly cheap Harbor Freight vice. I drilled holes on my workbench and used some plywood underneath and bolted my vice to my bench. It worked very well for my purposes.



I moved it over to side of garage and anchored to the studs on the wall now.

 

[titsonritz]

This one right here, come get it…."

Yost 750-E Vise - price reduced

Yost 750-E Multipurpose Vise still in the box, never used. FTF sales in South Salem -$55 $45 Will toss in plastic/magnetic jaw protectors

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

 

[Catfishmoon]

Buy the largest vise you are comfortable using, bigger is better for most purposes when using a vise, mass matters.
I have multiple, the largest being six inch and it performs tasks like holding a slide while using a hammer and punch to remove sights better then smaller ones.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

For me, 4'11"
Any shorter than that gets into a different category, not that there's anything wrong with that, just not for me.





ETA: Ohhhhhhhh, I just read the tread title and not the first post. Looks like I may have missed some context

 

[MikeInOr]

An interesting gunsmithing vise system. I don't think I would buy into it but there some innovative ideas to consider.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEmokCXa6Zk

 

[KennVFRidr]

It really depends on what you are doing. I have several workmates and I love them but there is only so much torque they will take which is mainly limited by their weight.

A vise on a trailer hitch receiver will have the whole mass of the vehicle it is on to counteract twisting forces applied to the work.

For barrel work you really need a barrel vise securely mounted to a large object (like the cement floor in a garage).

If you just need to hold pieces as you are filing them or other small work a decent quality 4" vise will handle small tasks well. (Cheap vises are usually crap no matter what size they are.)

I use a small Panavise on my kitchen table for small intricate work so I can sit in the comfort of my house instead of heating the whole shop for a small job. The Panavise is great for stuff like intricate soldering jobs. Some day I will make a big box to go around the Panavise to catch springs that always seem to want to take off and hide.

For general rifle dissembly/reassembly I can't ever remember needing a vise for just a simple take-down.

I want to use it for a couple AR barrel/receiver swaps, and want to work inside during the winter.

The only real disassembly I've done to date was a new and unfired Bear Creek Arsenal upper and I definitely needed a vise to break loose the flash hider/comp. But this poorly assembled .450 Bushmaster upper had a barrel nut which was barely tightened. and the poorly staked gas key bolts were not torqued at all. At any rate, I'm thinking if I mount a smaller vise so the I have the best leverage possible given the footprint/weight of the Workmate...it should be adequate in most cases.

 

[KennVFRidr]

Doesn't the Workmate have a clamping feature, that you could make some wooden jaws for?

Bruce

Planning to screw a piece of 2x4 to the bottom of a smallish benchtop then clamp onto the Workmate, so I can bolt a vice or reloading press to that.

 

[titsonritz]

I have built and worked on many ARs using a portable JawHorse