Secure your woodworking, soldering, and machine projects with a vise tool. An apparatus designed with a set of jaws and a table clamp, vise tools attach to a workbench or table and hold workable components steady while you cut, screw, drill, plane, sand, and more. Whether you’re welding in a workshop or cutting wood in your home garage, a good bench vise is key. A functional product should be easy to attach to a benchtop or stand and won’t mark your piece while in use. There are a lot of options on the market whose specialties span from detail work to heavy-duty use, so make sure you choose the right product for your needs. Browse our selection of the best options below.
1. Irwin Woodworking Vise
This vise tool comes in a pretty blue color and has an easy clamp-on feature that attaches to tables up to two-inches thick. The integrated anvil shaping horn allows for easy rounding, thinning, and bending operations, and the pipe jaws have a two-inch capacity. Best for general purpose and light-duty work, this tool comes at a great price and is ultra-versatile.
2. Yost LV-4 Home Vise
Another vise painted with a durable bright-blue powder coat, this vise has a swivel base that rotates up to 240 degrees for a custom grip. Constructed of cast iron, this tool is designed with steel jaws and a threaded spindle assembly and lockdown for a secure table hold. The three-inch jaw opening is equipped to hold everything from flat components to pipes and tubes.
3. Tekton 4-Inch Swivel Bench Vise
This cast-iron constructed vise is best for medium-duty projects. Available in multiple sizes, including four-inch, six-inch, and eight-inch options, you can choose the perfect dimensions for your workspace. This product has replaceable serrated steel jaws, so the tool is meant to last for years to come, and the degree swivel base has dual lock-down nuts that help securely position your workpiece in just the right spot.
4. Irwin Table Vise
This heavy-duty vise is the full package. Weighing thirty pounds, this tool provides a sturdy base for pieces big and small. The capture-mechanism safety jaw prevents heavy objects from sliding out of the grip, and both anvil and pipe jaws are built-in. The six-inch jaw opening holds larger objects than the options above, which range from a two-inch to three-inch jaw capacity, and the swivel base allows for adaptable positioning.
5. PanaVise Miniature Vise
This vise comes in a miniature size and has a tilting head with the capacity for up to 240 degrees of movement. The base also rotates a full 360 degrees, and the body has a high heat tolerance for soldering. Constructed of reinforced plastic, the grooved jaws are equipped to hold even the smallest objects. A grip adjustment knob has both a fine and coarse setting to hold everything from delicate objects such as circuit boards to light-duty woodworking and metal pieces.