Please recommend Vise for a 48" Worktable

chief38 said:

Bushmaster1313,

I do not know how ambitious or handy you are but you can build a much better and sturdier work bench for the same of less than the $200+ this one sells for. A few 2x4's and a 3/4" - 1" thick top would be much heavier and sturdier. By adding a shelf or two below the bench would give you lots of storage and add to the weight which is great for stability. Just saying.....
,,,,,,,,,,,,

Click to expand...

In 2002, a guy was closing his shop,, and sold me this workbench for $100,, the top is double 1/4" thick steel,,
It is 6X6 feet,,

The hardest part of owning it,, is keeping "junk" from accumulating on it,,

I also have two other smaller ones,, 5X5, and 4X5 feet

The 5X5 is where the milling vise lives,,

That worktable you have pictured may well work out OK for what you want to do..However I would reinforce it somewhat in order to meet that level.

One of my work benches, the top is from a discarded old coffee table. Heavy, hard surface. Some of the rest of the wood was used in attaching it to a wall. I do stock shaping, metal polishing and filing, etc on that bench with no problems. I wouldn't mount a bbl-vise to it!
It does have limitations due to the my choice of construction materials!

The bbl-vise in on the basement bench, a much sturdier & heavier built bench.

I often don't do the 4 legged thing for a work bench as I attach them to walls a rule.
I mount the 'legs' at an angle .
They are cut to fit under the front edge of the bench top. Then they angle back to the base of the wall the bench is standing against.
A longer bench top,, then add an additional leg support midway or space them if you have a bench that runs room length.

Extremely sturdy. easy to build and doesn't move.
I don't make benches for gunsmithing too awful deep as they just accumulate junk on the back half (or more!) of the top surface anyway.

A half depth shelf runs the length underneath for storage. It's far away enough from the front edge of the bench top so you don't hit it with your legs while working.

A 5" swivel bench vise is about right (for me). One on the above bench.
I think the downstairs shop has a 5 1/2" width jaw. A good old Craftsman.
There's a giant Parker vise on the bench in the garage. Non swivel and been weld repaired sometime in it's past. But it still works well for stuff needed to be done out there.

Several smaller Wilton and other assorted named vises that I don't have bolted down. I use these for holding parts for brazing and welding and such things. Sometimes they are used as gluing clamps.

I've got one of the Wood Workers vises. Looks new and bought for $20(?) at a local Used Tool SHop.
I thought I'd use it somewhere, but haven't yet. Maybe I just bought it cause it looked so nice and the price was good.

One of those vises that you clamp the complete long gun (pictured above in S&WChad's post) into for cleaning or minor repairs adjustments may be all you need for your purposes.
C-clamp it into position and tinker away.

+1 on building one's own bench!

On mine, I used 4x4s for legs, 2x6s for the top table wood and leg braces & 2x6s for the table top support that runs on the front & back, holding the top boards in place. This sucker is rock solid!

As for a vice, I would meander down to Northern Tools (or similar) and find one that fits your budget. NT is a cut above Harbor Freight but well, well below a tool truck price. I think I got my current one there?

Another thing handy is an anvil. Sometimes you just need to hammer the snot out of something & it's not good for a vice to do that on, IMO.

Another thing on the table you showed, the legs will shake something fierce if you try to do anything heavy duty on it. Telescoping legs are not what one needs on a work table.

My .o2

AJ said:

The bench you are showing is not made for heavy work. You can build a better one.

Click to expand...

Yes, you can build your own bench that's rock solid. Plans can be found online. You don't need to add the storage cabinets, but I would recommend it.

AudieMurphy said:

After looking at the pic of the workbench you have/or going to buy....I'd say save your money and buy a real workbench....from the pic you posted a kitchen table would probably be better...why? because the that workbench (from the pic) has no support under the board other than the two legs on each side. After awhile the board will sag and bow. looks like the boards not even an inch thick!!....get a real workbench...just my opinion

Click to expand...

You'd better listen. That isn't a work bench. It's a card table.

AudieMurphy said:

After looking at the pic of the workbench you have/or going to buy....I'd say save your money and buy a real workbench....from the pic you posted a kitchen table would probably be better...why? because the that workbench (from the pic) has no support under the board other than the two legs on each side. After awhile the board will sag and bow. looks like the boards not even an inch thick!!....get a real workbench...just my opinion

Click to expand...

Point very well taken.

So I went back to the website and I see that there is support running along the side of the table top from the legs on the sides !

I bought a vevor 6.5" vise from temu for $35

AJ said:

The bench you are showing is not made for heavy work. You can build a better one.

The first two pictures are the work bench that I bought. Very heavy, well braced and extremely solid! First picture is when I set it uo and the second is how it looks now. Nothing is bolted to the bench. The presses are bolted are bolted to two pieces of 5/4" oak and then clamped to the bench. No give at all when using the presses no matter how hard you pull on a handle.
The third picture is the work bench that I built. Solid as a rock, the 6 inch vice is clamped to the far end (Wilton vice). Under the bench on the left end is the gun vice mounted on a B&W Work Station, I just slide it out when I want to use it.

Click to expand...

You can build a better one.

Yup.

All 2x6 and a piece of finished plywood for a top. Just drill out the top for anything you want to mount and remove it when you aren't using it.

I have a work bench in my garage with a permanent vise. This is my reloading bench.

T44spl said:

Chief, you have a very nice, well organized, clean and well lite work space there. The kind of workshop we all wished we had. I'm sure it took a lot of thought, planning and work to get that to come togther. But I can see comfortably spending several hours in a good work enviorment like that.
I hope that your workshop serves as the blue print for many of us fellow forum members or at the very least the inspiration for those of us not as handy as you.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

I did spend many hours educating myself and researching all about LED lightning which prior to moving here I had limited knowledge of. Lumens, Kelvin temperature, size tubes, wattage vs output, etc. Once I knew what spec's I wanted for the shop lighting I had to research where to buy the size fixtures to fit the bulbs I wanted and I wound up having to order them as no one actually stocked them. Installing them was the easy part.

This is my 4th home and 4th workshop so I did have prior experience. I have made a few minor adjustments since this picture was taken but nothing most would pick up on.

Since I do spend a fair amount of time in my workshop I wanted it to be comfortable , climate controlled and well lite.

The shop I had in my last house was three times the size of this one and I do miss some of the machinery and equipment I had to sell when moving here. That said, I had no desire to remain up North any longer and we are very happy here.

OP stated pretty clearly his bench was for cleaning and tinkering. He specifically said no heavy tourqing. Table top type projects. He asked about a vice. He didn’t ask to be ridiculed on his choice

bushmaster1313 said:

Point very well taken.

So I went back to the website and I see that there is support running along the side of the table top from the legs on the sides !

Click to expand...

Yeah, but the leg support needs to be closer to the floor. As designed, the legs will act as levers against the braces up above if there's angular load. You could always add those.

The gun cradle is a better idea than a vice for cleaning and a lot of chores. However, most are only made to hold the long gun inverted and don't do much if you need to do stock work. And they don't do squat for handguns. Depending upon what tinkering you might want to do, a DIY might be better.

The workbench I have is an old bowling ball alley that was cut up for several benches by my Dad back in the 1960's. When the folks moved into a much smaller residence I was lucky enough to be given this bench and it has served me well for many decades. The vise I use was also my Dad's and is a machinists vise that is long out of production and is built like a tank. It has replaceable jaws of which I have several sets. I will try to attach a picture of the vise. It is a marvel of engineering made at a time when quality and functionality ruled in this country. The vise has gotten a lot of use over time and it is well worn, but still functions fine. I have occasionally thought of replacing it with a newer version but anything close to this style of vise is in the thousands of dollars and out of my reach.

At some point you will come to realize you will need at least two vices if you are going to work on firearms to any extent. You will need a heavy duty vise for general purpose work and a lighter duty vise for firearms. There are many choices for both but for firearms a smaller vise that moves in many directions can be most beneficial and serve as a "third hand" when needed. If you elect to mount scopes a vise you can level is almost a mandatory requirement to do your best work. You can, in a pinch, level a vise via shim stock quite easily. A level vise makes mounting a scope a breeze!

For more years than I can count I use my vise to hold the receiver of a long gun and I have a extendable floor brace for supporting the barrel. Think of the support I use as a telescoping brace for under the barrel/stock. There is no way anymore that I can place an entire long gun on my workbench due to limited space, so holding the receiver in my vise with the muzzle end on a floor support became mandatory for me. I use this setup all the time for working on my firearms and for cleaning them. Years ago I added rubber workshop mats on the concrete floor just in case something should fall, which it never has. The added benefit of the rubber mats were more comfort for me when standing on them AND dropped screws and small parts don't tend to bounce so far.


Remember this, a workbench for working on firearms MUST be stable beyond any fault. The last thing you want is a damaged firearm or broken screw because your bench moved or is in anyway unstable. If you lean against your bench with your hip and it moves at all it is not stable enough. Stay away from extendable legs and wheels on your firearms workbench because you will never get all the movement out of them. An electronics workbench is not the type of workbench you want for firearms work. Top and bottom cross-braces are a must for a solid workbench. If nothing else bolt or brace the workbench to your wall to assure it doesn't move.

I hope the above helps a bit in your decision making process. If nothing else stop in at a few local gunsmiths and see what they have for benches and vices. There are some pretty interesting setups out there. Good luck!

Rick H.

Here is my gunroom work/reloading bench, yep it is a 1" steel plate 2' x 3'. Have a 3" Wilton and a Shop Fox Parrot vise mounted. The whole thing weighs about 400 pounds, not much movement.. with the additional 1" 12' x12' plate it make a good anvil.