The vise is also known as the third hand, It is a tool that usually mounted on workbenches or another firm supports to hold the workpiece in place to perform various operations such as planing, drilling, or sawing. It is an indispensable tool and important helper in metalworking, woodworking, and other manufacturing applications. It is important for us to select the most suitable vise which can provide enough support to the works. We will introduce a few common types of vises that we frequently used in the workshops and their applications.
Woodworking Vises
Woodworking vises are typically made of wood, metal, or plastic for different applications. This is the most common vise used in the woodworking workshop to clamp the wood. Woodworking vise is different from metalworking vise as it is usually designed to be mounted underneath a workbench. It consists of a set of two jaws for holding the workpiece in place, one jaw is fixed and another is a flexible jaw that can move parallel towards the fixed jaw and the workpiece will be secured with a screw mechanism in a tight position. Woodworking vises usually have a smoother jaw than metalworking vises in order to prevent damages on the surface of the wooden workpiece when clamping on it. There are three different types of woodwork vise:
1. Plain Screw Vises - it is a standard woodworking vise that has a traditional screw system controlled by the rotation of the handle. It can be used for handling heavy-duty wood as it can clamp a vast amount of wood without breaking. The disadvantage of using plain screw vise is it is time consuming when you need to re-clamp the workpiece in different positions.
2. Quick Release Vises - It is slightly larger and similar to the plain screw vise. The quick-release vise has a mechanism that can rapidly open the jaws and readjust into a new position without repeatedly rotate the handle. It can either has a handle-operated system that allows 180 degrees turn to unlock the nut and move the sliding jaw, or it has a lever-operated system that can adjust the jaws by pulling the lever to unlock the nut. This quick-release mechanism provides a time saving and quick operation in industrial work.
3. Woodcraft vises - It is used for clamping small and light pieces of wood, ideal for light-duty, home projects, or creating household items such as small boxes, photo frames, ornaments, and many more. It helps to clamp the wood that is needed to be filed, painted, glued, or crafted.
Pipe Vises
Pipe vises are used for holding the pipe in the plumbing system when the pipe is needed to be cut or threaded. It is able to hold a pipe with a diameter of a maximum of 200mm and a minimum of 3mm. Pipe vises can be either fitted onto a workbench or used together with a mobile tripod stand for the project located outside the workshop. More than one mobile tripod stand will be used when working with a long length of pipe. There are two common types of pipe vises,
1. Chain Vise - It has a high-tensile chain that fastens the workpiece attaches to the bench. It is normally applied to irregularly shaped objects. Chain vise tends to have a larger working range and capacity due to the length of the chain defines the working range of the vise. A larger clamping surface of the chain means that the whole circumference of the pipe can be gripped firmly. The disadvantage of the chain vise is it takes more time to secure a pipe in place than other vises as the chain must be carefully threaded with the jaws in order to clamp the pipe securely.
2. Yoked Vise/Hinged Vise - which is also known as adjustable jaw vices. It uses a screw to claim the pipe in place. It has a fixed v-shaped lower jaw and a movable upper jaw. Both jaws are serrated for a better grip on the pipe. The workpiece is put at the fixed jaw and the movable jaw will be lowered with a screw and pressure exerted to stabilize the workpiece. The yoked vise is usually made of cast iron and can be clamped to a workbench or tripod stand.
Metalworking Vises
Metalworking vises are also known as engineer’s vises which are used to hold the piece of metal instead of wood. The vise is mainly made of cast iron with a steel channel bar which can provide strong and rigid support when cutting and filing the metal workpiece. It is usually mounted to the top of the workbench. A soft jaw cover made of aluminum, wood, copper, or plastic is used to protect the delicate works. There are different types of bases available for the metalworking vice:
1. Fixed Base - it attaches straight to the workbench and supports full stability.
2. Vacuum Base - it holds the surface of the workpiece by sucking.
3. Swivel Base - it can be rotated to make sure the position of the vice can be altered to meet the required operations
4. Claim Base - it claims or attaches the metal materials with their strength and ability to withstand the pressure.
Other types of Vises
Hand-Held Vices is a manually held tools which is portable and suitable for holding small-sized workpiece while completing intricate tasks such as painting or gluing.
Machine Vice is another clamping tool that is attached to the machine’s table and used to hold the workpiece firmly when operating the drill press or milling machine.
Angle Vise which is known as a tilting machine vise that can set up a clamped workpiece at any angle for machining. The base of the vise is remains fixed on the bench surface and the body of the vise can be subjected to an angular position. It is convenient to place the workpiece at different positions when doing various operations such as drilling.
What are the safety tips when operation the vise?
The vise can be considered as a safer tool when comparing to the hammers, saws, or other hand tools, but there is some potential risk in which we have to follow few safety tips when operating the vise. Firstly, you are required to equip yourself with basic safety accessories such as eye/face shield and goggles. Secondly, to secure the vise firmly onto a fixed surface/workbench with tightened bolts before starting the operation. Remember that never loosen the jaw beyond the recommended limit and also do not over-tighten the vise which may cause damages on the threads and vise material. If there is any visible damages/cracks, it is advised to repair it immediately to avoid other risks such as the vise falling on the floor or causing injury. It is also important to purchase quality products and models in the first place to achieve a better performance of the vise.
MecHero Malaysia supplies a wide range of vises for multiple applications to meet your industrial requirements. You can always contact us at +6011-7000 7687 or email us at my.mechero@gmail.com for an inquiry about the types of vises in Malaysia. We also supply a wide range of steel material, hardware, or mechanical components. Tell us your requirements now and we can advise you accordingly.
Photo credit: veritastools, luxuryhomestuff, faithfulltools, drillly, jimslimstools, unclutterer, ofwoodworking