Benchtop Vise Recomendations- split out from Regulator Service Technician Training - Unrestricted

[rhwestfall]

Vice or vise?

 

[James79]

I’m thinking I’ve saved so much money not traveling this last year… Honey I bought this vice

Fixed it for you!

 

[lexvil]

Vice or vise?

You offer up the vice first, the vise is the fall back compromise.

 

[jale]

A vice about a vise should make you wise

 

[lowwall]

I found with the little vice the clamp jaws didn't clamp parallel, so even when I tightened the first stage handle it would come loose. I’m sure with a larger vise that wouldn’t be a problem, but I find the design of your vice the clamp faces come right together perfectly.

My vise is the Yost COV-3. Currently $27.10 at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XWCEI8S

It's made in China (although the Amazon listing says Taiwan which is the reason I chose this model). My jaws do close parallel. But there is slop in the guides, so if you are clamping something that's not very wide, you need to put it right in the middle of the jaws or they will twist a little bit.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

She liked the vice not so much the vise.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

My vise is the Yost COV-3. Currently $27.10 at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XWCEI8S

It's made in China (although the Amazon listing says Taiwan which is the reason I chose this model). My jaws do close parallel. But there is slop in the guides, so if you are clamping something that's not very wide, you need to put it right in the middle of the jaws or they will twist a little bit.

So interesting I bought this from Amazon.ca made in US.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002PCMKGI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[lowwall]

So interesting I bought this from Amazon.ca made in US.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002PCMKGI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm sure the tolerances and possibly the materials are much better.

But you are still going to have to put screws/bolts through those two holes to keep it from twisting when you apply much torque.

 

[Bigbella]

^^^ This.^^^ or IMHO a "regulator box" or "holding fixture" is easier to use, less time consuming, and very gentle on a regulator body. See attachment for a store bought version that can be easily copied.

This thread shows my workbench fixture:
Regulator holding fixture.

Very nice indeed . . .

While I am more than a bit critical of scuba manufacturer’s ridiculously expensive tools, Poseidon came up with a “combination” fixture, which has been put to considerable use, over the years, with many regulators, not just their models. As a result, I haven't had use for a traditional vise, at least, for regulator repair, for some time. The fixture(s) are typically mounted on a portable work surface, which can be rotated and / or clamped in either direction, since I am left-handed, and drive a good number of my friends nuts with my typical arse-backward arrangement.

A friend -- my go-to guy for all things metal-fabricated -- admired its design simplicity, over a previous, more specific model (seen above), and has cobbled together a similar device, for his own use, during the course of an afternoon . . .

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

I'm sure the tolerances and possibly the materials are much better.

But you are still going to have to put screws/bolts through those two holes to keep it from twisting when you apply much torque.

Yours looks the same, even the name. Except I paid 4 times as much. Ugh

Edit: 250 USA, all others Taiwan.