Workbench vise

What is a workbench vise?

A workbench vise is a sturdy, bench-mounted clamp with two jaws that open and close using a screw or quick-release mechanism. It securely holds your work so you can shape, cut, drill, sand, or glue with better control and safety. By freeing both hands and preventing the piece from shifting, a vise helps deliver cleaner cuts, smoother surfaces, and more accurate results on all kinds of projects.

Common uses in DIY and home projects

• Woodworking: Holding boards for planing, sanding, routing edges, sawing joinery, or chiseling mortises.
• Metalworking: Gripping metal bar, angle, or threaded rod for hacksaw cuts, filing, bending, or tapping.
• Plumbing and electrical: Clamping pipe, conduit, or fittings for cutting and deburring.
• Assembly and repair: Steadying small parts during glue-ups, installing hardware, or filing edges.
• Sharpening and finishing: Holding tools, mower blades, or small fixtures for sharpening or polishing.

Types and variations

• Woodworker’s face vise: Mounts to the front of a bench and often sits flush with the benchtop. It typically has wide wooden or replaceable jaw liners to protect workpieces. Great for planing, sawing, and general woodworking.
• Tail vise or end vise: Mounted on the bench end, used with bench dogs to secure boards flat on the benchtop for planing or sanding. Provides long, even clamping across the bench surface.
• Twin-screw or Moxon vise: Two screws and wide jaws hold large panels or board edges at a comfortable height, popular for hand-cut joinery like dovetails. Often portable or temporarily clamped to the bench.
• Machinist’s (engineer’s) vise: Heavy cast iron or steel body with serrated steel jaws, often on a swivel base with an anvil pad. Designed for metal work, hacksawing, filing, and general shop tasks.
• Combination vise: Includes standard flat jaws plus built-in pipe jaws for gripping round stock such as pipe or conduit.
• Leg vise: Traditional woodworking vise with a single large screw and deep capacity, mounted to a bench leg. Provides strong clamping and excellent reach for large or irregular pieces.
• Specialty jaws and pads: Magnetic soft jaws, V-blocks for round stock, wood or leather liners, and non-marring pads expand what your vise can hold without damage.

How to choose the right vise

• Size and capacity: For woodworking, a 7–10 inch jaw width and 4–12 inch opening suits most home shops. For metalworking, 4–6 inch jaw width is common; larger sizes offer more grip but require a heavier bench.
• Throat depth: Deeper jaws reach farther into a workpiece, improving stability. Wood vises often benefit from a generous throat for edge planing.
• Mounting style: Wood vises can be under-bench or face-mounted. Aim to have the top of the wooden jaws flush with the benchtop. Machinist vises bolt on top of the bench; choose a corner location with overhang to allow saw and file clearance.
• Quick-release feature: Handy on woodworking vises for fast, one-handed adjustments.
• Swivel base: Common on machinist vises; it lets you angle the work for better tool access. Look for locking levers that hold firmly.
• Jaw materials and pads: Serrated steel grips metal aggressively; add soft jaws or liners for finished parts. For wood, use wooden or leather-faced jaws to avoid dents.
• Build quality: A solid casting, smooth screw action, and square, parallel jaws indicate reliability. Avoid sloppy slides and thin castings.

Setup and safe use

• Mounting: Use through-bolts with washers and locknuts into a thick, flat bench top. For machinist vises, 3/8 inch (M10) or larger hardware is typical, and a backing plate under the bench can spread the load. For wood vises, ensure the fixed jaw is flush and square to the bench edge.
• Protect your work: Add jaw liners. Wood strips, leather, rubber pads, or magnetic aluminum soft jaws prevent marring. Use V-blocks or pipe jaws for round stock.
• Avoid racking: Clamping off-center can twist the jaws. Place a spacer of equal thickness on the opposite side to keep pressure even.
• Apply only needed force: Tighten until the piece holds firmly. Over-tightening can damage the vise, the bench, or the work.
• Use bench dogs with a tail vise: For long boards, bench dogs provide even clamping along the surface instead of squeezing from just the edges.
• Keep clean and lubricated: Brush out chips and dust. Lubricate screws and slides with light oil or a dry lubricant. For woodworking vises, avoid heavy grease that collects sawdust.
• Safety basics: Wear eye protection, keep fingers clear of moving jaws, and never use a cheater bar on the handle. Do not hammer on the vise body unless the vise has an anvil pad designed for light strikes.

Maintenance tips

• Inspect bolts and nuts: Periodically re-tighten mounting hardware. A loose vise causes chatter and misalignment.
• Check jaw faces: Replace worn liners and keep faces parallel. True up wooden jaw liners if they become uneven.
• Lubricate seasonally: A few drops of oil on the screw and guide rods keeps action smooth. Wipe off excess to avoid attracting grit.
• Protect from rust: For metal vises, apply a light coat of oil to exposed surfaces, especially in humid shops.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Clamping finished wood with bare steel jaws: Always use pads or liners to prevent dents.
• Over-tightening: Excess force can strip threads, crack castings, or crush delicate work.
• Mounting on a weak or thin bench: The vise is only as sturdy as the bench. Reinforce the area or add a backing plate.
• Ignoring racking: Off-center clamping without a spacer leads to poor grip and misaligned work.
• Using the vise as a press or brake: Do not attempt heavy bending or pressing operations beyond what the vise is designed to handle.
• Cutting hardened fasteners without proper support: Use appropriate blades and support; for threaded rod, thread a nut on before cutting to help clean up the threads afterward.

Practical examples

• Plane a board edge: Clamp the board in a face vise with the top of the board just above the jaws. Use a spacer on the opposite side if the board is off-center, then plane with long strokes.
• Cut a bolt to length: Hold the bolt in a machinist vise with soft jaws, thread a nut past the cut line, saw the excess, then back off the nut to straighten the threads.
• Deburr copper pipe: Grip the pipe in combination vise pipe jaws, cut with a tubing cutter, then ream and deburr safely with both hands free.
• Sand a small box: Use leather-lined jaws to hold a delicate piece while hand-sanding without leaving marks.
• Flatten a panel: Use a tail vise and bench dogs to hold a panel flat on the benchtop for planing and scraping.

Related terms

• Bench dogs: Pegs that work with a tail vise to hold boards flat on the bench.
• Holdfast: A quick, levered clamp that fixes work to a bench top.
• C-clamp and F-clamp: Portable clamps used alongside or instead of a vise for specific tasks.
• Moxon vise: A twin-screw, often portable, woodworking vise for raising work to a comfortable height.
• Soft jaws: Replaceable pads that prevent marring and improve grip on delicate surfaces.

A well-chosen and well-mounted workbench vise quickly becomes a trusted shop helper, making your cuts straighter, your surfaces cleaner, and your projects safer and more repeatable.