I got a perfectly working 5 inch Gressel bench vise which is built like a tank weighing around 80lb. This is about the best vice you can own, every professional mechanic I know has one of these in their shops.
I was gifted a machine vise that was mounted on a 10ton mill. It's an italian vise, from the company Allen, a new one costs around 2000$. It has 8 inch jaws, 2 inches high, weighs in about 100 pounds and has a monster 2 inch screw (3/4" for the Gressel) with 6threads per inch. I haven't cleaned it yet, but even with dirt and grime inside it, the screw and the turning pivot are buttersmooth. It feels like it was designed to crush bench vises for breakfast. The best part is, the jaws are screwed on, so I can 3d-print my own jaws and screw them on, instead of 3d-printing vise pads and clamp them over the jaws (If you look at my Gressel vise you will see the black 3d printed pads). Also there are flat surfaces below the jaws on the Allen, which would make hammering a loosely clamped workpiece so much easier.
The Gressel vises are sold 2nd hand for around 500$, while the Allen machine vises are being sold around 200$. So of course, I'm thinking of getting rid of my Gressel and installing the machine vise as my to-go bench vise. But, if they are so cheap and sturdy at the same time, why isn't everyone using them?
The machine vise looks smaller on the photo than it actually is due to the camera angle.
I was gifted a machine vise that was mounted on a 10ton mill. It's an italian vise, from the company Allen, a new one costs around 2000$. It has 8 inch jaws, 2 inches high, weighs in about 100 pounds and has a monster 2 inch screw (3/4" for the Gressel) with 6threads per inch. I haven't cleaned it yet, but even with dirt and grime inside it, the screw and the turning pivot are buttersmooth. It feels like it was designed to crush bench vises for breakfast. The best part is, the jaws are screwed on, so I can 3d-print my own jaws and screw them on, instead of 3d-printing vise pads and clamp them over the jaws (If you look at my Gressel vise you will see the black 3d printed pads). Also there are flat surfaces below the jaws on the Allen, which would make hammering a loosely clamped workpiece so much easier.
The Gressel vises are sold 2nd hand for around 500$, while the Allen machine vises are being sold around 200$. So of course, I'm thinking of getting rid of my Gressel and installing the machine vise as my to-go bench vise. But, if they are so cheap and sturdy at the same time, why isn't everyone using them?
The machine vise looks smaller on the photo than it actually is due to the camera angle.
