I’m after a new workbench vice for general bike fettling & light DIY duties. Don’t want to spend a fortune, but it does need to be solid & well built. Any suggestions? Cheers!

screwfix have a few
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;jsessionid=Z0yjTLnLLz6HyT4TLPqmtkTjSbsbnQXRQYzVm23NT6DltHm2YL8v!-523957294?fh_search=vice

cheers, got one just up the road…

Get some soft jaws too…

Get some soft jaws too…

oh, I’m a vice dummy, care to elaborate please?

This sort of thing…

Stops you Scratching/indenting work pieces, especially handy for suspension components or anything where surface finish need to be maintained…

ah good tip thanks

I don’t know if you have a machine mart neer by but i got one of these

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/csvr100-100mm-steel-vice

which seems quite good value compared to some of the vices in Screwfix

+ for the machine mart

vice = essential for anything other than tinkering imo ….one of those things you dont know you needed till you have it ..

Have a look for a good quality 2nd hand one, they are much better than cheap new ones. free-ads, ebay, junk shop, etc.

I’ve got one of these, I got it from a place I worked at that closed down. Forty years old and still going strong.

Don’t mess around with buying a new one from machine mart or screwfix etc etc, it will break eventually and you’ll end up buying another. For sensible money the old records are the way forward, preferably one with a quick release, 23 is generally a good size for most jobs.

I bought a Swindens recently, makes servicing forks easier as you can hold them vertically in the concave jaws (with a inner tube for protection). A slightly smaller version of this

Best tool in my shed.

Has anyone actually broken a big cheap vice, apart from doing things with it that it’s not designed for? or is it just received wisdom?

Wowsers Madfly, for the price of that vice you could buy 18 of the Machinemart ones!

I haven’t broken a vice and for the stuff i am likely to use it for with my bike i really thing the one i have will be plenty strong enough. but hey if it brakes it was only £25.

You can pick up a good second hand vice for around £20-£30. Similar to a cheap new one. I’ve seen a few broken new ones but its usually from abuse, but then that’s what vices are for. A makeshift press or for hammering the stuffing out of a stuck component. The real problem with cheap modern ones is that they are a pain to use. Loads of play in the screw and slides, poor alignment, etc. Makes it hard to hold things firmly without over-tightening, especially off centre.

Broken a 4″ Clarke trying to remove a stubborn BB cup, cracked one of the jaws clean in two.

I sawed up an old kitchen chopping board for my vice jaws. Nice hardwood wont damage anything, simply screwed in place of the metal jaws.

I have about 50 Record Vice for sale if anyone is interested?…