Bench vise

How it works

A screw turned by a handle moves one jaw toward the other, which is fixed to the bench or post. The work is gripped between the jaw faces, and the mass of the body holds it against the blows of filing and hammering. Prentiss’s 1920 catalog names the essential features as rigidity, weight, strength, and accurately fitting, smoothly working parts, and says the weight supplies an “anvil quality,” the inertia to hold work solidly against a blow.

In the older smith’s vise that Moxon describes in 1703, a leg carries the weight of heavy blows to the floor, a spring between the jaws throws them open, and a screw and nut close them: Moxon specifies a screw cut with a square, strong worm, a nut brazed into a round box, a spring of well-tempered steel, and a straight foot that will bear heavy blows without bowing or trembling.

Later designs keep the screw but change how the jaw is moved. Record’s 1967 catalog describes a woodworker’s vise on which pressing a trigger lets the jaws slide freely to or from the work, and a half turn of the handle then grips or releases it, and Abernathy’s 1907 rapid-acting vise engages a clutch with a one-eighth turn.

Anatomy

Fixed jaw and body: Cast iron or malleable iron; Columbian’s 1944 catalog says its malleable castings were guaranteed unbreakable.
Movable jaw: Slides on the screw and, in Record’s patterns, on steel slide bars.
Jaw faces: Hardened and serrated steel plates, replaceable; Columbian says new faces can be installed without removing the vise from the bench.
Screw, nut and handle: The screw is steel; Record’s 1967 catalog describes a renewable “unbreakable” nut of long barrel set against an abutment.
Swivel base: A base that lets the vise turn in a full circle and lock in position; offered by Record and Columbian.
Pipe jaws and anvil: On utility patterns, pipe jaws and an anvil-faced back jaw; the 1941 Army manual says the back jaw can be used as an anvil for light work.

Variants

Machinist’s (mechanic’s) vise: Flat jaws, usually a swivel base; the 1941 Army manual calls it the vise most commonly used in automotive work.
Utility bench vise: Scored removable jaws, pipe jaws and an anvil-faced back jaw, holding heavier work than a machinist’s vise, according to the same manual.
Blacksmith’s (leg or post) vise: Fastened to the bench with a long leg set in a solid base on the floor, for work that must be pounded hard; Moxon describes the earlier pattern.
Pipe vise: Holds pipe or round rod only; Record lists pipe vises and chain pipe vises; Columbian lists hinged and combination pipe vises.
Woodworker’s vise: Record lists woodworkers’ vises with quick-grip or plain-screw action, and a pattern with an adjustable front dog.
Parallel-jaw bench vise, coach-maker’s vise: Howard’s 1877 catalog lists parallel bench vises, fixed and swivel, and a smaller coach makers’ vise.
Hand vise: A small vise held in the hand for small work that must be turned often; Moxon describes broad-chap and square-nosed kinds, and the Science Museum holds an 18th-century German example.

Specifications

Jaw width · in: Vises are sold by jaw width; Columbian’s 1944 catalog lists stationary-base, swivel-base and pipe-vise series by jaw width, opening and weight. No standard size table has been sourced.
Weight · lb: Catalogs list weight with each size; the weight is functional, since mass resists blows.

Made to

ASTM A48
ASTM A47

Safety and care

Safety

The 1941 Army manual says to keep the fingers clear of the jaws and of the space between the end of the handle and the head of the screw, where pinching is a very common accident.
The same manual says to prop heavy work on a block of wood or metal so that it cannot slide and fall on the foot, and not to open the vise beyond the limit of the screw, since the movable jaw may drop off.
Prentiss’s 1920 catalog says that when a user reaches the limit of pressure the lever can supply, a piece of gas pipe slipped over the lever multiplies the leverage and a break is pretty likely to follow.
The Navy’s 1971 manual says never to strike a vise with a heavy object and never to hold large work in a small vise, since either practice springs the jaws.

Care

Lubricate the screw frequently with light grease or heavy cylinder oil, and wipe the slide clean daily and spread light machine oil over it (1941 Army manual).
Never oil the swivel joint; its holding power will be impaired (1941 Army manual, 1971 Navy manual).
Do not hit the handle with a hammer; when the vise is not in use, bring the jaws lightly together with the handle vertical (1941 Army manual).
Leave a very small gap between the jaws when idle, since the movable jaw of a tightly closed vise may break as the metal expands in heat (1971 Navy manual).
Prentiss recommends detaching the front jaw occasionally, turning it over and lubricating the screw over its entire working length, after which screw and nut will wear indefinitely (1920 catalog).

Tips

Use soft jaws on finished work
The 1941 Army manual says to clamp finished work between loose jaws of soft metal such as copper, brass or lead, kept free of grit, and to lay rawhide or soft leather over the jaws for polished parts such as bearings.1
Fit V-cut loose jaws for round work
The same manual says that round work held between straight jaws is better held with loose V-cut jaws laid over the regular faces when there is enough round work to justify making them.1
Remove the taper pin to swivel the back jaw
On a swivel-jaw vise a tapered pin holds the jaw in its normal position; removing it lets the jaw swivel to hold tapered or irregular work. Columbian’s 400 series describes the same arrangement for the tool and die room.1 2
Give the final tension with a sharp push on the handle
For heavy or hard work the Army manual says to turn the screw up fairly tight and then give a sharp, quick push on the end of the handle for the final tension, using both hands and a quick surge of the body on large vises.1
Use the back jaw anvil and the pipe jaws
The utility bench vise has pipe jaws and an anvil-faced back jaw, and the back jaw can be used as an anvil for light work.1
Set the vise upright and in line with the bench
Moxon says a smith’s vise must be set up very firmly, standing upright with its jaw parallel to the work-bench, because square filing is spoiled if the jaw leans toward or away from the smith.1
A front dog and bench stop make a cramp
Record’s woodworkers’ vise with a front dog has an adjustable dog in the front jaw plate which, used with a stop fixed on the bench, acts as a simple cramping device.1

History

Earliest documented

1588

Italy (maker Jacopo da Ferrara, Italian, active in the late 16th century)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds an iron armorer’s vise by Jacopo da Ferrara dated 1588 (accession 58.16.5a–c), in three parts, with a height of 25.9 cm for the main part. Cincinnati Tool’s history of clamps asserts without citation that benches with wooden vise screws date back to Roman times; no Roman or medieval vise has been read.1 2

The bench vise is a screw and two jaws, and the screw is what dates it. The earliest vises read for this entry are the Metropolitan Museum’s armorer’s vise of 1588 and the German and Italian vises of the seventeenth century, made for armorers and gunsmiths. Cincinnati Tool’s history of clamps says that the use of cabinetmakers’ benches with wooden vise screws goes back to Roman times, but gives no source, and no ancient vise has been read for this entry.

By 1703 the smith’s vise had a settled form. Moxon, writing for the trade, describes the leg that carries blows to the floor, the spring that throws the jaws open, the square-threaded screw, the brazed nut and the hardened, cut jaws, and sets out how the vise must stand. He also describes the hand vise, for small work that needs turning, and for the joiner a bench screw, a double screw fixed to the side of the bench, and the hold-fast driven into a hole in the bench top. The vise and the hold-fast served different workers and held work in different ways.

The nineteenth century made the vise a catalog item. Howard’s 1877 catalog lists parallel bench vises, Parkinson’s Perfect Vise of 1890 is described by the Science Museum Group as a widely used design, and Prentiss, by 1920, claimed more than forty years of vise making. Prentiss’s 1920 price list names rigidity, weight and fit as the qualities of a vise, and includes a section on the use and abuse of a vise, citing among other things a pipe slipped over the lever.

What changed afterward was speed and material. Abernathy’s 1907 rapid-acting vise and Record’s Quick-Grip, with its trigger-released slide, let the jaw be moved to the work instantly instead of by turning the screw the whole way; Samsonia’s 1929 engineer’s vice had a quick-release lever. Columbian’s 1944 catalog advertised malleable iron castings, replaceable jaw faces, swivel bases and pipe jaws, and the 1941 Army manual lists four kinds of vise as standard for an automotive shop.

Moxon’s joiner’s bench used both a bench screw and a hold-fast, and Record’s 1967 woodworkers’ vise could be fitted with a dog that, with a stop on the bench, served as a cramp. The 1941 Army manual separates the two tools: clamps hold work outside a vise or where no vise is available, and are generally used for light work. O*NET’s Tools Used table lists bench vises for all 8 of the occupations that this archive maps to the tool.

Timeline

1588
Jacopo da Ferrara makes the iron armorer’s vise now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.1
17th century
A German steel gunsmith’s spring vise, and an iron North Italian bench vise of the early 17th century weighing 10.43 kg, are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.1 2
1703
Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises describes the smith’s vise (a spring, a screw, a nut brazed into a box and a straight foot), the hand vise, and the joiner’s bench screw and hold-fast.1
1829
A bench vice belonging to George Stephenson, maker unidentified, is held by the Science Museum Group.1
1877
Howard’s trade catalog lists parallel bench vises, fixed and swivel, and a coach makers’ vise.1
1890
J. Parkinson and Son of Yorkshire sell the “Perfect Vise,” which the Science Museum Group describes as a widely used design.1
1907
The Abernathy Vise & Tool Co. of Chicago advertises its rapid-acting vise, in which a clutch locks on a smooth feed bar with a one-eighth turn of the handle.1
1909–1930
C. and J. Hampton of Sheffield, later maker of Record vices, produces engineering and woodworking vices, according to Grace’s Guide.1
1920
Prentiss Vise Company of New York says in its fifty-second price list that it has been making vises for over forty years.1
1929
Buck and Hickman’s Samsonia Model J engineer’s vice, with a quick-release lever and replaceable steel serrated jaws, is dated to 1929 in the Science Museum Group collection.1
1941
The U.S. Army’s TM 10-590 lists the machinist’s, utility bench, blacksmith’s and pipe vises as those ordinarily used in the automotive shop.1
1944
Columbian’s Catalog 44-A lists stationary-base, swivel-base, combination pipe and bodymakers’ vises with replaceable tool-steel jaw faces; the company calls its castings guaranteed unbreakable.1
1967
Record’s pocket catalog lists plain-screw and Quick-Grip vises, swivel bases, heavy-duty and pipe vises.1

Gaps in the record (7)

No vise earlier than 1588 has been read; Roman, medieval and Renaissance vises, and the first vise with a screw, are not sourced.
The inventor of the parallel-jaw machinist’s vise and the first patents for bench vises have not been found.
No account of the invention of the quick-acting vise beyond Abernathy’s 1907 advertisement and the Record and Samsonia products has been read.
Metropolitan Museum records for the 18th-century vises, and the Science Museum records for leg vises, give no dimensions or maker beyond what is cited.
Care and safety are drawn from a 1941 Army manual and a 1971 Navy manual; no current manufacturer instructions were read.
Standards slugs are unverified guesses; no standard for vises has been read. No independent test or failure data has been sourced, so buying is null.
Columbian’s “guaranteed unbreakable” claim is the company’s own and is not verified by any test.