How to choose a metal vice

The vise belongs to the category of fitting and assembly tools, designed to significantly facilitate the workflow for processing various blanks, providing the required working conditions. The scope of a vice is rather extensive: they are involved in wood processing, in electrotechnical works and so forth. Consider how to choose the vise corresponding to the specifics and conditions of work.

The scheme of the stationary metalworker vice.

Vice metalwork: device and methods of fastening

Before choosing a tool, you need to know how it works. A vice fixes the workpieces during bending, chopping and other operations.

Consist of:

• fixed and movable sponge;
• screw clamp;
• paws for attachment to the workbench;
• springs;
• bushings;
• pens;
• side covers.

The central part of the stationary lip is equipped with an anvil.

The dimensions of these plumbing fixtures vary quite significantly, what their purpose affects. The smallest - for small parts, the largest - for use in production.

Install and secure the vise on the workbenches, and the mount must be different durability and reliability.

Types of a vice: And - metalwork, In - machine, With - manual.

Options for fixings to the workbench, there are different. In total there are 3 ways: stationary, through clamp and suction.

The best way to mount and install is stationary. It is considered when the vice is required to be installed on a permanent place for regular use and is not intended to be moved frequently. The design of the vise for a stationary installation is usually bulky and weighty, but it will last a long period.

The method of fasteners through the clamp is less popular due to lower reliability and creates a temporary attachment where it is impossible to install a permanent workbench, the functions of which are performed by an ordinary table. Structurally, they are much smaller and lighter, since no one wants to install and remove heavy grip all the time. An alternative can be a miniature vice, mounted on a metal workbench for only a short time.

The third installation method is on suckers. This option is suitable only for a flat and smooth surface. Otherwise they may simply not hold. The brainchild of technological progress, but still better than nothing at all.

Before choosing a metalwork vice, pay attention to material of which they are made. Once this type of fixtures was made of cast iron. And today you can see cast iron products, however, models of elastic steel are considered to be more reliable, their ability to withstand significant loads is much higher.

The remaining parameters of the instrument (its shape, color, manufacturer) are selected, focusing on their own discretion and preferences.

Machine classification

The scheme of a metalwork vice with a clamp.

How to choose a vice correctly? It is necessary to find out what their varieties exist. Locksmith vise machines are classified based on many criteria.

By the method of driving a rotating screw that holds objects in a vice, there are:

• manual type;
• pneumatic.

The most popular today are ordinary locksmith or mechanical vice machines.

Depending on the design:

• rotary;
• pivotal

In tool stores, you can find upgraded models of machines that allow you to clamp parts with a large length in a vertical position. This manual principle of the tool has an enlarged anvil, and the base can rotate around its axis.

The shape of the fixed workpiece. For example, special devices with housing prisms are sold to firmly clamp round parts. They are equipped with a slider.

For processing parts made from materials of high rigidity, use a machine vise. They have a not so high lifting jaws. And constructively it is more rigid models, than metalwork analogs. These machines are designed to perform the operations of drilling, planing, milling, etc. They allow you to securely fix the part at the required angle, and in the working process to rotate it through 360º.

In some products there is a swivel base, which serves to attach the tool itself. However, this fact may affect the rigidity of the entire installation in the direction of its reduction. Therefore, the decision to use the rotary base can be considered as an exception.

Additional points when choosing

With sufficient complexity of the processing of parts, you may need a special configuration of the vice of the machine, the so-called sinus vise. Their design can be two-position and three-coordinate. Due to them, it is possible to firmly fix the elements with a certain bias in two or three mutually perpendicular planes. On the modern market, there are double machine clutches involved in the processing of two or more pieces. But such options for clamping devices are not so common.

The sizes of metalwork machines differ from joiner's.

For proper selection of machine or joiner's vice should take into account the material of the workpieces that will be mounted in them, and devices that will be processed. Of considerable importance are the criteria for the strength of parts fixed in clamping devices.

The details of the operation of clamping devices

1. Using clamping devices, the handle cannot be extended (for example, by putting on a tube) in order to increase the force.
2. Processing of heated steel products in them is considered inadmissible.
3. Parallel bench vise implies clamping of elements for filing, and it is impossible to bend the workpieces in order not to spoil the design of the vise.

Having found out how the vices are arranged, what they are and what they are meant for, what to look for when choosing, you can proceed to the purchase of the desired model. Have a good choice!