Email This Page to a FriendPreview: Versa Vise Review, with Harry Bryan

– This style of vice was originally called a Versa Vice, made in Ohio and the company is no longer in existence. There Chinese knockoffs which are really pretty well done. Woodcraft sells a fine one and I bought several of those. I probably have bought almost twenty of these vices for myself, my kids, and friends who have ordered them through me. It’s great strong point is that it is high enough off the bench that I can really do fine work in it. It swivels, but when I clamp a piece of wood into it, it pivots this whole device around this pivoting point, pushes this cam down and locks the cam onto the stud, so that yes I can move it if I really come on to it, but it is strong enough for sawing and working at that way. To get the light I need I could put that at any angle I want and it automatically locks it in place. I can also pick this up and put it on the stud this way, and I could hold a piece of plywood along the bench this way, or I could hold a piece of wood here and turn this out exactly where I needed it to work on it, and the ability to pivot anywhere I want. It’s great feature, it’s only held down with three large screws, so that you so that you might have a spare base or take this base and take it to your work site, or to your saw horse and have a vice that was useful almost everywhere. The original company made various adapters for this one, if I put it on here and tighten it up, then I could pivot my vice this way as well as pivot this way, and makes it great for carving. Unfortunately as far as I know the Chinese knockoffs don’t make this piece, but this is a standard inch-and-a-half diameter and I think a good welding shop could make you one of those with a heavy piece of pipe and a piece of inch-and-a-half steel without any trouble. I can’t say enough about the usefulness of these vices because I feel couldn’t build boats without one. I suppose I could but it wouldn’t be much fun.