Bench Vise

There are many great designs for hobby and craft vises that utilize 3D-printed parts.  I use several of these very effectively for soldering, gluing, painting and other hobby oriented tasks.

HOWEVER...

I also have a need for something heavier, for the garage, to perform tasks beyond hobby and craft duty.  I needed a small, but capable vise strong enough to hold items when sawing, grinding, and torch soldering.

My design for this Bench Vise utilizes common hardware that provides MUCH greater strength than any 3-D printed part can provide, yet is readily available.  I chose a 5/8-11 x 6"L bolt for the lead screw as it provides enough travel per revolution to work effectively and is readily available in comparison to ACME threaded options.

I printed the main body and floating jaw in PETG-CF with 5 walls and 22% gyroid infill.  The handle was printed with PETG-GF filament with the 3 walls and 22% gyroid infill.  I printed the jaw pads with Rapid TPU-95A with 3 walls and 22% infill.

Hardware Required:

Item

Qty

Description

Part Number

Purpose

1

1

5/8"-11 UNC x 6"L Hex Bolt - Full Thread

Everbilt 801166

Lead Screw

2

1

5/8" x 1-1/8" x 1/2" Shaft Collar

Hillman 838621

Retainer

3

1

5/8"-11 UNC Hex Nut

Everbilt 801786

Drive Nut

4

2

5/8" x 1" x #14 gauge Machine Bushing

Hillman 882393

Thrust Washer

5

6

#4 x 1/2" Black SS sheet metal screw

(Amazon) X004P0P57P

Retain Jaw Pad

Refer to animation for assembly sequence.  Note the Shaft Collar is tightened with the hex set screw after aligning with the slot in the main base.

Assembly:

1. Affix jaw pads to vise jaws.

1. Insert hex bolt into handle and seat head into hex recess.

1. Place one machine bushing on bolt.

1. Pass bolt through vise body and slide remaining machine bushing and collar onto bolt.

1. Press nut into hex recess in floating jaw and thread bolt through jaw until flush with outer body Optional: Depending on your print tolerances, you may add a drop of CA adhesive to help retain the nut during jaw retraction.

1. Align collar setscrew with recessed slot in vise body and tighten appropriately.  Optional: You may wish to file a flat on the bolt threads and/or drill a shallow divot for more positive engagement.

1. Press Handle Center Cap into recess.

Counterbore mounting holes are sized for #10 pan head screws.

Optional:  Portable Bench Clamp (no-drill option for mounting)

Hardware Required for Bench Clamp:

Item

Qty

Description

Part Number

Purpose

1

1

3/8"-16 UNC x 3-1/2"L Hex Bolt - Full Thread

Knob

2

2

3/8"-16 UNC Hex Nut

Knob

3

1

3/8"-16 UNC Hex Thin Jam Nut

Lock Nut

4

4

#10-32 x 5/8"L  Machine Screw

Vice Mounting

5

4

#10-32 Hex Nut

Vice Mounting