Workshop Projects and Honest Tool Reviews
The history, types, identification, and restoration of bench vises and workholding tools.
Garrett Dunn · October 23, 2026
Most vise mounting advice assumes four bolts in a rectangle. Plenty of vises do not have that—a lot of older import vises and plenty of mid-range new ones come with three holes in a triangle, usually two across the front and one at the back. When you’re figuring out how to mount a 3 hole … Read more
Garrett Dunn · August 6, 2026
Understanding the Range of Vises Found in Working Shops: An Honest Assessment Walk into any shop and you’ll spot vises—whether mounted on a workbench, bolted to the floor, or clamped to a table edge. The variety is striking: different proportions, jaw configurations, mounting systems. Each one exists because certain jobs demand specific holding solutions; there’s … Read more
Garrett Dunn · August 6, 2026
Mounting a Bench Vise to Drywall: What Works and What Fails Hard Bolting a bench vise directly to your wall is possible. But your wall has to become what a workbench already is, and most residential framing isn’t engineered for that task. I learned this the hard way. Drywall anchors came with the vise, so … Read more
Garrett Dunn · July 27, 2026
A Brief History of the Bench Vise: From Blacksmith Leg Vise to Modern Machinist Tool I have a twelve-dollar cast-iron vise in my garage, painted industrial green, from an estate sale I attended years ago. When I brought it home, rust and decades of shop grime covered it—I couldn’t make out the casting mark or … Read more
Garrett Dunn · July 23, 2026
During last January, my garage temperature dropped enough that I realized something I’d overlooked for years: a crusty bench vise buried under sawdust and old rags actually worked better than the shiny one hanging next to it. That discovery came from pulling it out to use for a quick metal job, and when I finally … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 24, 2026
How to Mount a Bench Vise So It Actually Holds: Bolts, Height, and Overhang Last winter, digging through my garage to find a file I’d set down months earlier, I stumbled across an old restored vise someone had given me—jaw surfaces like glass, handle smooth as silk—that I’d bolted down with whatever fasteners were in … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 23, 2026
5 Old Vises Worth Buying and 3 You Should Walk Away From Manufacturer spec sheets don’t mention what happens when you’re standing at a flea market table with a crusty vise in front of you, trying to decide in sixty seconds whether it’s a restoration project or a waste of truck space. That’s the gap … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 22, 2026
Rebuilding a Vise Screw and Nut: The Part Most People Skip During Restoration You’re standing at your workbench, gripping the handle of a vise you’ve just spent the weekend restoring. The casting gleams with fresh paint. The rust is gone. Everything looks restored. Then you tighten it down on a piece of scrap, and the … Read more
Garrett Dunn · June 21, 2026
How to Identify an Old Vise: Brand Markings, Age, and What It’s Actually Worth Most people walk past old vises without a second glance—assuming they’re all equally worthless or equally valuable. Neither is true. Fifteen dollars bought me a crusty vice at an estate auction last June, buried beneath corroded wrenches and socket sets nobody … Read more