Customer Reviews

Michigan Industrial Tools MIT Tool 6-1/2" Wood Working Vise

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After deciding to finally start getting the materials to build a wood working bench I came across this vise at one of the auction sites. Black powder coated heavy cast iron and chrome plated slides and screw shaft. Slide up dog, predrilled recessed screw holes for mounting your favorite hard wood pads. Best of all, it is very smooth in or out. There are no markings on the cast iron that I can find. If you get it under 25.00 you got a very good deal because it is as good as some of the big name brands.

The bench vise arrived by ground shipment in a normal delivery time period. The vise is a heavy cast iron product and is well constructed, maunfactured and finished. It works smoothly and well. It is exactly as described in the manufacturer's sales literature. It's a good and functional vise - exactly what I wanted. It's a great bargain at the price and is comparable in function and quality to vises priced at much higher cost.

I'm new on woodworking, this is my first vise, I can say that works great, holds the pieces very tight, I even don't need any protection on my workpieces the vise is very flat and leaves no marks in the wood.

I give 4 stars because the mecanism to open and close the vise is not as smooth as I was hoping.

Before I installed the vise I was actually quite happy and would have given it 4 stars.
In my "seller Feedback I said, "I have not yet installed the vise but it should be just fine. It is not a massive thing and the dog is not terribly heavy duty but it runs smoothly and seems well made. Really, the thing is for wood in a home shop so doesn't need to be capable of holding 400 lbs. I called the manufacturer for mounting dimensions and the guy I spoke with was very helpful. I will very likely get another."

I could not fit it in the seller feedback but I also wanted to say that it does not compare to a really nice bench wood vise but it is also less than $40 while some of the big names are upwards of $150 so don't expect a massive, really well machined piece of art.

Well now I have actually installed and used the vise and while I am still happy enough it is not as great as I initially thought.
The problem I now see is that when I really tighten the vise it clamps tighter at the bottom. Obviously any vise will do that to an extent but if I fully close this vise with nothing between the jaws it does not close evenly. there is about an 1/8" open gap at the top.
At the end of the day it will still work OK but I expect that if I need to clamp soft wood, it potentially could get crushed a bit at the lower part.

I should also add that the dog is not really thick or terribly well supported so if you need to really apply pressure it will not stay straight up. In some situations that deflection could be a problem. If you don't use a piece of scrap to protect your work piece the dog might cut into the lower edge.

So, still a good enough value and I think I will still probably get another as I do want two vises at the end of the bench for working on long pieces but some care will need to be taken.

I just got one of Michican Industial Tools 6 1/2" vises in the mail from Amazon yesterday. I started to install it on my work bench and quickly noticed a few things. For starters, it isn't even square! Not only did the maker not bother to square the corners they didn't even use a square mold for the cast. It also doesn't track strait. And even after lubrication it doesn't turn smoothly. I wouldn't pay $5 for this thing. It's awful. I'm returning it.

I live on Guam but I received the shipment very speedily compared to other shipments. There were no suggestions on the best way to install, so it took me awhile to figure out how to install so that it was stable. The depth seems a little shallow but this feature may account for its relative inexpensiveness. Time will tell whether it is sufficiently deep for I am short on experience in woodworking.

I tried buying this product, I really did. A week after I was supposed to have gotten this, I called and got some story about how they supposedly caught some former employee stealing and that it was "ccoming in on the truck tomorrow and would be out that afternoon". About 10 days -2 weeks later, still no vice, so I call again and get yet another story.

I finally decided to call it off and file a claim, and got my money back.

I WON'T be buying from them again.