6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

This is a vise. It is not a press. If you need to press something together, then buy a press. Don't complain when a vise is no good as a press!

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

WAS WELDED TO THE BACK OF MY BUMPER..USED IN -40 DEGREE COLD, HAMMERING WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER TO BEND A SNOW PLOW BLADE..,,,COULD NOT DAMAGE IT ,,,RECCOMENDED

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

I have had this vise for about 4 years now I have press u joints with it Ive clapped stuck bolts in it to loosen them Ive heated pipes wrenches and random metal while pressed in this vise bent the wrenches and pipes still holding strong. The only dislike I have about this item is it doesnt have teeth gurds for it but other than that cant complain

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

I bought this tool specifically to press the U-joints out of my long neglected truck. This was not pretty and wound up beating the vise in order to get them in and out. The vise took all the abuse and still works perfect. I would recommend this tool to anyone, anytime.

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

I have used this vise for a few years now, It has handled all the pounding,prying,clamping that i have thrown at it.

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

This is fine if you are simply holding an object in place. The problems start when you apply pressure to the handle. I snapped one of these in half trying to press in a bearing, returned and replaced no problem. Second one lasted a year or so, but now it has snapped in half as well....

Oh well, I guess you get what you pay for. Overall happy with Harbor Freight products given my non professional need for them.

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

First off, if your are buying this vice to PRESS ANYTHING (bearings, bushings, etc), this is absolutely not going to last through your first job. Go buy a press or a $200 well-manufactured vice. The screw nuts fail on harbor freights vices because A) they are cast of junky steel, and B) they are do not engage with the vice boss designed to take the clamping force. You can't do anything about A, but you can fix B fairly easily and have a reasonably durable working (non-heavy duty) vice. Don't buy this vice unless you plan to perform the following and make up for a major molding/machining Chin*se oversight. What to do to reduce failure of the screw nut block: There is a 1/16" gap between the boss or hump forward of the screw nut block and the screw nut itself. This prevents the force of the vice from being properly applied to the front of the nut block when the vice is tensioned. Instead, the force is solely placed on the rear of the block and the holding bolt that keeps it in place. This is NOT HOW THE VICE WAS DESIGNED TO WORK, but CHEAP [*] MANUFACTURERS have eliminated an extra machined surface and saved a few pennies and HF has done nothing about it. To fix this you need to fill this gap with a piece of hard steel less than 1" x 1" and of the right thickness to be held under tension or better yet welded in place. In other words, you are making a shim. I used an extra thick grade 5 washer with an OD of about 1" (ID of 3/8") and a thickness of roughly 1/16th inch. If the metal shim is held in place securely and the screw nut block is tightened securely (suggest lubricating the threads), the force will now be distributed as the designer intended and you nut **probably wont break unless you use your vice as a press.My 6" HF vice is four years old and has been used for light metal fabrication and is still going strong. You get what you pay for; most HF stuff is NO EXCEPTION. This 33lb vice is worth about as much as 15lb good quality vice, so that's the strength you can expect from it even after this modification. The steel is junk and that's what you're saving money on. If the screw nut block breaks, you can't replace it. This is just another case of the manufacturer cheapening the design and using bottom-rate materials.

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

The screw nut broke when holding a u-joint, unable to get a replacement nut.

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

The screw nut either wore out or the threads broke off, the screw itself looks brand new. Same problem listed in review of smaller vise of this same series

Comments about Central-Forge 6 in. Swivel Vise with Anvil:

Bought vise after reading reviews, didn't expect a bullet-proof vise, went out of my way to grease the threads and kept them greased. Clamped down firm on a piece of 1/2" steel to drill it and the back jaw broke off. Only lasted a few months. Am going to take back to the store in hopes that they will swap me for another one...