Yost ToolsYost M10WW Rapid Acting Wood Working Vise, 10 , Cast Iron

Solid build. Good addition to another bench.

I researched for months looking for a new vice for my, newly completed, Paul Sellers inspired workbench. I watched eBay trying to pick up an old, English made, Record vice but wasn’t jazzed about spending over $200 for a rusty project. Having owned and used my Wilton vice for the last five years, I wanted to try a “Record clone” quick-release vise like Paul suggests. I narrowed my vice down to this York vise, the current Record vise and the Eclipse. In a snippet I found online, Mr. Sellers cautioned against purchasing the current Record model because of problems he had experienced. To be fair, he also cautioned against the York vise because of problems he had experience with his woodworking class using these vises. That left me leaning towards the Eclipse but I kept thinking “is it really worth double the price?“ The reviews on the York were all over the board but overall, they seemed more positive than negative. I have no issue spending $200 on a vise that I can use for the next 20 years. Every single vise brand had a certain amount of negative reviews. I finally decided that if this vise showed up and looked horrible or the jaws didn’t align or the screw mechanism or quick release felt cheap then I would simply return it. Luckily, it passed the initial audition. I have been using the York vise almost daily for the last two weeks. The jaws are parallel and it locks up tightly. I really enjoy the quick release option as well as the ability to be able to back off the jaw a half turn, reposition the work piece, then snug up the handle. This is a total game changer for me! My Wilton vice is also considered a quick release vice, however, you cannot back off the jaw like you can with this style of vise. With the Wilton vise you have to turn the lever counter-clockwise one or two turns, reach down and grab the entire face and pull it back. Then you have to turn the handle clockwise a turn or two to reengage the turn screw. It’s 2-3 times as much work for every action performed. I see the wisdom in Paul recommending this type of vise. It’s so much more efficient, hands down. For now, I’m going to rate the vise as a solid 4. Time will tell if it will make it to a 4.5 or higher. Why only a four? In a word, machining. After receiving the vise I put it on some shop towels and degreased the entire main screw using mineral spirits, denatured alcohol and an old toothbrush. It comes well caked with grease and feels very smooth. However, that grease and sawdust will do nothing but harm overtime. Also, I had read a post from another York vise owner about the amount of metal shavings he found embedded in the factory grease that led to his cast iron vise nut wearing out early. After thoroughly degreasing, I coated the main screw and guide bars liberally with some paste wax, worked it in by operating the vise many times then buffed it with a clean towel. This allows you to see the machining of the main screw. As seen in my photos, there appears to be some galling on the threads. Either that or the machining tooling wasn’t as sharp as it should have been or the metal integrity wasn’t as high as it could be. I don’t know if this is par for the course or if this was possibly a bad batch of screws. Either way, the vice travels smoothly, locks up tightly and only time will tell how long the guts will last. Maybe overtime this roughness will disappear but I thought I should mention it because you won’t see it until you clean the grease off and I don’t think a lot of guys will take the time to clean the grease off.Last thoughts. Initially I was leaning towards a 10 inch version of this type of vise. Most of the 10 inch models open up 5+ inches more than the 9 inch versions. My Wilton vise opens up 5-6 inches more than my 9 inch York vice. In thinking about my past work, I realized that I had never opened my Wilton more than about 3/4 of its capacity. So going with the 9 inch model makes sense especially considering the price. Once you add vise jaws it has plenty of capacity for the majority of the work I will ever do. This completes my novel.

I just got this today. I probably won't get to use it for its intended purpose for a while, but since I already installed it on my work bench I thought it would be worth sharing my observations. As I get further into woodworking there are times when you want to lock something down solid without damaging it. My big mechanic's vice is not the tool for that, even if I put something soft in the jaws. So I figured I'd get one of these woodworker's vises. I doubt I'll be doing any fine planing or other stuff like that, but I do work on a lot of things that need holding, so I thought this would be a good investment. I just was not sure what size to get. I'm a go big or go home type, so I was tempted to get the 10" version. Now I'm thinking I probably could have gotten by with the 7". The 9" is a monster. I think it will be good for anything I throw at itThe vise seems well made. The screw is smooth and the quick release takes a bit of a squeeze to engage, but it works well too. I knocked it down a star because after I installed the vise it seems to consistently close with a slight gap on the right side. The gap goes away when you tighten it up, so maybe this is just the way these things work. I clamped several different sized pieces of wood up and it seems to hold them all firmly once you tighten it down.I gave it 3 stars for "Easy to Install". It's not the vises fault I guess that trying to install a greasy, heavy piece of equipment with lots of sharp edges and pinch points is a challenge. I have a steel workbench with 2"x6" wood under the steel top for reenforcement. I added a another 2"x6" plate where the vise was going to mount to try to make it level with the bench top. It tool another 3/8" shim to take the jaws just slightly below the bench surface. Not mind you, I had tho hold this in place while I figured out what wood to use. My metal C clamps were not quite big enough to hold the vise in place while I did all this. I ended up jacking the vise up to the bottom of the bench with my trusty Harbor Freight Daytona monster jack. Once I got it where I wanted with the extra plates in place, I was able to drill and drive in lag bolts to secure the vise. I also drilled thru the jaw holes so I could set wood for the jaws. All in all it took me about an hour or two of futzing around. And it's really just temporary since I'm not sure exactly how I'll be using this and where on the bench makes the most sense. But at least now I know how to set it in place. The smart way would have been to locate the position of the rear bolt holes which have an open slot on the mounting plate. You can put those bolts in your bench, slide the vise in place, then drill and screw in the front ones. Who knows? Maybe the instructions even say how to do that. I should probably look.So far I think I got my $100 worth. Eventually I'll mount it correctly and put better wooden jaw plates in. I just didn't want it sitting around in a box waiting till I had the time to "do it right".

I research a lot of woodworking vises, and picked this one. It's a nice heavy vise with quick release function.Perfect for my DIY workbench.

This has become my primary woodworking vice on my hand tool bench. Originally bought to use as an end vice, it works great for that purpose. I found I really like it for general work holding as well. It was easy to install and is quite sturdy. It does rack a little, it is an inexpensive vice. But it functions smooth, the quick release works great, and it is overall a great vice for the money.