Woodworking Bench Vise - Hard Wood Vise for Workbench with 4 Bench Dogs and 2 Clips, Wood Bench Vises Kit Workbench Top Whittling Vise Woodworking Tools Work Benches for Garage Studios

Good vise, well constructed and great price!

This review will hopefully be helpful for the potential buyer and be fair for the seller. Further details are below but in summary, this is a functional and reasonably priced portable worktop that lacks the precision for high detail work.My thoughts are based on a pragmatic approach where I do not expect a lower cost item to reach the quality one might expect from a specialist manufacturer such as Sjoberg where similar items are much more expensive. If I wanted that level of quality I'd expect to pay more. So I am looking for a functional and reasonably constructed item when I'm paying $80-90 rather than $200-300.My thoughts:Pros: -strong, sturdy -nice looking wood with a pretty nice finish. A few minor scratches and an edge chip -the "box" is well aligned and sits flat -the accessory notched wood stop is accurately made -the threaded portion of the vise is clean and not rusted. No burrs on threads. -the vise face is minimally angled with respect to the opposing box perhaps 1 degree. This is perfectly adequate for holding items for sanding, planing, carving, etc but lacks the precision to accurately line up a jewelry box or frame to glue etc particularly with the below issues.Cons: -dog holes are poorly aligned with the three on one side positioned about 1/16-3/32" closer to the vise -looseness of the dog holes plus the vise angle and the malpositioned holes causes a 1/4-3/8" error -the dog holes are larger than the included workbench dogs. The workbench dogs are perhaps 5/8" dia -the dog holes however are non-standard sized so that my 3/4" workbench dogs will not fit in the holes -so make sure you keep track of the included Workbench dogs so you have some that will work ok -vise handle is a bit loose and the metal socket is slightly angled but it still functionsThere are a number of sellers of these worktops with prices ranging from $65-110. I suspect most of them come from the same manufacturer so I chose to purchase one from a seller who had higher seller ratings in the hope their quality assurance would lead them to only sell at least moderately-well constructed items. This worked for me as I did not have the more severe problems reported by others. Some reported included heavy rusting on the vise screw, vise guides, or dog holes that were offset by nearly an inch which would make the worktop nearly unusable.Finally, if you want a reasonably functional rather than a precison-focused portable worktop then these will work for you. It may help if you chose a a higher rated seller.

I needed a carry-round vice and small area work table and this is perfect. For the money, very nice. No issues with any part of the unit. Recommend if you need a portable solution around your work area. I use it primarily for sharpening small tools, etc.

TL;DR: Good value. Needs a base, and slides around a lot unless your handmade base keeps it in place. Yes, you will want to build a base for it. That's a great first project.This mini workbench is a third of the cost of the Sjoberg workstation pro, with (in my mind) almost all of the same features. I use this mini workbench on the floor of my studio. I am using a pair of japanese-style "low horses" as supports. When placed on my pair of "low horses", this workbench is the ideal height for my use (I am seated on the floor). I feel like its competitor may be sturdier with the integrated feet, but the Sjoberg is simply too low for my needs (and far too pricey). This cheaper workbench slides around on my supports - it is, after all, not that big - but the sliding is nothing that some doweling couldn't fix. Yes, this workbench has limits as it is not a full-sized workbench. Yet, for the excellent price, I have no real complaints. I can easily see myself making a bench hook for it, and a shooting board.

Unboxing the product I found the appearance and seeming quality of the product to be good. However, with my very first attempted use and 1) the guide rails for the vise were not even connected to the vise end piece - I had to brace the product upside down and hammer the rails into the intended holes - one would think this should be a very secure junction, but now I’m worried they both just fall out again with further use. Also the bench dogs are much to small for the holes giving way to much wiggle room. This becomes more serious with thicker pieces - when pressed against the dogs and any reasonable pressure it place on the wood to secure the dog angles away from the wood and the wood piece pops out!! - see photo.