Re: Taiwan All-Steel "Mechanist" Vise, 8-inch: a Review

I'd choose the the steel vise Horge purchased over those Nicholsons. I once check these at Yale Hardware when I was hunting for a shop vise. Frankly speaking I was not convinced thus I purchased a Chinese made Wilton 6" vise instead.

Re: Taiwan All-Steel "Mechanist" Vise, 8-inch: a Review

Just out of curiosity, have you tried the Records?

Used a big-ass Woden once, but sadly no Records, sir.
I just missed out on those English builds you were selling(?) a year back.
"It is said" (TM) that the last few years of Sheffield's output were hit-or-miss,
even reject stock castings assembled and dumped on the market (2004-09),
while then-new owner Irwin went with Chinese manufacture in Zhejiang(?).

I very nearly pulled the trigger on a Sheffield Record 1-Ton Mechanics', before
going with the Taiwanese vise I reviewed here. Asking price on the Record
(P8,000) proved too much for me, even in NOS condition.

I wonder how much stronger the steel vise is compared to iron considering both are cast. I believe vise makers measure it in terms of psi.

Yes, sir. 🙂

Vise manufaturers do like to tout the yield strength of the metal in their vises,
and use psi or ksi (=1000 psi) figures. I posted earlier that the JIS SC37 mould
steel found in the Taiwanese CT-102 has a tensile yield strength of up to
150 ksi.*

The ductile iron of US-built Yosts goes up to 65 ksi
The ductile iron of the US-built Wiltons goes up to 60 ksi.
The cast gray iron of US-built Wilton-Columbians reaches 30 ksi
Much Chinese/Indian cast white iron fails at substantially less than 20 ksi.

The old Sheffield Records seem to fall into two classes:
the cast-grays that make it to 20-30 ksi (including Mechanics' Vices once sold
at Panda) and their Engineers' Vice made of ductile iron that goes up to an
impressive 75 ksi.

However, as posted earlier, ksi is meaningless without total sectional area.
A sectional square-inch of cast-steel may be 3x to 7x as strong as a square-inch
of cast-iron or even ductiles/malleables, but cast-iron vises tend to be beefier
(have more more sectional square-inches) than cast-steel vises. Mas makapal
ang mga gato na fundido, que sa mga gato na acero, generally speaking.

I think puedeng i-eyeball na lang.
comparing a cast iron vs a cast steel vise: if the cast-steel vise's parts look about
1/3 the 'thickness' of a cast-iron vise, kaunti lang ang ganado ng former in terms
of durability. Kung 1/4, e baka patas ang laban o dejado pa nga ang steel. If a
cast-steel vise's parts are MORE than 1/3 the 'thickness' of a gatong fundido's,
the cast-steel vise will be so much more durable.

Another difference is a technical safety-advantage. Based on material properties,
and experiences related online by others:
A cast-iron vise will just break catastrophically.
A ductile iron vise will bend noticeably before cracking.
A cast-steel vise may bend into uselessness before it cracks, if it ever cracks.

----------------
*The key words here being "up to", and due to additional heat treatment.
Untreated SC37 may have a yield strength of as little as 70 ksi, which is still
nevertheless as good as the very best ductile iron out there, and about 2x
as strong (per sectional square inch) as the better kind of cast gray iron.

Are NICHOLSONS brand vise good enough for a shop. I ones saw a vise of this brand a few months back, just not so sure if it was a 6" or an 8" vise in a mall hardware and priced at 5K plus.

I'll me-too with JayL 🙂

Nicholson is a US brand with a middling reputation for its woodworking vises.
It seems they decided to venture into selling mechanics' bench vises, and
chose to have them made in China. These Kelly-green vises are made of a
what seems to be cast gray iron, and they aren't particularly beefy.

If all one wants is a workholder while grinding or sawig at the workpiece, my
guess is puede na siya. However, if there's going to be hammering, or cold-
bending (or even hot-bending) of substantial steel sections involved, It may
be better to go with a steel (or an old-school, beefy, ductile-iron) vise.

🙂
JM2, YMMV...

Re: Taiwan All-Steel "Mechanist" Vise, 8-inch: a Review

I'd choose the the steel vise Horge purchased over those Nicholsons. I once check these at Yale Hardware when I was hunting for a shop vise. Frankly speaking I was not convinced thus I purchased a Chinese made Wilton 6" vise instead.

Actually bro, I have that brand of shop vise already, only a 6" vise, I am still looking for a larger vise perhaps a 10" shop vise if there is one here locally. I guess I have to check several home depots or other industrial shops along Ortigas Ave. 🙂 😉

Re: Taiwan All-Steel "Mechanist" Vise, 8-inch: a Review

I'd choose the the steel vise Horge purchased over those Nicholsons. I once check these at Yale Hardware when I was hunting for a shop vise. Frankly speaking I was not convinced thus I purchased a Chinese made Wilton 6" vise instead.

[COLOR="Navy"]Sir Jayl, how do you review this Wilton vise since the time of purchased and the relentless used of this tool, considering it's chinese made. I'm currently in search of the same size. Currently i only have the 4 inch record that i acquired in Panda. thanks