I’m almost finished acquiring all of the proper tools at my new residence for building new uppers and lowers. I was wondering what size vise is best? I have ample room on the new bench but I doubt I will use the vise for much other than building new weapons. What do you guys use at home? Could you have bought a smaller vise if you only used it for building ARs/gunsmithing?
Thanks.
Just an average size, like 5 inches. That should fit most receiver blocks on the market. I’d suggest one that has a swivel base. Stay away from the cheap Chinese crap.
Agree with Kisara. A good standard vice from Home Depot or the like is fine. Definitely stay away from the cheap crap. I have a cheap vice on my bench now and the base is constantly slipping when I’m torquing on a barrel nut.:mad:
No cheap stuff here! My dad is a carpenter so I’ve always purchased good tools. I like Craftsman tools because of their no nonsense warranty. Five inch heavy duty was just the one I was looking at. It seemed to be the middle size as far as the vises go and I can’t imagain a receiver block being bigger than that.
Thanks for the advice!!
This 5" Wilton from Lowes works perfectly for me.
Your workbench is too neat & clean.
I hate you.
+1. My Fiance told me yesterday that it looked like one of my rifles was a suicide bomber and my bench was a crowded marketplace.
That’s what I have here at the shop too. I’ll be getting another and I have an Arbor press but haven’t mounted it to the work bench yet.
Someone should start a AR work-bench photo thread… LOL
A sure sign that not much work is getting acomplished, or NEEDS to be done.
REAL workbenches are covered in projects.
That’s a sure sign that work NEEDS to get done, but is not getting acomplished. 
I like that idea, I’m trying to come up with a good way to include a reloading press.
On the right side of the picture is my rollaway gunsmithing/reloading station. It has a single stage press mounted on each side and a 4-1/2" Vise mounted in the center towards the back. The drawers hold my gunsmithing tools and some reloading stuff along with parts.
This works good as I can roll it any place I want to work and the wheels lock when I need to use it. The Vise swivels and I have found it to be solid enough for doing barrel changes etc…
Later I’ll replace one press for a RCBS Turret press. All I did was use a couple of old shelfs bolted to the top of the rollaway with a little over hang on each end for the presses and the over hang also allows me to clamp different reloading tools as needed like my bench mounted primer tool.
It’s a very easy and handy setup and I can roll it into the closet when I’m done working.
Robert
I have a 4" on my AR bench, but have an 8" on my main workbench. So when I really need to hold something annoying I can walk 6 feet to a diferent bench.
Most do not have this option so a good 5" or an ok 6" would be the best compromise.
On the subject of tools: found a fibreglass strap wrench at Home Depot this week. Which makes me happy, as I keep killing rubber ones.
This is a good idea for the less fortunate members that don’t have a garage/shop or live in an apartment 
Look at my kitchen aisle.
Look what happens when the wife is not home.
Every home must have a solid top like a kitchen aisle or fixed cabinet. Mount the vice (5") with screws & nuts in a piece of wood like this (screw heads lay inside relieve holes so the bottom surface remains flat):
Solidly mount the whole fixture in the top with C clamps.
Easy! This way I’ve built my 3 AR’s and had done other few rail and bbl jobs for friends. This fixture withstands much more than the required torque to tighten a bbl nut. Just put a towel under the vice and the wife will never notice 
This is an idea for a long gun maintenance station. I did this “modular” stand with 6x1 and 4x1 white wood boards from Home Depot.
The AR upper “fixture” is a Schuster MGF upper receiver holder screwed to a piece of 4x1 wood.
I use this stand for my AK’s also and it will hold for maintenance my IMI Galil AR soon
I’d be interested in the dimensions if you have them written down. I’ve been thinking about building something similar for awhile now… just haven’t had the chance. You’ve inspired me
Make sure that the lifetime warranty info is either on the box or confirmed by somebody at Sears. I was there a while ago looking for a #8 Torx wrench when a gentleman came in with a busted…torque wrench, I think. I’m not dead certain, because it was at least a year ago. At any rate, they told him it was out of warranty and that particular wrench (as well as other tools with the Craftsman name on them) didn’t carry the same lifetime warranty as the majority of their hand tools do. That guy was not at all happy. I think they replaced it for him, but only after he started getting agitated. I don’t think you’d need the warranty on a product like a vice with their name on it, but if that’s a primary reason for using that brand, do yourself a favor and make sure that warranty applies.
I wrenched off the tip of an allen head socket a couple years ago. I went and replaced it and purchased one of the bar type torque wrenches (as oppossed to a click style). I was told by the clerk that the one I purchased was the only torque wrench covered under the life-time warranty due to its lack of moving parts. This is what I was told anyway.
-RD62
To be honest, all I really remember for sure was that it was an automotive tool, the guy apparently knew his way around cars; he might or might not have been a pro mechanic, and the guy working the tool department told him that even though the broken tool he brought back said Craftsman on it, it wasn’t covered by the same lifetime warranty that other stuff is.
All I’m saying is that from that incident, I gather that there’s been a shift in the “if it breaks we hand you a new one” policy. Be sure it really is in place if the warranty is the main reason for buying Craftsman brand tools. You’ll probably never need it, as all the Craftsman stuff I’ve got has lasted for years.
The word I have on the Craftsman replacement issue is it has to be a hand tool that is made in the US to qualify. I had twisted up a few allen wrenches of theirs and had that reasoning given to me when I tried to return them. So now I buy used Snap-on tools if I want a good one, or just accept that some stuff will not last very long and get cheap.
Lowe’s and Home Depot are marketing their own lines of tools, too. The hand tools are lifetime guaranteed. If I get a chance to ask next time I’m up that way, I’ll see if I can find out if they’re covering everything with their name on it. I think the plan is to pick up a vice for the shop here (as opposed to the shop over there, which already has one), so I guess I’ll see if the warranty is lifetime or not. At least with Lowe’s, since they’re closer, Jimmy Johnson is from my home town, and I have an extreme dislike for Tony Sterwart. That’s how you’re supposed to decide these kinds of things, isn’t it?