Yost Vises 936-AS 6" All-Steel Combination Pipe and Bench Vise with 360-Degree Swivel Base

I recently purchased this Yost 5" All Steel Bench Vise from Amazon and my initial impressions of it are quite positive. It is made of structural cast steel with a tensile strength of 50,000 PSI. This isn't quite as good as heavy-duty or professional vises made of ductile iron, but far better than cheaper vises made of "gray" iron rated for 20,000 to 30,000 PSI. Taking a quick check of other Yost and Wilton vises, it looks like you are going to pay $350 and up for a stronger (60,000 PSI) ductile iron vise, so I consider this vise to be a good tradeoff in cost vs. strength. (FYI Yost considers these All Steel vises to be a step up from the Apprentice series vises.)My only issues to this point are (1) I would have preferred a 4-hole mount, but hopefully I will not find this a limitation; (2) the base isn't as "beefy" as some other utility vises like the  Yost 5-1/2 Inch Utility Vise, Model 455 Apprentice Series . On the good side the base does swivel and has two lock down clamps.Edit - after a few years sitting in my garage (boxed up when not in use) the vise has a few rust spots on it, not too bad but I though it was worth pointing out. Still consider this a good vise for the cost.

Bought this as a gift for my Dad after he returned a poor quality vise to one of those discount chains. Dad loves it and will now explain. The vise is vastly superior to any in discount/box stores and is priced very competitively with them. Yost is knowledgeable and rapidly responsive to any questions you may have (just try that with any discount or box store). PLEASE ASK them to see if the vise suits your needs. They provided product brochure by email. Received the triple boxed very well packed vise within days of ordering it even though it had free shipping and was supposed to arrive much later.Unlike the vast majority of vises which are cast iron this one is cast STEEL and about twice as strong (maybe even more) ! Unlike many stores, Yost provides replacement parts in the unlikely event you will need to purchase them. You see this vise can tolerate up to about 265 pounds of force applied to the end of the handle and withstands a clamping force of up to 5,000 lbs. As it should be, jaws are level when clamped and there is no play as the jaw moves to its partner. Oil/Grease the spindle nut protects and also provides easier movement. There is a 2.5 inch by 2 inch anvil area.

As a home use vice this one will be hard to beat in the sub hundred dollar range when on sale.All the areas that need to be well machined are done well, it rotates smoothly on the base, jaws line up well and hold well even under some fairly serious yanking and banging.You will have to provide your own fasteners to attach it to your bench and that brings me to the weakest point in this vice. It's a three point attachment, and it really should be four. This sort of self regulates how much you can yank on it which will probably save you from breaking the vice.Overall it's worth the money when on sale. When it's not on sale the Wilton  Wilton 11127 675 5-1/2-Inch Jaw Width by 5-Inch Opening Utility Workshop Vise  has the four point base but is made out of cast iron instead of cast steel and normally sells at about the Yost sale price.

I was building a workbench and it dawned on me that I would be foolish to have a bench without a vise, so I did some research and bought this one about a year ago. I don't use it often but when I do, I'm never disatisfied.The screw turns well with no roughness, the mounting holes are sufficient and I can crank the hell out of it to tighten down on something with complete confidence that nothing will break. However, the heaviest duty thing that I've done with it is bending 1/2" rebar at 90 degree angles.So, all in all, I would say it's a great vise for the limited use I've put it through and, in hindsight, I would buy it again.

I'm no metallurgist, but this vise is obviously made of a different material than other vises I've experienced just by looking at it. I'm going to call that a good thing because I've had SO MANY vises fail in the last few years. Even from well known brands. Here's hoping that this one's head doesn't crack in half like the others.Only Con: The swivel feature is held on by a plate on the bottom. That plate doesn't seem to be the correct size (should be a couple mm longer) and tends to jam on occasion.

Looks like a pretty sturdy vise, should do what i need it to do. Only disapointment was how small it is, not very big or bulky. Since it was a 6 inch vise i was hoping for a big beefy peice of cast iron. Overall pretty solid vise though, if i were to buy again i would shop at a store to see different selections in person vs buying online

Well, I can't say that I wasn't warned by several reviewers. Having sold vices for many years (Wilton), I cannot give this small vise more than 2 stars. One star, it is a vise. Second star, it will open and close. I didn't expect a precision machinist vise for this price, however, I would have expected to have the jaws "nearly" aligned. When closed, the jaws were out of alignment about 1/8". One jaw higher than the other. Was able to remove one side and shim it to get somewhat better alignment, but could not budge the screws holding the other jaw in place. Top to bottom alignment is equally poor. When the jaws are closed, the top meets fairly well across the width of the jaw, but the bottom of the jaw is still open about 1/8". Here, you don't get quite what you pay for, making me wish I'd bought the much lower priced vise at my local farm store.

It is holding up much better than a similar sized vise that I got from Harbor Freight, plus this thing was delivered to my doorstep, for free. I killed its predecessor by trying to switch the blade of my Haglof brush axe. Already switched a blade on this one without cracking it. Hoping for many more years of duty.

Works great, nice anvil on it.

GREAT VISES

husband is happy with it, cant wait for the nice weather so he can put it into his work shop...