A bench vice is the one fixture every workshop needs before anything else gets built, and the right pattern depends on whether you work wood, metal or both. This collection carries Pony Jorgensen woodworker's vices and engineer's bench vices, along with Narex, UJK, Axminster and Hongdui holdfasts and specialist vices for the woodworking bench.
Choosing a bench vice
- Woodworking vice. Mounts under the bench top with wide, flat jaws you line with timber so the work is held without marks. Pony's 4" x 7" and 6½" (165mm) woodworker's vices are the entry point; the Jorgensen 4" x 7" and 4" x 10" rapid-acting vices add a quick-release screw for fast repositioning.
- Engineer's or workshop vice. Sits on top of the bench with hardened serrated jaws and an anvil for metalwork. Pony's heavy-duty swivel-base vices come in 4", 5" and 6" (100mm and 150mm) jaw widths, plus a 5" quick-release model.
- Jaw width. 100mm suits light fabrication and hobby use; 150mm is the size most trade workshops settle on.
- Light-duty and clamp-on. The 63mm clamp-on vice and the light-duty swivel vice fix to a table edge for modelling, electronics and small repairs.
- Drill press vice. The Pony 4" drill press vice bolts to the table and keeps hands away from the bit.
Woodworking vice alternatives: holdfasts and bench dogs
If your bench has standard 19mm or 20mm dog holes, a Narex holdfast or a Pony hold-down clamp pins work flat to the top in seconds, and the Hongdui surface fixing clamp does the same on a thinner desktop. The full range is in bench dogs and holdfasts. Pair a vice with a solid workbench, or browse everything from the brand in Pony Jorgensen.
In stock in Cape Town with nationwide delivery, free over R2000. Call 021 674 2119 if you are unsure which pattern suits your bench.
