Versa Vise

Making itself useful since 1901

Written by Christopher Cunningham

From Issue May 2019

Fully open, the Versa Vise has a 4-7/8" capacity.

I first used a Versa Vise in 1988 when I was working for the Smithsonian Institution, making mounts for art objects in the National Museum of African Art. Those brass armatures could be very complex with very odd shapes, and the Versa Vise had a nearly unlimited range of motion to accommodate working on them. I liked the vise so much that I soon bought one for my own shop.The jaws of the vise open to 4-7/8″ and have smooth, flat faces 3-1/2″ wide and 2-1/4″ high. With that wide area of contact and the absence of knurling common to the jaws of other vises, the Versa Vise won’t mar wood or metal. On the body of the vise, behind the fixed jaw, there is a 1-3/4″ square anvil surface. I do light work on it and leave the heavy hitting for some big slabs of steel that can take no end of abuse. The vise sits on a base with three legs and a 1-1/2″-diameter post and can swivel freely around it. There are two matching 1-1/2″ holes in the vise, one on the bottom to hold it in a normal upright position and the other on the side for a horizontal orientation.

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Comments (8)

Ian Hendrie says:

May 1, 2019 at 8:21 pm

Really neat vice. They appear to ship only to the United States.

Reply
John says:

May 2, 2019 at 12:48 am

Been wanting one since I saw Harry Bryan demo his on video! Thanks for article and the link! Just bought it and the swivel base – can’t wait to finally get one!!

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Bill Kenneke says:

May 2, 2019 at 4:36 pm

Just bought one and the swivel base as well.

It looks like one can buy extra bases for other benches… is that what they’re for?

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1. Christopher Cunningham says:
  
  May 2, 2019 at 5:53 pm
  
  Yes, you could get an additional base to use the vise on another bench, but that’s not why Jon-Mar added the base alone as an option. Owner Larry Murgatroyd told me that the company had received a lot of calls from people who had the vise but no base. The story they usually told was that when Grandpa passed away, the family cleared out his shop and took the vise but didn’t have the wherewithal or time to unscrew or unbolt the base and left it behind. Someone in the family eventually realized the vise would be useful and not just a memento and called Jon-Mar. If there were markings on the base, whoever wound up with the base might want to order just the vise, and you’d see that option on the Versa Vise web site. As far as I know that hasn’t happened yet.
  
  Reply
Harold Wheeler says:

May 3, 2019 at 12:05 am

Knew they existed but had never seen one or knew the correct name. Just bought my first.

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Richard says:

May 8, 2019 at 1:39 pm

I think this article may have overwhelmed Jon-Mar with new orders. I hope you gave them a heads up! Just ordered one as well.

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Charles Odrechowski says:

December 8, 2019 at 9:21 am

I got a similar one from Garret Wade. I’m a knife maker and this really helps for the angles I need.

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Mike werneburg says:

February 20, 2021 at 6:14 pm

I just got one,not too long ago, mounted it to a piece of wood that could be clamped, or screwed to the workbench. I am building a Acorn 12ft skiff. I think it will come in very handy. Got it from Garrett Wade.

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