Ted Frater wrote:

a cast steel is much the best. for a bench vice. Wether you can still
buy anew one is doubtful. Tho second hand is probably your best bet.

I have an OLD Craftsman cast steel vise, and it is sweet.
Don't know how old it is, but I've had it almost 20 years.

Then after someone posted here a link to some vises
Starrette was closing out a few years ago, I bought the 6"
Machinist's vise with the swiveling back jaw. Was NOT paying
attention, and I got a 200lb monster vise that lives on the
floor behind my Hardinge. I don't have a bench I can mount
it on, and renting, I can't secure it to a pipe set in the
floor. For what I paid for it, I'm willing to store it until
I do have somewhere to set it up properly.

BTW, I worked at NASA Ames in the 70's, and the welding shop
had a vise of unknown origin, I think the jaws were 8-10"
wide. The sliding bar handle was probably 1-1/4 or 1-1/2"
dia! That's the biggest vise I have ever seen, had to weigh
at least 500lbs!

Jon