Some of you may remember my complaints quite a few months back when I
got a Shop Fox woodworking vise and couldn't clamp stuff in it securely.
I was out of town this weekend and decided to peruse the aisles of
Lowes (there are no Lowe's in or near San Jose) for something useful. I
spotted a Wilton vise for $99.99 that has a pivot plate. They had one
in stock and I decided to replace the POS Shop Fox with it. If it
didn't work out I would have about an 80 mile drive to return it so I
knew I was going out on a limb.

Today I installed that sucker and put it to the acid test. I miked a
Porter Cable #20 biscuit and then squeezed it in the new vise. I easily
got it compressed by 4 to 5 thousandths. I had been unable to compress
biscuits with the old vise no matter how hard I reefed on the handle.
This one was a breeze. Then I placed about a 3 foot long piece of 3/4
maple in it and did the wiggle test. It held! Hallelujah!

It turns out my suspicion was correct regarding the first vise I bought.
I couldn't get anything to hold fast in that one no matter how hard I
tightened the handle. The Wilton holds on tenaciously. Plus it has the
quick release feature which I sorely missed on the cheapy.

Morale of the story is if you have a cheap vise, a better made one is
like night and day when it comes to holding power.

dave