On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 19:10:32 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher
wrote:

A friend on the North Wet Coast in in need of a good vice, and a
drill press. He already has a mostly woodworking shop but also
is building up metalworking tools.

I'm trying to help Santa but don't know where to start. What
brand names matters in the metalworking vice category, and where
do you buy such? (Assuming we avoid H-F...)

On a drill press, his spouse didn't balk at $400 so I'm looking
at CraigsList in the Seattle area for lack of a better approach.
I've proved myself less knowledgeable on such than I thought.
Where is Yoda when I need him?

I paid more than that for my vise, a gift to myself one Christmas.
It's a 5" Wilton machinist vise. I mounted it on a vise stand I
welded up from 6" square tube, 1" plate on top cut to the mounting
template and drilled and tapped for the mounting bolts, and a gusseted
1/2" plate for the floor flange. Great vise, don't know what they run
these days.

Pete Keillor