I agree 100%. Pay the extra money and get a vise that works. There is
nothing more frustrating than a work holder you can't trust. Ebay often
has some decent deals on used Kurt vises.

wrote:

There three reasons to buy the real thing despite the price. My Dad
bought one of fhe Chinese ones and an employee bent it ( actually bowed
the main casting) by tightenting it too tight. He had to disassemble
the vise and grind it straight again. I guarantee that won't happen
with a Kurt. Secondly, the hole spacing for the jaws is not he same as
the Kurt so none of the nifty keeno accessories developed by at least
50 machine shops will fit. Probably those spider style feed handles
won't fit either. The third is very important; If all you ever buy is
copies of the good stuff who will be able to invent more good stuff.
Kurt has lead the machine shop industry out of the dismall crap that
they were stuck with for about a century. They are still an inovator
and need the buyer's support as do other innovators. Leigh@MarMachine