Anybody have experience with a good budget oriented drill press vice? Got a table top drill press I'm finally using for a small project & need a vice. Local farm store's option seemed kinda cheaply made. Lowes was sold out of Irwin, so I didn't get to look @ them.

I'm looking to drill & tap set screws in the bottom of a fsb instead of using taper pins. Will also likely dimple the barrel.

What's your budget?

I have an old Craftsman cheepie mounted to a Chinese cross slide table. Not machinist quality by any stretch, but allow reasonably precise positioning.

This one from Northern Tool isn't bad, and if your budget allows, you can go up from there to whatever floats your boat.

Our son purchased the cross vise from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/c...search/result?q=Vise

Not a bad home set up.

Be careful on the tabletop drill press they do not usually have much vertical travel from chuck to table.

Then you add the drill bit and a vise it gets even less.

A vise will even shorten that travel a lot. My son and his friend tried using a table top drill press to mill 80percent lowers in the X-Y vise and ran into vertical travel issues. They then went out and purchased a real nice stand up drill press.

Hint: think twice and buy once.

I would suggest a parallel clamp, or, as some call it, a hand screw clamp. Jorgensen is a brand, they come in various sizes, are made of wood. Lay it on its side on the drillpress table, clamp it in place with a C - clamp. No loss of press capacity, part being drilled can still be in contact with the table. Additionally, wood jaws do not mar finish on metal pieces. Probably cheaper than a good drill press vise. I have been doing this for years. Works very well.

You could get a hooker or drug dealer to hold it down for you.

Or a drunkard or gambler.

 
Rather than a vise for a drill press, I would invest in clamps that can hold your work (irregular work that may not fit in a vise) to the table. The Besseys are not cheap, but there are lots of alternatives, too. Main thing is to secure the workpiece so it does not end up on the other end of the garage/shop.
 
 

Check ebay, too.