Wilton Cross-Slide Drill Press Vise, 4" Jaw Width & Max Opening, 1-3/8" Jaw Depth (Model CS4)

Quality was very good. Much better than cheaper vises on amazon. If you want to hold something completely still in an X-Y axis vise the drive nut that the drive screw pushes against when adjusting the position of the vise must have no play in it. If the drive nut allows the drive screw to move after you clamp something in it the vise still moves and is therefore useless for the intended purpose and every hole you drill will look like you did it by hand.

I can echo others' comments about the flimsy plastic bag holding the nuts, but that's a pretty small concern for a vise that will likely last a lifetime. The box arrived surprisingly intact and unbeaten compared to other deliveries in this weight range. Note that the photos on Amazon seem to all show the 3- or 4-inch models. This one, the 8-inch, is a monster by comparison, in both size and weight. However...am I the only one who noticed they shipped it put together backwards? that is, as it arrived, the fixed vise jaw could not be moved over the centerline of the vise, which means I can't drill a hole right next to the edge of the stock, without some other thing there. In any event, I removed the two bolts holding the upper unpainted steel plate the handle spins against. Then I removed the lead screw from the assembly, and lifted up the top half, turned it around, and put it back in. Then I just replaced the lead screw and aligned the plate and secured it back again. Now the left-to-right spinner is on the right, and the vise-jaw screw is on the left, and the (now) right-hand fixed jaw moves all the way under the spindle. Yay! I decided that since Amazon was so kind as to deliver this 78# monster on a Saturday in the pouring Seattle rain, I'd install it right. I cleaned and greased the bottom surface, and secured it to the drill press surface. Then, starting with the bottom-most, I disassembled it, cleaned off their almost watery lubrication and put a medium film of thick oil on the bearing surfaces and the lead screw. I adjusted the bearing-slide set screws to it all moved silky-smooth, and then repeated that for the upper slide, and then for the movable vise jaw. Now it works so smoooooth! I think that's a key factor in making this work well for the long term future ahead: getting it thoroughly cleaned, lubricated and adjusted before trying to use it. So far so good, though I've only had it in use for a day now. Very sturdy, very LARGE and very smooth. Things I wish were better: 1) The knobs and their mating to the shaft. "Precision mating" is not an idea that crossed dear Wilton's mind that day, sadly. 2) The sliding surfaces of the inserts. When you take them out to clean and lubricate, you'll see what I mean: pitted and definitely now what you'd expect when trying to achieve a precision fit. 3) The only surfaces that are "precision machined" is the floor of the vise part. The sliding surfaces are only "machined". You can definitely tell the difference. Again, the vise would be much more accurate if the same level of finish were applied to the slide surfaces. 3) Handle-end of lead screws have NO bearing except steel against the hole in the steel plates. Atrocious choice on a vise of this quality. Just having those two joints improved with an oil-filled bronze or ball bearing would improve the action of this vise 100%. But noooo.....! In any event, despite the suggested changes, this is one very large, very sturdy and very capable vise. It's far smoother than the imported el-cheapo one I had been using.

Bought this vise for my 97 year old Dad that makes pens. I thought it would help him drill the blanks. I set it up and then brought him out to show him. He actually giggled with delight. Works great and he said it was actually like the one he use at work over 40 years ago. Tried and true design. After trying it out he said it was very accurate.

After reading many negative reviews, I took a chance purchasing this vise anyway. I was amazed the shipping was free (excellent), arrived in 3 days (amazing). I received the vice today. It was packed very well, no damage to the vise. Very little clean up. Very impressed with after very little tuning up, no play or slack in the vise. Only one small inconvenience, one of the adjuster set screw head was stripped out. I give 5 stars because I used to own a 4" Grizzly cross slide vise and it was very sloppy with a lot of play. Also I like the bolt pattern configuration better on the Wilton and the Palmgren

Appears way to cheap for a product with a $259 list price, paid $107.49 on black Friday sale, not sure if it was even worth that, spent hours working on improving it's performance to a maybe 3 star item. Having invested so much time on it, not sure if I will return it or not. A bit disappointing! Update: The cranking handles finally excepted oil and are working way better, I was able to re-engineer the V-Track rail system so it no longer constantly jambs up, and the clamping shim plate no longer slides out as well, I can now tighten them to very close tolerances and have very little play, and they no longer ever jamb up, the cross slide drill press vise tool is now usable and worth keeping. More updates: Decided it was still a bit to sloppy and spent a couple more hours filling out one of the uneven v-groves and added a copper shim washer to the other axis, finally some accuracy, product I'm drilling into isn't moving around anymore, I would have been happy to pay another $100 or maybe even $200 more to not have had to go thorough all that, unfortunately I don't even see a good option at that price point,

For this much money, what you get is headaches! The vise is sloppy or too tight, you cannot adjust the ways such that you get rid of slop, and if you do, you can't move the vise. It will not stay centered and there are no locks to keep it centered. The threads are ridiculously sloppy as well and I repeatedly have "walking" drill bits as much as an 1/8". I really wish I would have spent the $90 on the Wen or something similar because I definitely got ripped off with this purchase. Buyer beware!!

I spent a lot of time reviewing cross slide vises and reading a lot of reviews. They all said the vise needed to be disassembled and cleaned. Several talked about quality control issues. Poor castings, bent or missing parts and machining marks left on the ways. NONE of the reviewers on this vise, mentioned quality control issues. That along with the brand name led me to purchase this vise. When I received the vise I looked the shipping box over closely. I found no damage. I opened the container and removed the vise looking for any imperfections. I found NO Casting Imperfections. I disassembled and cleaned the vise reassembled with small amounts of grease. It did take a few minutes to adjust the tension on the ways/tables. This I believe is a personal thing. I have used the vise and is works very smoothly and made drilling duplicate holes in 1/4" steel very easy. Another quality product by WILTON and AMAZON.

Great price point for this 4” precision vise. Great for DIY projects that require drilling, this is a great step towards achieving professional results. I am very happy I stuck with the Wilton brand.

Was exactly what I wanted. Fast delivery and service. Very sturdy product. I new addition to my little shop. Thank you very much. Looking forward to more of your products come my way or test or whatever I do both.