BESSEYBV-VB Vacuum Base Vise, Silver

Design:The design of this vise is perfect for my purpose. I use it on a desktop to hold pistol while working on them. It is especially helpful when the task is awkward and can use a third hand or when torquing a screw in place to hold the pistol steady. The jaws are also covered with a non-slip material that does not scratch the pistols.Ease of use:Very easy to setup when needed. Just set on a flat smooth surface and engage the suction cup on the base.Ease of adjustment:The angle of the vise portion is easily adjusted with the turn of the lock nut.Lockability:It secures very well to a flat smooth surface and holds tight. The angle adjusts and holds well too, provided you turn the locking nut tight enough.Clamp strength:The clamp section tightens very well too.This is a great unit for light to medium use. It is not a replacement for a heavy duty bench mounted vise but perfect for my application.

This vice works great as a medium sized desk vise. The base holds tight at different positions, the rubber on the jaws is easily removed or put back on if you need it. The suction for me works perfectly, incredibly sturdy. Also, one quick mention, it’s very versatile at the adjustable base: there’s a clearly intentional opening that allows you to flip the vise to face upward at a perfect 90 degree angle, and the back of the head of the vise rests on the surface. If you have suction, then out the vice in this position, it’s incredibly study for drilling, Dremel (which I use a lot), and sawing. It’s also just well made and heavy. Great vise for a desk you can beat up that’s easy to use. Highly recommend it, and in tandem with a small precision vise.

Ok I read some of the reviews saying that the suction base would loose suction in a short time, this did not concern me too much as the weight of the unit itself would be enough for my purpose it actually weighs in at just over 2 pounds, which is fine to keep it in place on a desk as I really just need this to help with holding connectors and such for soldering and other light work. And for this purpose I think its a very good buy. This is not made for heavy use like drilling, although drilling small items like jewelry and similar should be no problem. When locked in place its pretty sturdy, could the Craftsmanship/Build Quality be better yes, as it does have a lot of play in the jaws and ball locking collar and there was some excess glue on the aligning pins, but this is nitpicking at the price paid. I do not own a Panavise so I can not compare the build to that.But lets get back to the base, I decided to run a few tests first I stuck it to my kitchen counter which is pretty smooth but a bit mat finished as compared to something like glass. now many said it lost suction in a short time, maybe they fixed this as I had it stuck to the counter for over an hour and every 20 min or so i would grab it firmly and try and pull it free and it held on like a champ. I could not get it off the counter I had to flip the latch all the way in the other direction to free it from my counter so in my tests this works as it should.The jaws on this come with a nice rubber protector for items you don't want to scratch and can be slid off to reveal grooved metal jaws that can be used to hold round items like a dowel or small tubing.Overall if you need a small vise for light desk work, soldering or with a Dremel tool then this is well worth it for less then $15

Well Made. Everything locks up tight. Good suction on my workbench top (varnished wood). I would highly recommend this vise.

Well-made and very adjustable to place at multiple positions. There are two removable rubber protectors for the jaws, the only thing is the suction cup will lose grip after about an hour but that may also depend on just how flat of a surface it's stuck to. For me it's no big deal because I'm not using it for hours on end and if I was, I would just re-apply the suction cup every so often.

I purchased this product a little over a year ago. Although it hasn't been used frequently, it's been used enough to give an accurate review. I'll start with what I consider the positive attributes. The bench suction I find to be better than most. It will hold securely for a good amount of time with almost all the tasks I've done. The best hold is stuck to a smooth clean surface and a little water (spit) applied to the rubber suction diaphragm. The base will easily adjust to almost any position rotational or to any degree of angle. This is done with a compression ball inside the base and a course threaded compression collar that sometimes takes a little effort to unscrew depending on how tight you need to make it. The jaws are of decent width and come with easily removable plastic / rubber pads that melt at a very low temperature. Thus you really don't want to solder when using the soft jaw pads. The threaded rod that is used to move the jaws are made of low quality steel and have stripped slightly when tightened to the max. The square nut insert that the rod threads into, although likely not stripped, along with the threaded rod, is going to be replaced with custom machined replacements. I'll use a tighter thread pattern and that should take care of the sloppiness that the vice had since it was new. The bottom line is that it will do what it's supposed to do if you use it gently and don't mind a slightly loose movement. If you want to crank it up to "you ain't slipping in the jaws" tightness, you'll likely have similar results. I would give the design and construction an B, and the quality of the metal a C +. The initial cost of the vise was +/- $35 and I expect to pay another $30 - $40 to beef it up. For me, the cost of the upgrade will be a value because I don't think I could get the improved quality in the $65 - $70 range. Note: The picture shows the movable end of the jaw, the threaded rod and the square insert nut on the rod. If you look closely at the threads right up next to the shanked end you may see where the threads striped and slip. Hope this helps someone.