Craftsman  5 in. Bench Vise

I have a 4inch craftsman vise for over 20 years with no problem. This is the second 5 inch Craftsman vise in two years.. I had to return the first one within a year because it started to wobble at the swivel joint. The replacement 5 inch craftsman, also made in China is doing the same thing.. I believe there is a large nut on the pivot bolt that loosens up. I would like an exploded view of the assembly from Craftsman, to see if I could repair it. The second vise is also about one year old..It is a good price for poor quality.

I actually wouldn't be that unhappy with this vise except for the fact that it bore the Craftsman Name on it. It used to be that if it said Craftsman on it and it wasn't a power tool or something that would wear out from normal use(IE drill bits, saw blades, etc) it had a lifetime warranty. For me that lifetime warranty was what always kept me comming back and why I was willing to pay a little more.  Now you have to really do your homework to see which tools actually still carry that lifetime warranty.  The quality of this tool was on par with something you would expect out of a cheaper brand name like Evolve or Champion. NOT Craftsman.

I bought this vise while it was on sale, plus another 10% off for online purchase. This is my second Craftsman vice. My first one, a 4 inch model about 16 years old, has performed fine and is still in use in my basement. The new one is for my garage. I knew it was made in China but, the jaws are parallel and even. Overall fit and finish of this vice is fine. It's much better and priced less than the vices available from the big box stores. It's a good quality homeowner vise that will function as intended. It comes complete with a exploded parts drawing with replacement part numbers. If it performs as well as my 4 inch vice has over the years I will have no complaints. At this point I have no regrets.

Great item & price

Seems sturdy enough, and it was on sale for a great price, but when I bought it I looked all over the box to see where it was made and it didn't say anywhere. So I bought it. When I took it out of the box at home it had a "Made in CHINA" sticker right on it!

I thought all Craftsman products were made in USA?? I might have bought this vice anyway for the price, but I don't think Chinese products should have the Craftsman name on them.

I haven't had a chance to use it much. If it breaks I'll try to update this review.

I've read some of the other reviews of this vise, a frankly I wonder what these people are trying to do with their vise!  By nature, a vise is suppose to be strong and heavy.  It should stand up to some abuse, but if people are breaking the jaws on this vise - they either had a defective one or the are pushing it beyond its limits.

This vise has served me well for several years.  The screw mechanism is smooth and easy to operate.

It is everything I need in a vise.  I think you'll like it too!

I received this as a gift a couple years ago. Never had a need for it until a week ago. It worked fine for crimping thin aluminum fascia - not much stress there. Today, I used it to hold a bolt head of a pulley remover tool while I turned another nut to remove the pulley from a power steering pump.

I've used this vise quite a bit and have had no problems; however don't use it for heavy duty work.

I knew what to expect.  As soon as I got it out of the box, there was a big "Made in China" sticker on it.  I knew that it was made in China, but I still felt the shock.  It took me about 10 minutes to get over it and now I am fine with it.  I still feel like it was a good purchase.  It looks good on my bench!