If you haven’t heard of Yost before, there are two things you need to know about them – they make great quality vises, and all but a few of their vises are made in the USA.
Mechanics, machinists, DIYers, and pro users will benefit from using large and sturdy bench vises, but what if you don’t have room on your bench? Or what if you work in a number of spots but don’t have the budget for multiple vises? Or need a small vise for on-the-go clamping needs?
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Yost’s clamp-on vise (model 250) is a small vise that can be secured to the edge of your workbench, tool cart, work station, and even dimensional lumber. Don’t let its small size fool you – there’s plenty of strength packed into this compact and portable vise.
- 2.5″ jaws (width)
- 2.25″ maximum jaw opening
- 1.25″ throat depth
- sliding bar T-style screw handle
- small anvil
- v-jaws for gripping pipe and round stock
- made from gray iron
- MSRP $77
I have used the vise to grip a variety of materials over the past few months and found it to be quite more versatile than anticipated. It holds a objects up to ~2-1/2″ thick, and even provides a gentle but firm grip when holding finer materials. I wouldn’t use it to hold very easily scratched or delicate materials, at least not without non-marring pads or aluminum jaw caps.
The USA-made Yost clamp-on vise is several times the price of other clamp-on vises. I went back and forth between the Yost and a name-brand imported clamp-on vise for a couple of months to tell if there are any functional differences. There are.
Most notably, the Yost is smoother to operate, the finish is more durable, and the jaws are straighter, better machined, and perfectly aligned from day one. It’s hard to judge whether the Yost is worth the price premium over other brands’ imported vises, but it’s definitely a superior product.
The vise was not without its flaws – there was a bit of blue paint coating part of the inner jaws and the (optional) aluminum jaw caps required cleaning before they could be used.
Ultimately I can say that I’m fairly impressed with the Yost clamp-on vise. No, it’s not mind-blowingly stupendous, but it is built to a satisfyingly high level of quality. I definitely recommend Yost’s clamp-on vise, and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase any of Yost’s vises in the future.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
More Info (via Yost)
Thank you to Yost for providing the review sample unconditionally. Review samples are typically given away, donated, or retained for benchmark and comparison purposes.
Joe 'the Pro' Sainz
Looks pretty good. I can think of 3+ places that I could use one of those… but I don’t think my wife would like a vise in the kitchen. Shame.
Stuart
I have been pretty good about keeping tools out of the kitchen. All of the other rooms and closets are a different story, but I hope to have everything wrangled out by mid-month.
Mrs. ToolGuyd
*insert annoyed wife face here*
dar
funny you should say that, Joe :
when ‘she- who -must- be-obeyed’ left,
the first thing to be secured to the kitchen counter was the el cheapo 5 ” busy bee swivel…
fred
I’n not sure if Wilton still produces their corrosion-resitant vise – but we have both Wilton (AW45) and some Yost Stainless Steel vises mounted on some of our trucks. The Yost is only 4 inch – and not as convenient as the Wilton – but gets the job done. Someone told me that Yost may have been the OEM for the monster 8 inch Starrett Athol vise that is a mainsty in one of our shops.
Aaron
I think ive seen these at harbor freight for less then half that price.
Stuart
But not Yost-branded I presume.
Bob
HF sells chinese junk
Hayden
Ordered off amazon crazy fast shipping. The jaws are not very tough gouged them up with a stainless washer. The jaws do not close very parallel I notice this because I use the vice for polishing small fasteners and fittings I don’t want to hold up to a big stationary grinder and buffer. I line up bolts with the top up. The bolts on the right are held tight the ones on the left not so much. If I did it again I would buy a $15 Chinese one. I hope this vice is not indicative of Yost other vises quality.