WEN 5-1/8 in. Compound Cross Slide Industrial Strength Benchtop Vise

I have been using a stationary drill press vice for a while, so when this vice ended up on my press, it literally changed the whole game for me. I used to have to move my old vice around on the press platform and then adjust the platform in an attempt to align the piece to my drill bit. No more of that nonsense. This vice adjusts 5 inches left-to-right and 6.5 inches front to rear, so there is plenty of adjustment to align your work piece under your bit. This vice weighs about 41 lbs, and has five mounting brackets, so once properly mounted, it isn’t moving. A HUGE oversight by manufacturer is its failure to include instructions! The vice has two handles that are pretty simple to install, but some folks may need help in doing that, so instructions would help out these folks. The real problem I ran into was this: I received my first vice with no instructions and the bottom slider was so tight, I could not turn it by hand (I cleaned and re-oiled it, etc). The company took it back and gave me a replacement with no hassle. The second vice was worse in that both sliders were tight and very difficult to move. I telephoned WEN and spoke to a representative who was very helpful. He instructed me to loosen the six side adjustment set screws (three on each slide). That did the trick! Again, for some folks who are knowledgeable with tools like this, they might have known to do this, but I was not familiar with the internal workings of this tool, WHICH IS WHAT INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR! I suspect that the first vice was fine and could have been adjusted to work properly if there had been instructions. Since both of my vices came with very tight adjustments, I suspect WEN ships them all that way, so buyers really need to be instructed on how to properly adjust the slides. If you back off too much on the 3 set screws, the slide will wobble and not hold your piece securely…too tight and the slide will drag and be hard to adjust with your hand. It takes patience and trial and error, but once the screws on my second vice were properly set and locked, neither slide wobbled and the slides moved easily using the handle. I am a DIY’er and not a professional contractor, so I can’t attest to this tool’s durability over extended periods of constant use, but it is a heavy and sturdy tool, and I know it’ll work well for me for a long time, and I suspect it’ll do the same for professionals too.

When looking for a drill press vise don’t pass by this unit! It has the weight to be very stable, the fine adjustments for accuracy, and adjustments to keep the moving parts as snug and smooth operating as the first time it is used. The only feature that could make this vise any better would be a rapid release for the jaws, but at this price point you won’t find a better built vise.

Works great out of the box..

Works perfect mounted to my WEN 10″ drill press

I have a new work bench and needed a heavy duty vise with a compound cross slide, which this is. It was very easy to install so I see why there were no instructions on that. I do feel it should of came with directions on how to use the compound cross slide. The compound cross slide comes with a measuring tape on it which is a great feature. The benchtop vise and compound cross slide weighs approximately 40 lbs. which is pretty heavy. I use the vise part at least once a week. The compound cross slide was very hard to slide so I oiled up the screws and that took care of that problem. I am pleased with it and I feel every work bench should have some type of vise attached to it.

I have a new work bench and needed a heavy duty vise with a compound cross slide, which this is. It was very easy to install so I see why there were no instructions on that. I do feel it should of came with directions on how to use the compound cross slide. The compound cross slide comes with a measuring tape on it which is a great feature. The benchtop vise and compound cross slide weighs approximately 40 lbs. which is pretty heavy. I use the vise part at least once a week. The compound cross slide was very hard to slide so I oiled up the screws and that took care of that problem. I am pleased with it and I feel every work bench should have some type of vise attached to it.

The WEN X-Y vise was an excellent solution for my needs. I mounted the vise to a custom adapter plate and installed it on a RYOBI 10″ bench drill press. I used this setup to “hog out” AR upper receivers in the “raw”, with a carbide milling bit. The results were fantastic…Just needed to lube with WD-40 and mill slow with small nibbles.

Works on my small drill press but just barely I was going to get the bigger vice glad I didn’t just enough room with the 5 1/8″ inch..The one thing I wish they would change is to mill a slot across the movable jaw like on the fixed side would be great for drilling brackets from flat stock.I feel it is a great value for the price and quality. Add grease to the slides before using to help free up the movement.

I bought this to mill out an 80% lower using my drill press. The packaging was not adequate to protect this thing and the end of one of the threaded rods got pretty messed up. I was able to get the handles on with the use of a file and a lot of force. Out of the box it was unusable, but with a lot of lithium grease and some adjustments of the bolts on the sides, I was able to get it to work well enough for my needs. The threaded rods were all warped a little, but the threaded rod on the main clamp was extremely warped, but luckily this isn’t something I need to turn constantly and I was able to tighten it enough to use. One of the biggest problems with this thing is the mangled ends of the rods that were damaged in shipping stick out next to the handles you turn to move the vice around. Because of this I ended up with numerous small cuts and scratches on my fingers. Overall it worked well for my needs, but whether or not I would recommend this product really depends on what you need to do.

It is doing everything I expected. Had to completely disassemble it and clean it then lightly smoothed out the travel surfaces, oiled and reassembled