• Bench vises are used to secure work to a workbench.grip vice image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
  
  Think of a bench vise as your third hand. Attached to your workbench, its jaws clamp down on your work to hold it steady in the position and angle you need to get the job done. Because they're securely affixed to your workbench, the jaws can also provide an immovable grip and leverage when you require torque or force to get a job done. Depending upon what type of project you plan to do, different styles of bench vises are available to help you.
  
  

Clamp Bench Vise

• Rather than permanently securing a clamp vise to your workbench with bolts, as you would with other types, a clamp vise is held to your work area with a C-clamp. Because you don't permanently fix it to a location, your clamp vise offers the flexibility to take it into the field or move it to the best position on your workbench to suit the demands of your project. Clamp vises usually don't have jaws as wide as other types of vises, and their clamping mechanism isn't as strong as bolt-down vises offer.
  
  

Machinist's Vise

• The most common vise appearing in workshops, a machinist's vise is a no-frills basic tool that bolts securely to your workbench. With small, flat jaws, the vise has the ability to clamp work projects securely, or, in some cases, can be used to flatten materials in its grip. Machinist's vises are workhorses usually designed for heavy-duty daily use.
  
  

Pipe Vise

• Pipe vises are fitted with rounded jaws to clamp pipes securely without squeezing them so hard they collapse. Pipe vises' jaws are frequently designed to open wider than other types of vices, with jaw widths opening 6 inches or more on high-end units. Many types of pipe vise incorporate a small anvil behind the jaws for light metalworking as well.
  
  

Combination Vise

• A combination vise is built with the flat, straight segment of a machinist's vise jaws with the curved clamping of a pipe vise deeper in its jaws. These all-purpose vises provide you with industrial-grade performance in either function you need them to perform.
  
  

Woodworker's Vise

• In order to clamp soft woods securely without marring or biting into their surface, a woodworker's vise features jaws with large clamping surfaces, sometimes larger than 6 inches wide. The addition of guide rails to the vise keeps pressure equal on both ends of the jaw as you tighten the vise. The main screw may be threaded with a more delicate pitch than other types of vise, allowing you to tighten the jaws more accurately without risking split woods that come with over-tightening.