WEN Cross Vise, 3.25-Inch with Compound Slide for Mills and Drill Presses

Exactly as stated by several people who bought it. I spent a few hours after disassembling it (watching carefully, for reassembly). I cleaned off all the factory oil film. I polished all the friction areas using 600 grit sandpaper. This removed some small roughness and burrs. After thoroughly cleaning the threads of the worm screws (Longitudinal Feed, Cross Feed and Leadscrew) I observed if there were any imperfections. I don't know if I was lucky, the CV413 unit I received came with very well-defined threads. After all the above process, I lubricated the rails, bearings, worm screws, and even the handles, all with a layer of WD-40 Specialist White Lithium Grease Spray. I reassembled the vise, readjusted the screws that define the longitudinal and transverse displacement pressure and the result was excellent and surprising, showing that the WEN is a good quality tool, needing only a little rework after leaving the box. Smooth movements without play, except in the crank handles when reversing the direction of movement. Yes, that was the only downside... It is a small deficiency mentioned by others, however, it does not compromise the tool in my humble opinion. Anyway, great cost-benefit! With this procedure, I would recommend its purchase without any hesitation.

Looks and works good

This is exactly what I needed! It was easy to assemble and install on my drill press. The quality is great and has helped speed up my work.

This is being used to hold my project on the drill press. My local stores don.t carry them any longer. It made drillingat the angle I needed. Nice clamp for the press.

Poor design. The threads push against the plate to move one way and bites into the plate and will not let it turn. Binds up. In my opinion it needs a thrust bearing or a washer/collet with the threads cut back so they can't bite into the plate. Lower axis turned freely and smooth. Returned after trying to set it up.

Originally, I thought this was a good vice for the price. That was before part of the vice broke into 3 pieces for no apparent reason. It was the upper level, the Vice level, not the level underneath the Vice that detaches. Specifically, it is area on the Vice that surrounds its guide rail (roughly 1/2” in diameter) and would, if it wasn’t broke, prevent the Vice from wobbling and closing on one side but not on the other side. The area that broke used to hold the Vice to that 1/2” guide rail. If it was only 1 piece that broke off, it might easier to attempt an repair. But it is not easy. Also, the 6 edges of these broken cast iron pieces that now have to join back together are as jagged and gravely as rock, and are therefore extremely difficult if not impossible to clean free of oils and dirt. I tried to silver solder these parts back together. But that did not work.I’m really disappointed with this product. Nothing brought this on, either. I wasn’t hammering on the vice. The Vice was mounted to my drill press table.I don’t have money to replace it either. This makes me even more sad.

I got my Wen 4.25 cross slide vise this morning. I don’t know how Amazon can deliver it overnight for free? Box was in perfect condition and I knew I was off to a good start. I unboxed it and started playing with it. It comes with the slides locked and handles off. I assembled it and adjusted it and I was pretty excited about how nice it looked and functioned. I disassembled it and cleaned it up and used valve lapping compound on all the contact surfaces. Lubed it up and reassembled. It works really great for an 80.00 vise. I read reviews about the quality and I think it’s great for the price. You can probably get a 700.00 to 1,000 dollar vise that is near perfect. Everyone would still buy this vise because they don’t want to spend the money on a high quality piece, myself included. I did buy 4 new set screws and nuts to replace the set screws that doesn’t have nuts. It made a big difference because I had screws back off when I was playing with it. I have yet to mount it or clamp anything in it but I don’t see any problems with it. The casting was smooth and looks good also. I wanted a Wilton 5” for my JET IDP22 but I couldn’t get any Dimensions on the base to see if it would work with my table slot locations. It looks small on my drill press… if you are willing to spend some time on it, you will have a good tool…

Wish I would have got a bigger one