Drill press vice vs milling vice
Updated: 2026-10-21
You have read milling on a budget drill-vice bullet. Drill press vice vs milling vice is a question about the load, not the word on the box. A drill vice is built for a hole from above. A milling vice is built for a cutter that pushes sideways. Use a drill vice for that hole. Do not use one in this amazon.co.uk set for a cut along the side of the part. The twelve listings are on the [machine vice comparison](/hub/workshop/machine-vice). Products Compared used Protool, Pauli Mot and the Amazon bullets, not a lab, on 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have read milling on a budget drill-vice bullet. Drill press vice vs milling vice is a question about the load, not the word on the box. A drill vice is built for a hole from above.
You have read milling on a budget drill-vice bullet. Drill press vice vs milling vice is a question about the load, not the word on the box. A drill vice is built for a hole from above. A milling vice is built for a cutter that pushes sideways. Use a drill vice for that hole. Do not use one in this amazon.co.uk set for a cut along the side of the part. The twelve listings are on the machine vice comparison. Products Compared used Protool, Pauli Mot and the Amazon bullets, not a lab, on 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Duty in the listing | Jaw behaviour | Opening | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Faithfull Faithfull FAIVDP75 | Drill vice, no milling title | No pull-down stated | 70 mm | 8.1 | about £46.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Wolfcraft Wolfcraft 80 mm quick-adjust vice | Drill vice that admits lift | Moving jaw pushed upward | 80 mm | 7.5 | about £24.65 | View offer |
| Best value |  KATSU Tools KATSU 100 mm drill press vice | Title says milling | No pull-down or accuracy figure | 110 mm | 7.4 | about £15.99 | View offer |
On this page
What the bullet is actually saying
KATSU's 100 mm and 150 mm titles say milling. Greensen's title says coordinates drilling table as well as vice. The tilting 75 mm listing says milling, and one reviewer used that body on a milling machine. None of those pages claims a pull-down jaw. None prints an accuracy figure. A bullet that says widely used on a milling machine is a sales sentence, not a mechanism.
Faithfull's reviews talk about a solid drill vice, not a mill. Wolfcraft 3423000 prints a jaw-lift line: the moving jaw has play and is pushed upward, so the part is no longer square to the bed. A listing that admits lift is more honest than a listing that says milling and then describes a plain screw and two jaws.
Protool's UK note is the useful split. A lighter vice can be enough for drilling and light secondary work. Side milling or interrupted cuts are the mistake. Pauli Mot separates drilling vices, which take vertical force, from types with pull-down jaws. This Amazon set is the first kind. A best-seller rank in Drill Press Vices is not a milling-vice rank.
Down from the drill, sideways from the cutter
A drill press pushes the bit down. The vice has to stop the work spinning and lifting as the bit breaks through. That is a vertical load plus a little torsion. A milling cutter along the side pushes the work out of the jaws and up off the parallels. That is a lateral load. The same casting can feel rigid under a 6 mm drill and walk under a 10 mm end mill.
Pauli Mot's line is drilling vices for vertical force, lateral loads to be avoided. Protool says the same thing in buying language. Neither page is a lab test of these ASINs. Both explain why a £16 drill vice and a precision milling vice are different catalogues.
A drill vice often has an open centre so the drill can break through into air. A milling bed is solid, because the cutter is not meant to punch through the vice. That is Model Engineer practice, labelled as such. A drill vice on a mill table leaves a hole under the work. A milling vice on a pillar drill may have no clearance for breakthrough. Pauli Mot's about-8 mm hand-hold is a limit on the drill. It is not permission to mill.
Jaw lift and a hole that is not square
Jaw lift is the moving jaw rising as you tighten. The part tilts, and a hole you thought was square leans. Model Engineer users describe that on a drill-press vice, including a base that sits on three corners. Wolfcraft's listing on the 80 mm quick-adjust vice describes play and an upward push. That is drill-vice behaviour written on the packet.
You do not need a pull-down jaw for a clearance hole in a bracket. You need the work held downward and the vice constrained. A little lift still throws a hole off a mark on a model-engineering job. For a garden bracket, the same lift may not matter. The criterion is the drawing, not the star rating.
A tilting vice is not the cure. The 75 mm body adds a 0–90 degree joint and still does not print a pull-down or an accuracy figure. Tilt is a second hinge. If the job is a hole from above, a drill vice in this set is the right type. If the job is a cut along the side, stop shopping this set for a hidden mill vice.
If the job really is milling
A proper milling vice is a different purchase. Outside this set, as scale and not as an amazon.co.uk price for these ASINs, Cutwel lists Bison 6543 drilling vices from about £120, and an Irwin Record T414 sits around £166–£197 in trade listings. Precision milling vices are another catalogue. Those figures stop a £15.99 KATSU bullet that says milling from looking like the same object.
Faithfull at about £46.99 is a drill vice with a printed 75/70 mm pair. KATSU 100 mm at about £15.99 prints a 110 mm opening. Wolfcraft 3423000 at about £24.65 admits lift. Buy those for holes. Do not move to the tilting body or the Greensen title because the box says milling.
When employees use the mill or the drill, PUWER 1998 is about the work equipment the employer provides. It does not approve a consumer vice. BS EN 12717 is a design standard for stationary drills, not a vice badge. Choose a drill vice if the tool above the work is a drill and the load is downward. Choose a milling vice from a milling catalogue if the cutter runs along the side. Size for a pillar drill is on the drill press vice size page.
Common questions
Can I mill with a drill press vice?
Not with the vices in this set, if mill means a cut along the side of the part. Protool and Pauli Mot separate that lateral load from a downward drill. A bullet that says milling is not a pull-down jaw. Use these listings for holes from above.
What is jaw lift?
The moving jaw rises as you tighten, so the part tilts and the hole leans. Wolfcraft 3423000 describes that play on the listing. Model Engineer threads describe the same off-square hole. You do not need a pull-down jaw for a simple clearance hole, but you should not ignore lift on a marked face.
Why do cheap listings mention milling?
Because the word sits in the same shopper cluster as machine vice. KATSU 100 mm and 150 mm and Greensen use it without stating a pull-down jaw or an accuracy figure. Treat it as a bullet, not as a type change.
Is a tilting vice a milling vice?
No. The 75 mm tilting listing adds a 0–90 degree joint. It does not print a pull-down jaw or an accuracy figure. One reviewer used it on a mill. That is one use, not a specification.
Do I need a pull-down jaw to drill?
No. A drill vice has to stop spin and hold against a downward bit. Pull-down is a milling feature so the part stays on the parallels under a side cut. Buy it when you mill, not as a default for a pillar drill.
What does a proper milling vice cost relative to this set?
This set tops out at about £46.99. Outside it, as scale, Bison-class drilling vices start around £120 on Cutwel, and Record-class drill vices run much higher. Precision milling vices are another band. Those are not Amazon prices for the twelve ASINs.
Will a drill vice mark a milling table or the part?
A drill vice often has an open centre for breakthrough, unlike a solid milling bed. Jaw lift can mark the part with a tilt even if the table is fine. If you only have a pillar drill, stay on that machine and buy for holes, not for a side cut.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Updated October 2026.
- HSE: HSG129 Health and safety in engineering workshops (retrieved October 2026)
- HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved October 2026)
- BSI: BS EN 12717:2001+A1:2009 Safety of machine tools, drilling machines (retrieved October 2026)
- Protool: How to choose machine vices (retrieved October 2026)
- Pauli Mot: Types of machine vice (retrieved October 2026)
- Cromwell: Senator 100 mm workshop drill press vice (retrieved October 2026)
- Proxxon: Micromot machine vice MS 4 (retrieved October 2026)
- Bromley Council: Consumer rights for goods (retrieved October 2026)