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Vice for light metalwork: filing and sawing at home

Updated: October 2026

You have a short piece of steel, a handful of screws, or a bit of bar, and you want it still while you file or hacksaw. A vice for light metalwork means that job and then a stop. Hold the metal low, cut close to the jaws, and quit before a hammer blow or a cut that twists the casting. The review file already includes a 5 kg "6 inch" that snapped on a 12 mm bolt. The [Swivel vice](/hub/workshop/swivel-vice) comparison is the table. Figures are the amazon.co.uk cards of 16 October 2026. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a short piece of steel, a handful of screws, or a bit of bar, and you want it still while you file or hacksaw. A vice for light metalwork means that job and then a stop.

Our top picks

Stanley Stanley MaxSteel multi-angle vice

Best overall

Stanley Stanley MaxSteel multi-angle vice
8.6/10about £22.31
View offer
Stanley Stanley MaxSteel 4 inch light-duty vice

Best value

Stanley Stanley MaxSteel 4 inch light-duty vice
8.0/10about £29.95
View offer
TEENO TEENO 70 mm table vice

Alternative

TEENO TEENO 70 mm table vice
6.8/10about £18.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Light metal in this set means filing and a short saw cut
  2. 2.Hold it low and cut close to the jaws
  3. 3.Soft jaws when the metal must not be bruised
  4. 4.The anvil and the 12 mm bolt are the stop
  5. 5.A wood vice and a machine vice are different tools

Light metal in this set means filing and a short saw cut

Light, here, is a bike part, a bracket, a short bolt, or bar you can close one hand around. The bolt-down vice that matches the reviews is the Stanley MaxSteel 1-83-065, a 100 mm light-duty model listed at 5.04 kg and £29.95, with 4.6 from 4,845 reviews. Stanley's UK page publishes 1,100 kg. The amazon card does not print it. Clamp-ons, about 1.7–1.9 kg, are the occasional version of that small piece. A table screw will not support a long bar. If you have not chosen the mount, use the clamp on vice vs bench vice page. Fitting so the jaw overhangs the bench is on how to fit a bench vice.

Hold it low and cut close to the jaws

Technology Student says to file and hacksaw with the metal low in the jaws. Those notes assume an engineer's vice. The hold still applies here, with less margin before the body flexes. A bar gripped on the tips of the jaws levers the swivel lock open. Keep the cut close to the jaws and cut on the push. Put a handle on the file tang, and work near elbow height.
Stanley Stanley MaxSteel multi-angle vice

Testsieger

Stanley Stanley MaxSteel multi-angle vice
8.6/10about £22.31
View offer

Soft jaws when the metal must not be bruised

Aluminium, copper, and paint mark under a bare serrated jaw. Reviewers of the small VIDETOL clamp liked rubber faces for copper and jewellery. On this set the supplied covers often do not fit. TEENO, VonLux, and others draw comments that the pads are the wrong size or fall off. Cut a liner from aluminium, hard plastic, or card. A liner thicker than the gap you needed is why a 70 mm clamp suddenly will not take the piece.

The anvil and the 12 mm bolt are the stop

The HYCHIKA sold as 6 inch, at £50.42, lists 5 kg, the same figure as the 5 inch HYCHIKA. A review says it snapped while a 12 mm bolt was sawn, and others say the jaw threads pulled out. A short saw cut, held low, in a bolt-down vice, is the job. If you need to saw angle, you are past this set. If the casting cracks, stop and do not weld it. Ordinary first-use failure is a satisfactory-quality point under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This is not legal advice.

A wood vice and a machine vice are different tools

A woodworking vice holds a plank against the apron. An 80 mm table clamp will mark timber and will not support a door. A machine vice bolts to a drill table and is lined up on slots. It is the wrong purchase for a shed bench and a hacksaw, and it is not in this comparison. Structural work is where a heavier vice belongs. Paying work sits outside the household exception. Check jaw, opening, and listed weight on the bench vice buying guide before you treat this job as on the card.

Common questions

Can these vices hold steel?
Yes, for screws, brackets, and short bar, held low in the jaws. Stanley 4 inch reviews describe that light garage work on a vice the card lists at 5.04 kg. They are a weak choice for angle or hammering. Clamp-ons at about 1.7 kg are for an occasional small piece, not a cut that twists.
How close to the jaws should I saw?
Bristol Hackspace says to keep the cut within about 25 mm of the jaws, with at least three teeth in the material, and to cut on the push. Further out, the bar chatters and the swivel lock moves. Support a long offcut so it does not twist the vice as it breaks.
Do I need soft jaws for aluminium or copper?
Yes, if the surface must not be bruised. Cut a liner to the jaw from aluminium, hard plastic, or card. Rubber covers supplied with several clamp-ons are reported as the wrong size. Bare steel you will paint can go straight into the serrations.
Should I wear glasses?
Yes. HSE lists projectiles as an eye hazard, and Bristol Hackspace says to wear glasses when you file. Employers must supply PPE. A householder is outside that duty and outside PUWER for domestic work. The glasses are still the control when a hacksaw blade snaps.
Can I hammer on the anvil?
No. A DAYUAN anvil cracked while a bearing was hammered. The Stanley 4 inch dented under light tapping. Wonkee Donkee allows anvil blows only on a vice that really has an anvil, and forbids a pipe on the handle. The flats in this set have not survived that use in the reviews.
When is the job too big for this set?
When you are bending bar, hammering, or sawing the way you would in an 11 kg vice. Excel lists 11 kg for 125 mm and 14.5 kg for 150 mm. Both HYCHIKA cards here state 5 kg. If the body cracks, do not weld it. If employees use the bench, get a heavier vice rather than a longer handle.

Related pages

Swivel vice

Best swivel vice UK: top pick, then the best value

Bench vice buying guide: mount, jaw and weight first

Clamp on vice vs bench vice: which mount to choose

How to fit a bench vice: holes, bolts and the lock

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines from 16 October 2026.

  1. HSE — PUWER overview (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. HSE — Safe use of work equipment (L22) (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. HSE — using the right type of PPE (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. Stanley UK — MaxSteel multi-angle vice 1-83-069 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. Stanley UK — MaxSteel 115 mm light-duty bench vice 1-83-065 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Excel Machine Tools — all-steel bench vice weights (retrieved 16 October 2026)