PANAVISE 300 Standard Base

High quality design and construction. The Panavise system of tools make working on any small item much easier. Far higher utility and performance than the cheap alternatives. This base, indeed all of their items, is not cheap. But in this case the old adage is completely true, you get what you pay for.

I have been using a PanaVise 300 base for years, and it is a fantastic compromise base. It is large and heavy enough to stay put with a 303 or other heavy vise head, but small and light enough to be mostly out of the way and easy to move around. One of the optional base plates makes it even heavier and more stable.I have several, and they see a lot of use on my fine work workbench (including electronics and manufacturing small parts).

I use this along with the heavy sub-base and the usual vise jaws (PanaVise 303) from PanaVise and they make a great combo. I can move it around on my bench but it still holds my small projects upright and secure. I first encountered this PanaVise setup in the late 1970's on my job, where production techs were using it to work on circuit boards. Wow, what a great design. Now, decades later, I bought one myself and it is so useful for the various small repair jobs I have around the house.

This is a lot sturdier than I thought it was going to be.I deal with lots of tiny stuff and it's great to not have to remount every time I need a different angle.

I use a PanaVise 300 at work, and it works great. I decided to order one for myself.Unfortunately, BOTH the original unit and the replacement unit for this base were both missing a vital part. The large control knob. Now, I don't know who the blame really lies on here. It could have been Amazon who lost the knobs, or it could have been Panavise who forgot to package them. But two missing knobs from two different packages definitely isn't helpful.Fortunately, PanaVise's own support is great, and were more than willing to send me the necessary knob. The call didn't even take 5 minutes. So overall, great product, and great company.

I have a had a few of these Vices over the years. Always worked very well, But it intended use is not to hold two foot pipes etc. It a small bench mounted vice that is geared more towards crafts and electronic works. And for this purpose it cant be beat. Flexible and moves well and locks down with a simple twist of the handle. Recommended!

I got this vice for electronics work since it is widely used and seemed built better than cheap alternatives. I like the vice, but it does have some problems and some easy ways to fix them... some of them. I'm glad I have it, as I needed a table vise that was sturdy enough without having a vacuum, but some of the problems are just irritating.The build quality of this is not great as far as being a nicely machined piece of equipment. It is not at the pinnacle of human manufacturing. There are burs, extra metal on the edges of mounting holes, irregular surfaces, etc.. These can be filed off, rubbed off or pulled off to your heart's content, or just left alone in some cases as they won't harm you from use. I know this isn't a top-of-the-line vise, but for the price I would prefer not to have to do this myself or risk getting cut when removing it from the box.Mine came with a fat ding in the plastic handle and the outside of the round ball is marred. Some look like dings, the rest look like manufacturing defects.The 2 hemispheres that hold the shaft of the vice heads also show a similar level of manufacturing prowess. Not the greatest, but not the worst. They function, but they certainly won't glide like butter.What I did find annoying was that overall, things didn't move smoothly. You can feel the metal grinding on metal and get jerky motions. Without too much effort, you can remedy this, for the most part:I took apart the base (and the vice head I bought separately) and rubbed them down with 99% isopropyl alcohol. This helped get rid of the metallic residue that seemed to be everywhere. I then applied some mineral oil to lubricate everything and wiped the outside clean. Anything that moved got a healthy application of oil, including the threaded rod attached to the handle and the hemispheres which got oiled inside and out. Don't put too much, but once oiled, spin them with your fingers until they spin without much effort.Trust me, once you clean and oil this up, you'll feel like you got much more for your money. It still won't glide perfectly, but you won't feel grinding at least and everything is much smoother.The weight is okay. With the vice head inserted you can tip it. I bought the extra weighted base for mine which helps and is basically a pricey chunk of metal with holes in it. If you really want it sturdy, then screw it into your bench, even if you have the weighted base. I like the extra base for the extra height I get. For light work, it should be fine for my needs and maybe yours, but YMMV.Some people complain that it isn't good for sawing... I don't know why anyone would buy a vice this like this for work like that. The right tool for the right job certainly applies here. I got mine to make cables and do electronics work, and it's doing just fine for that. If you want to saw lumber, get a proper bench vise that is made out of 2 blocks of heavy steel.I'd say this is good enough for the job it seems to be made for—the hobbyist or even the pro that needs to do light work and may be on a budget—though for the price, the craftsmanship sucks and it came marred. I expect more from a tool, especially one that is so widely used and recommended.

Old fashioned quality.