This product comes in a state that must be cleaned - otherwise it is too gunked up to use out of the box. There are heavy machine marks on the ways, I used 80 grit sandpaper on a flat granite tile to smooth out the flats (similar to dressing a hand plane). I worked up to 125 grit sandpaper and it seems to be fine now. I disassembled, cleaned, and sanded all of the surfaces and then lubricated heavily with 3 in 1 oil. Some of the blue paint is on the dovetails and causes unnecessary friction. I had to use a torch to melt off the paint and then sandpaper to finish removing it from all surfaces that have metal to metal contact. There are adjusting screws that can be adjusted to handle the tracking, but it seems to alternate between two states: too tight to turn the crank and too loose/too much play. The top jaws are somewhat difficult to tighten and loosen without a lot of oil and a lot of break-in. After about 4 hours in the shop fiddling around with this, I was able to get this thing tuned up and working quite nicely. I think I saved myself a lot of money and I'm now happy with the purchase, but you must know that this is not a quality finished tool - its like 90% there and you must do the rest to get this thing working nicely.

I usually don't bother with reviews but I thought I'd warn others to stay away from this one. It seems like it might work ok, but has major issues. First when removing it from the package, the blue paint was slathered over everything and sticky and not even dried. So I let the paint dry for a week while sitting on my workbench...and it still wasn't dry. Not even after 2 weeks in the dry So Cal heat. Not only that, but it started rusting in the meantime. So then I decided to just disassemble it, hose it off with WD-40 and clean it up and reassemble. Well, the blue paint seemed like it was just melting into a sticky goo that would not allow the metal surfaces to glide past each other smoothly. I have a heavier duty X-Y vise that I use on my mini-mill, so this isn't just me not knowing what I'm doing. This was to go on a dremel stand so that I could make linear cuts in metal. maybe best to soak it in paint thinner until all of it goes away. In addition the gimbals were bent, functional but still bent. But not very useful and way too much trouble to get it onto a condition that it will be able to do it's job. Probably best to stay away from this one.

After reading several reviews, I fully expected to have to tear down and completely rebuild the unit. I was pleasantly surprised. I adjusted a couple of screws on the shims and tightened a set screw and this worked great. I use this for some basic gunsmithing and it works better than expected. No, it's not a high end, high priced system, but this is an excellent buy for the hobbyist. Well worth the price.

i only bought it for an 80% lower.

the side plates need to be adjusted to keep the shaking to a minimum, but when you run an endmill in a climbing cut pattern it reduces vibration.

all in all, it works good.

I would prefer a 3.5, but I think if you factor in the price, availability, function, and the lack of quality other options, well...4 stars is not outside the realm of reality. After un-boxing I felt I would be breaking this unit down, cleaning, de-burring, and reassembling with the idea that it would take a little "massaging" to get it in working order.

Don't get me wrong, I am now happy with this vise, but I did put about 4 good hours into accurising this unit. I combined the vise with a Harbor Freight 10" drill press for a "light" milling machine, and for that option it is working just right. I can run up to 3/8" end mills, and before I forget...the chuck that comes with this unit is GREAT....it is 5/8" and heavy duty.

After the clean up and general redo, I can hold about .010 with ease, and any more then that takes very much attention. I am happy with this purchase, and there are VERY few other options in this price range that will get you the results this can.

have fun, G