A quick vise is a type of vise designed to open and close rapidly. The two jaws of the vise can be moved towards or away from one another by turning a vise screw attached to one of the jaws. Though any type of vise that is designed to open and close quickly may be called a quick vise, most of the time, these vises are made to be attached to the surface of a workbench and moved around as needed.
A quick vise may use the design principles of many different types of vises and can be used for large or small projects, including woodworking and metalworking. The size of a quick vise depends on the type of project it is designed for, though most quick vises are made to fit on top of a table or workbench. These vises usually come with holes or brackets built into the bottom so that they can be secured onto a surface with a few bolts. This makes it possible for the vise to hold an object in place while it is being worked on and also for a person to move the vise from one surface to another.
The vise screw is designed to open and close the jaws of the vise with a minimum number of rotations. This allows the device to open and close quickly so that objects can be repositioned and so that the vise can be used with objects of different sizes without taking much time to reposition the jaws. In many cases, a quick vise makes use of a ratchet or pawl that makes opening and closing the vise faster. In some larger vises, hydraulics are used to open and close the vise's jaws.
The jaws of most quick vises are made out of a sturdy metal such as iron. Though this material allows the vise to hold onto an object with a great deal of force, it can also damage certain materials such as woods if it is closed too tightly around them. A padding can be placed around the jaws of a quick vise if the object is prone to denting or cracking.
The design of the quick vise makes working with a tall, vertical object impractical. As with other vises, the quick vises is designed as a set of two jaws that can be opened or closed as needed, but the portion of a quick vise that holds these two jaws together is located on the bottom of the tool which does not give much vertical space below the vise. The quick vise works best with small objects or objects that need to be held horizontally.