The mod vice is one of the best solution if you are looking for a decent low profile vise. It saves a lot of space, especially if you Z travel is not a lot. I made my own fixture plate for this gen 3 mod vise and it works very well. Easy to setup and work with. Awesome quality product! Albert J. 5/5 Verified June 16, 2026
Great piece of machining, love how simple the clamping mechanism is! Excited to see it in action. Corey M. 5/5 Verified January 8, 2026
There is probably no other CNC accessory on the market that delivers so much value for such a good price! We use the MOD VISE for almost all projects. 10 out of 5 stars :-) Greetings from Munich / Germany Julian B. 5/5 Verified December 17, 2025
Love SMW’s products. I bought them for home use and liked them so much, I am working towards implementing them on several Haas VF series mills at my shop, not too far from SMW’s plant. Hey Saunders, come down for a visit and bring some stuff to demo, please! Ian W. 5/5 Verified October 29, 2024
These mod vises save a lot of time by eliminating the need for fixtures. The Gen 3 saves room with the narrower center jaw. Richard H. 5/5 Verified September 30, 2024
Put off buying a plate and vise setup for some time. Not even one month into owning it I had to mill .080” off of this brake caliper to get it to align with the disc. The vise held the caliper securely even though the clamping areas aren’t parallel. It is something I don’t think the vise was designed to do but did better than anything else I have and did it very securely. Robert T. 5/5 Verified December 27, 2023
Made my own Saunders fixture plate, with nothing less than 390 M12 holes with reamed holes for 12.72mm in the first 7.5mm and threads all the way through. Made room for my fourth axis for permanent mount and so on. Turned out beautiful. Vise sits nicely and can be repositioned anywhere on the fixture plate. The plugs also fit perfectly in all the holes. Kim M. 5/5 Verified December 26, 2023
I ordered the 1/2" modular vise system along with a set of soft jaws. I received the order only to discover the soft jaws were missing. I contacted the folks at Saunders and they shipped out a replacement set right away. The quality of the of the vise is great. The surface finish and machining look to be very well done. I am extremely happy with the purchase. Thank you SMW!! David N. 5/5 Verified October 27, 2023
The mod vises are the real deal! Especially for the smaller machines such as the Tormach 770. Chris B. 5/5 Verified March 16, 2023
The combination of the mod vises and fixture plate have been a game changer for us. It's allowed us to run multiple setups and ops while keeping repeatability and reduced setup times. Peter A. 5/5 Verified February 19, 2023
This dual station setup is exactly what I was looking for! Definitely a must if you have a SMW fixture plate. Jeremy G. 5/5 Verified February 1, 2023
Just a simple photo from earlier today on my hobby pcnc 440. I love these, they help me maximize the limited space I have. So happy with purchase. Randal D. 5/5 Verified January 4, 2023
Wow folks, thank you! As a small business owner I chose very late in my career to give a small CNC machine a try after years of only having done basic manual machining most of my life. We use this machine for prototype and very low production runs as well as one off parts, and for that reason it is hard to predict what we will run next. Hands down, the SMW goodies shown on our simple little Tormach mill has been the best money spent. The setup flexibility is incredible and beyond the great NYCNC videos, the design and execution of these products just shows that SMW is actually an even better company than I suspected. Service and support along with fast delivery has been a bonus. You people rock! Deep, deep respect from all of us at Cogent Dynamics Inc in North Carolina. Thank you! Rick T. 5/5 Verified December 26, 2022
Absolutely love the low profile and options I have when figuring out setups. Joe B. 5/5 Verified September 6, 2022
Used on my homemade CNC machine using a homemade 1/2" fixture plate. While the genuine SMW fixture plates I've bought for work are certainly a nicer experience of using this system, I am bootstrapping my home shop and using a homemade fixture plate is an acceptable solution as long as it is rigid enough. You'll want to eventually upgrade to a steel fixture plate because it just takes the wear and tear of frequent setups better, but the real value is in the mod vises IMHO. Extremely clever, and takes a lot of head-scratching out of job setup work. Martin J. 5/5 Verified June 6, 2022
I was hesitant at first to leave behind my trusty vise and soft jaws for every job, but once you get these bolted down to the SMW fixture plate, the possibilities start flowing. Solid, repeatable setups! I’m excited to nerd out over fixturing again! Ryan H. 5/5 Verified August 4, 2026
I have several Gen2s and now I have to at a minimum use 2 different allen wrenches each time I mount new parts which is really annoying. Secondly it is I believe needlessly larger only to be universal. Thirdly, it does not align itself with Gen2s as advertised. There is a couple hundredths difference which is substantial. Overall I wish the Gen2s were still around so that I could have bought them instead. Michael N. 3/5 Verified September 8, 2025
Nicely made vise, has made setups much easier and more repeatable! Stuart M. 5/5 Verified June 2, 2025
I've watched your videos for years, and they inspired me to buy these units when needed. I like the build quality and the fact it came with all the screws and accessories needed to get to work right away. I also ordered the castle grips, which keep my steel stock secure during deep cuts. I highly recommend the dual station, which is what I ended up ordering, as it makes life so much easier for me. On one side, I use the smooth jaws, and on the other side, I use the castle grips. This saves me setup time. Also, kudos for providing the CAD files. I am working on a steel upper plate, two more Gen 3 vices in aluminum, and a fixture plate for my CNC router. My only recommendation is to make the locating pins on the center vise removable. To secure them, I had to drill two locating holes in my fixture plate (T-Slots only). Fernando G. 5/5 Verified April 15, 2025
Mod vises work great. Gives me more setup flexibility on my work table. Easy to implement. Richard S. 5/5 Verified June 12, 2024
I have a 1200lbs "desktop" Ganty cnc with full cast iron frame. The machine is extremely rigid for its size but it lacks Z axis clearance below the gantry I only have 200mm between the bed and the bottom of the gantry. Most parts I work on fit in there even cylinder heads for combustion chamber work. As soon as I put a standard type cnc vice there half of my real-estate is gone. The low profile mod vice is just amazing at workholding without sacrificing the little clearance I have to work with. Reinier W. 5/5 Verified February 16, 2024
We originally got one set with our fixture plate, and immediately ordered another two sets once we tried them out. Fantastic product! Jonathan S. 5/5 Verified August 16, 2023
SMW dedication to quality standards has been an absolute joy. I truly appreciate the time spent on SMW perfecting this product along with the care of given to preserving the Made in the USA badge. Excellent product! Sean W. 5/5 Verified March 16, 2023
Its the 3rd set I have bought and the first dual set. You cannot beat this setup if you have the SMW fixture plates for the mill table. I do a lot of 1/2 Inch flat aluminum and these vices have never let one go. Highly recommended . John has contributed so much to us garage shops by seeling great products and free knowledge and it has been great to be along for the ride as well as an inspiration. Thank you John Laurence O. 5/5 Verified February 8, 2023
What do you get the husband who has everything for Christmas… simple, a Saunders Mod-Vise of course!! ;o) Melissa S. 5/5 Verified December 18, 2022
Fantastic product. Initial setup was simple and it decreased time to switch between jobs by >80%. Sage A. 5/5 Verified October 25, 2022
I am really happy with the vice. I originally purchased the single station and I should have bought the Dual kit. Saunders really helped me out and assisted me with the upgrade items I required. Shipping is expensive to Australia so if your on the fence, buy the duel kit you will not regret it. This really allowed me to start machining better parts without fear of crashing into a vice or items on the table. Hamish A. 5/5 Verified September 4, 2022
The craftsmanship on the pieces is beautiful and first class. I have not yet had a chance to put them to use. A machinist friend of mine is making a fixture plate for me and as soon as it is finished I will be excited to use the vise jaws. Mark S. 5/5 Verified July 27, 2022
Machining looks awesome, parts were neatly packaged, delivered on time, and price is great. David T. 5/5 Verified July 22, 2022
Love these little vices! great versatile addition to my SMW fixture plate. Thanks John for the help! Ben B. 5/5 Verified June 16, 2022
