What vice should i buy?

[Sheen]

Hi this is my first post. I am a hobbiest working from home using metal shears and cold connections (no soldering or saw work). I'd like to buy a small vice to take on and off my breakfast bar. I would like to use it for holding metal steady while i hand drill and for making the head on wire (rivets) with a hammer before attaching to rings. There are quite a few vices on cookson gold and i'm finding it confusing. Thanks

[Dennis]

If you want to be seated, most small vices are a bit tall for a breakfast bar, particularly the ball joint ones.

You can use a small clamp-on one providing the clamp opens sufficiently for the thickness of the work surfasce, or you can go for a mini machine vice like this:
http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/925_1_2757965.html.

If you are making rivets by balling the end of wire and then hammering it flat, this or something similar might be handy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steel-Riveting-stake-repair-clockmakers/dp/B06VV2NCV2

[Sheen]

Thanks dennis, this is just the sort of info i need. Yes i am sat down so this will narrow my search to clamp on ones. Unfortunatly i don,t have a torch to ball the ends of wire so am just going to be using a riveting hammer to spread the wire end. I tried holding the wire with a pair of square sided pliers as suggested in a book, but the wire kept dropping down when hit by the hammer.

[Dennis]

Yes, I've been through all that with pliers. You need large pliers modified with a goove to maintain the roundness of the wire, and a strong grip.

For Silver wire which balls up, it is well worth getting a small hand held torch (which refills with lighter gas), because flattened balls make for a neater rivet head.

https://www.eternaltools.com/jewellers-butane-gas-micro-hand-torch. Dennis.