I like the tip about drilling the top for pins.
The first thing I did with my bench vice was to replace the hardened jaws, but I used mild steel bar (no alloy) instead.
As I tend to use the vice a lot, I'm quite happy to make specific jaws for specific jobs as here
note I've also re-drilled the vice so that the jaws are threaded and the bolts that hold them screw in from the outside.
makes changing them a breeze
If you do decide to do this , a top tip is to make a specific spotting punch to fit through the clearance holes (in my case it's 5.3mm dia. for 5mm bolts). makes it very easy to mark new jaws for drilling and tapping.
peter