Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Show me your vise


Glenn

Recommended Posts

A 5" heavy duty table vice showed up at my shop, this AM. A guy here in town decided that he didn't need it anymore and brought it by my shop. I asked how much he wanted for it and he told me to just keep it. It has been abused, ie. somebody must have put a bar on the handle and cranked it down too much. It broke off under the outside jaw. But he's an old welder and had welded it back together. It was broken when he bought it at a garage sale for five bucks. He said that he has had it and used it for several years. Also, here's a couple pix of my 4" table vice that I mounted on a plate and welded a hardy pin on the bottom. I use it on my weld table. I cut a hardy hole in the table and re-enforced it with gusseted tubing on the bottom of the table. Works great. When I need the whole table, the vice just lifts out and it's out of the way. I'll probably mount the 5" vice the same way. :D
5" Table Vice picture by Curly_George - Photobucket
4" Table Vice picture by Curly_George - Photobucket
Bottom Of 4" Table Vice W/ Hardy Pin picture by Curly_George - Photobucket

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only one that doesn't have a blacksmith (leg/post) vise? :D This is probably my most used tool. Main pedestal is 12" pipe welded to a 1/2" baseplate and 3/8" top plate. Vise is bolted to a flange on a piece of 8" pipe. This gives me a 2" ledge all around the vise to hold clutter ;)

19995.attach

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well, after years of looking, I finally found a post vice in good shape that I could afford. I just finished the stand yesterday, and have used it twice this morning. The stand is a 2 foot square piece of 1/2 inch diamond plate with a 6 inch X 6 inch X 1/4 post. 1/2 inch top plate. I am going to like it alot, I can already tell.

post-7036-12653317783205_thumb.jpg

post-7036-12653318211377_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got this one from Eric DABLACKSMITH in Apache Junction. It's hooked to a length of railroad tie sunk about 2 ft into the ground. There's a 1/2" plate with the appropriate hole for the foot buried under the sand. If it looks low to you lads, I'm built low to the ground too.

post-12173-12653364132664_thumb.jpg

post-12173-12653364150532_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Well here are a few of the vises I use and my "Big" vises... There is a 4" in the pic with the 8" and 9" for scale.... The 9" is 215lbs... The one on the stand with the Wilton machinest vise is a 5 3/4 and the stand alone one is a 6 3/4..



Monstermetal-

I am having trouble seeing the pictures you referenced. Can you point me to them please? Thanks.

Patrick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Here’s an oddball Wiley & Russell step vise manufactured in Greenfield Mass. It takes up more floor space than most step vises but I like the heavy duty hardie hole cast on the front. I mounted it to a piece of blue stone which was good for outdoor use but I’ll probably keep it this way in my indoor shop rather than bolt to the floor permanently.

Also shown is a large Columbian Hardware leg vise. I mounted it to a super dense old growth wood beam buried in 12 bags of concrete! Needless to say that was a lot of work which seems like a bit of a waste now that I plan to move it into my new shop which has a poured concrete floor. I wasn’t, and still am not, sure where in the shop it will end up so I did not place bolts or a beam in the floor prior to pouring. I’m thinking of welding a steel tube to a heavy steel plate large enough not to need floor bolts. Has anyone done this and if so how large a floor plate do you recommend.

post-7380-0-68508900-1301271682_thumb.jp

post-7380-0-16091400-1301271729_thumb.jp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Here's my vise. I don't know what brand it is there are no markings on it. I don't have it mounted at the moment.


Looks like an IRON CITY. Check for a six pointed star stamped on the movable leg.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Free standing as in timber that is buried in the ground? or just sitting on top of the ground? If they are just siting on the ground how do you keep them from rolling all over the place or tipping over when you have large or long piece that needs some heavy bending?

My mane vise is not fixed to the ground but it is off the corner of a table that must be near 650lb or 700lb, So it dose not move much. There is nothing better to me than a vise that NEVER moves no matter what you do to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By free standing posts, I mean that the vise can be reached from any angle. The posts are sunk in the ground. I have a scroll form that takes 4½ feet of stock. I like be able to walk all around the vise when working with something like that. The vises are not attached to benches or tables.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my new shop extension, besides having a vice mounted to each utility pole holding up the roof, I plan to make a couple of "gazintas" lengths of heavy square tubing cemented into a posthole in the floor and level with it that I can slide a vise mounted on a nesting section of heavy sq tubing into and then place a keeper through matching holes making a vise I can walk around or remove to back the truck into the "free space".

I've scrounged a section of 4" structural tubing, now to find the nesting section!

I just don't feel comfortable associating with people with no vises!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...