Hello!

I was wondering what advice people might have for making a stand (free standing) for a 70-80 lb post vice that would be stable in the shop but also portable and fieldworthy. My best idea so far is a circle of diamond plate (so rollable) with a tube in the middle and possibly a small table mounted to the side.

Thanks!
Peter.

The next vise stand that I make will be like this
http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/16074-vice-and-stand/page__p__162714#entry162714

this is the one that I made using an old truck wheel a piece of pipe and a 2 foot square of 3/4 inch plate, you can move this with a hand truck and it is pretty heavy but still needs to be secured for heavy work or bending it will move

This is the vise and swage block stand I use in the shop and at demo's. ( I actually have 3) They are fairly stable and light enough for me to load by myself. To move them around I either use a two wheel dolly or just tip them onto two legs and "walk" them. This style is also what we use in the club teaching trailer.

Hope this helps! Bill Davis

Well I guess that didn't work! I will try and add the picture later.

Edited May 16, 201016 yr by lazyassforge

If you make it with a plate on the bottom that you stand on while working at the vise then it will never move, it is impossible to move siomthing while your standing on it and this way you can also make it lighter if your gonna be moving it around.

welder19

Dad made one from the scrap pile at the community college. It has a 24" diameter 2" thick plate for the base, and a piece of 8" pipe topped with a 3/4" plate to fit the vise mount. The pipe can be filled if more weight is needed. As it is it probably weighs 300#+.

Best rig I've ever seen or used was to bolt the leg vise to a 55 gallon open top steel drum and fill it with water. Gives you a slack tub and plenty of weight to anchor (although you do need to make a lower bracket and socket to support the leg). When you want to move it, just dump out the water and walk away with the barrel and attached vise.

A fancier version has a swing out plate on top of the barrel to hold small tools.

I've used the 55 gallon drum method too---get a drum with a bung on the side down low to make it easy to drain.

For a bracket I've used a plate of steel with a hole for the viseleg's "acorn" and a couple of holes for spikes to keep it from shifting during use.

Having all that water close helps calm the fears of site owners---just like having an ABC fire extinguisher prominently displayed. I can tell them that in nearly 30 years of smithing the only time I've used one was putting out a car that had an engine fire.