stuartthesmith2 Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 and some shortcuts are epiphanies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Yea but did you try the well traveled rout first? There are things to be learned there as well especially if you have never gone that way yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Yea but did you try the well traveled rout first? There are things to be learned there as well especially if you have never gone that way yet I gotta agree with Southy on this one. I think it`s important to learn your lines and play your part as written before you decide to ad lib. There`s a reason all those vises had the same type mounting.Till you make one yourself you may not ever get your mind around the reasoning behind them. Then again bent strap or a U bolt will get you up and running faster. What`s that old saying about fast,cheap and easy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Stu, is that a chain repairing your hammer linkage? Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 well, I have made them by splitting the two ends and then drilling each leg to mount to the table. I have also made them diamond-shaped like the columbian vice table mounts. Then I decided to make one with the right angle bend, then drill the table mounted part and the vertical end through which the u-bolt goes through the vise into the table mount plate. All three work well, but the last configuration works best for me, especially when I am making a few of them at one time. For me, time is money............and if I can do something quickly without sacrificing quality, I go in that direction. No doubt you know your craft. But I think He wanted to do it in the traditional way. He only has one to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Well as mentioned there were thousands of Columbian postvises sold with the u bolt mounting system so it's not a "new" method or workaround. I am currently leveling the dirt floor in my shop extension and plan to sink a post vise holder into the ground; but I will be using large square tubing with concrete around it to make "recepticals" for a piece of nesting sq tubing to provide a strong base that I can pop out when needed so I can back the truck through the shop. I was thinking of mounting two vises on the upright---a 6" and a 4" back to back so I can use whichever is best for the task underhand. Currently in the old shop I have one of each mounted on different workbenches near the forge and notice that there are times when a small fast vise is just right and times when you want/need the elephant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 Well I finally got the mount finished and mounted, I built a tripod using 3/4 inch plate as the top. I cut a notch for the leg to sit in and left one side for upsetting (Per Brian Breazeal & LDW design) This thing is solid and pretty massive, I have another small leg vise that I will be mounting nearby for light work. Now I have an over-limit of vices so I will be selling the 4 1/2 inch vise that I have been using, It has tapered jaws I am not sure if someone ground it down or if it was made like that, but it does come in handy sometimes. Thanks to everyone for the response and suggestions on this post, southshoresmith was a big help and really understood my goal in this project, I could have fabricated a mounting bracket in the time it took me to write the first post, but I wanted this mount to be forged in this fashion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Are you sure you have too many? They come in handy in the shop away from the forge too! (Or as a portable set up for a Demo Vise). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fosterob Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Clinton, That part looks good. You spent so much effort on it to keep the old and original look would it be better with square head bolts? Do you have a pic of the whole thing. I also agree with Thomas that you should keep the vice. I have a small one like that for doing field work. Sometimes on a nice job I will set up the rivet forge and do some small work on the site so the client can see what is happening, makes them appreciate the job more in my opinion. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Ya I need to find some square head bolts and replace those. I do still have three vises in working order, hmmm is three enough? I need to get to the flea market sometimes the surface there Here is a picture of the whole thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Three? Well it depends... I have one on loan to the local community college Fine Arts Metals area so I can have a sturdy one bolted into the building frame---(I-beam!) when I teach class there. Then I have the big--6.5" and the small--4" ones on workbenches near my gas forge, then another 4" on the opposite side of the work bench so someone can be filing while I'm forging, I've got one for my welding table---very handy!, one out in the shop extension bolted to the utility pole holding up the roof (and will probably have one per pole (4) in the long run) and plan to install the back to back pair near the coal forges, hmmm that would be a total of 11 not counting the two travel vises... Back in the blacksmith's happy hunting ground postvises were so common and cheap that I drew the line at 10 and would just upgrade of pass a new one on if I found a good deal, ($20 for a 4" was a pretty standard price in the '90's; I paid $50 for my 6"---and bought a $20 small vise and another $50 6" this year at Quad-State!) Now you've got me thinking of how to engineer the back to back pair so it would be easy to slide a bolt out and rotate them on the stand rather than lifting them up and turning the stand 180 to fit back down into the receiver... You can make an usable anvil out of almost any large chunk of steel but a good postvise is pretty much one of those things you are better off buying! I was talking with a rancher from back in the beyond, (Their ranch is slightly under 200 sq miles as I recall) and he was telling me he had bought a large vise in town (probably HF) and it had broken the first time he had hammered on it and was unfixable and he was not pleased. A postvise would have been cheaper and would not have broken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Good work Clinton! Now you can come and help with mine :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Thanks stewart Thomas- I will be sure to make the price high enough that only crazy money will prevail Fewood- no problem on helping you it will be much easier to forge with two people, and I already know what not to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 This is super simple version of a leg vise mount. It is roughly baised on the Columbian style vise mount . It is a piece of 4" by 3" by 3/8" angle iron with two holes drilled in it welded to the top of a pipe. The u-bolt is a piece of 5/8" square with the ends turned round and threaded. You could use a piece of round bar instead. I did this a wile ago wile I was still a blacksmith tadpole. It works well but it not as satisfying as making the real thing. Keep the small post vise you'll use it at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Nice job on the mount Clinton. As suggested, you could have built it more quickly any of the other ways, but you did NOT waste your time. You did something you have never done before and you learned some new things doing it. You got a very nice, functional vise and new skills. It's a win-win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 This is super simple version of a leg vise mount. It is roughly baised on the Columbian style vise mount . It is a piece of 4" by 3" by 3/8" angle iron with two holes drilled in it welded to the top of a pipe. The u-bolt is a piece of 5/8" square with the ends turned round and threaded. You could use a piece of round bar instead. I did this a wile ago wile I was still a blacksmith tadpole. It works well but it not as satisfying as making the real thing. Keep the small post vise you'll use it at some point. Southshoresmith, I can't see much wrong with that U-bolt! Maybe chirps like'What`s that old saying about fast,cheap and easy?' sounds like some of the best dates I ever had. Clinton, That 'traditional fix' certainly is just the biscut, well done! Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Here's a nice one by Darryl Nelson: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Southshoresmith, Maybe chirps like'What`s that old saying about fast,cheap and easy?' sounds like some of the best dates I ever had. Ian Hey now,fast cheap and easy fits my favorite vice perfectly. Are we still talking about blacksmithing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Hey now,fast cheap and easy fits my favorite vice perfectly. Are we still talking about blacksmithing? I always thought that a blacksmith would be lost if he did'nt have at least one good vice Regards Ian Grant, That piece by Darryl has no place on the back of a vice, it belongs in a gallery! it's a beaut.Do you currently own it? Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 I've noticed that my postvises show a disrespectful tendency to want to catch the tubing on my insulin pump and try to jerk it out of my abdomen; unpleasant to say the least. Wearing bib overalls can deny them access to it, but I don't think I'd add another "catcher" to the back end of the vise as pretty as that one is! It would look good on the back end of a ballpeen "hawk" though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 A little follow up on my surplus vise, put it up for $175 on craigslist........... Sold I think I paid $40 for that one at the flea market I will take a turn on an investment like that any day I did not think anyone would buy it at that price, the guy offered $150 and I told him I would do that without the stand ( that cost me nothing to build with free material ) I think I hear Taps playing in the distance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Would depend on "replacement cost" to me; don't think I would sell a 6" vise for 4 times what I paid for it if I would expect out here to have to pay 6 times to replace it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 I would not sell a 6 inch vise either Thomas, but the 4 inch are pretty common out here and I have never paid over $50.00 for one, and ended up with one for free one time, my dad found it at a property while doing tractor work and the guy told him he could have it and there was little value in such an item (complete 4 1/2 and marked 70 on front 70 lbs I believe its good and stout, screw is good also). In the last year I have sold 3 post vises and given away 1 ( my dad wanted one to sharpen his chain saw) they come and go and if I can make a few bucks on a deal then I can buy some more fuel for the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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