A buddy of my Dad's sent me a picture of this vice today and said he was sending it home with my Dad so that I can use it for knife making. I don't know why it looks so different from any other vice I'm used to but it was free and if there's one thing I know, it's not to turn down anything free. Especially a vice! Any thoughts?

That is a Cole vice. It was used as a field vise. There is a 1" diameter hole in the bottom. You can stick a 1" rod in the ground and mount the vise. Actually you only have the vice portion of the tool. There is also a hand cranked, auto advance dril that mounts in the top grove of the vise jaws. You can also clamp it to a place tht you can't get your drill press to and drill holes (like in a car or truck frame). The small handle on the right allows the vice to be rotated. The jaws move like in a post vise. It is cast iron so will not take the heavy hammering like a post vise but the impact does not transfer to the screw as in a machinest vise. I have one mounted on each of my lay out tables and would not be without them.

Good score.

I found one of those on the side of the road a couple of years ago. I believe that mine has a hole on the bottom that is threaded for a chunk of pipe for the leg.

On the odd occasion I have seen some one stick a pipe in the hole then take the whole vise to a pipe or some other part and use it like you would a vise grip.

Thanks for your help guys I appreciate it!

I have had one for 20+ years and I'd rate it as not so good for smithing; but handy for knifemaking with the rotation feature.

Yeah I'll probably end up just using it mainly for knife making. I have a couple other types of vices that I'll use too. This is just one that I picked up. With that rotation feature, I couldn't pass it up for free...

Hard to have too many vises in a shop!

Got one of those for $20 two years ago. Great vise to have in the shop!

Our antique store had one of those a while back. It had about 4-inch jaws, and was very heavy built. He wanted like $100 for it though.

just came across one of these for sale on ebay and they show a bit of how its mounted i hope it helps
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BLACKSMITHS-MACHINSTS-MECHANICS-COLE-BENCH-VISE-Anvil-lot-400-/110811244906?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ccdd696a

Well I'd guess that less than one in a thousand were mounted on a stakeplate!

lol yeah i realise that
i was thinking more just that it gives a bit of a idea of it in for lack of a better word in action
i am searusly lusting after that swivil action
but then i am quick to lust after old tools

They were being sold new up until a few years ago... I can't find the website anymore, and suspect they stopped making them. As I recall, the retail price was around $250, and the Cole drill was another $250.