FieryFurnace Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Someone suggested that I place a large pipe in my shop floor, mount my vise to another pipe, and then slide that pipe into the pipe in the shop floor. Well that's what I did! I have a piece of 5-inch, 1/4-inch wall square tubing. I purchase a piece of 6-inch, 1/4-inch wall square tubing, and cemented it into the ground 2-feet deep. I placed a preformed, concrete block into the bottom of the hole I dug to provide a solid base to the vise pipe. The pipe in the ground has 4-5 inches of concrete around the entire pipe and I think this will provide a solid base for my vise and will also be much less obtrusive than my previous stand. The weather has been cold so I put some heat lamps on the concrete to keep it from freezing as it cures. After I get my torch up and running, I'm going to use it to help build the mount for the vise. Once the entire thing is completed I'll post pics. My steel yard had several other pieces of the 6-inch pipe so I'll probably add a couple of other mount positions later. Quote
jimmy seale Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 howdy dave, if i'm reading this right you will have some slop between the 5 and 6" tubing..but one thing i would do is make a skirt to keep trash out of the joint..but if it fits good (like a reciever hitch) cut off a little bit of the 6" and weld it on the 5" so it serves as a stop, and don't forget to grease up the 5" so it's easier to pull out and turn if needed,let us know hoe it goes.jimmy Quote
Steve Sells Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Nice just, not sure you needed the heat lamps, as concrete cures its exothermic. Quote
FieryFurnace Posted February 11, 2012 Author Posted February 11, 2012 There will be a bit of space between the 5 and 6. In tradtional boat building wedge are shaped and placed around the mast where it goes through the deck. Depending on how much slop there is, I will make some of the wedge to place around the opening. I probably will weld a stop on the 5-inch as you suggested but not a collar style. I'll probably leave some room for the wedges. The grease is a good idea! Quote
HWHII Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Instead of grease try anti-seize. Anti-seize will stay pliable longer than grease. You can get it at a hardware or auto supply store. Quote
Larry H Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Dave, you should put a shim on the bottom of the pipe that holds the vice to take up some of the space on the inside bottom because even if you shim the top it will still wiggle if the bottom has room to do so Quote
Frosty Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Dave: I have a bunch of gozintas in my shop and use them a lot. Is your's flush with the floor? If not it's a trip hazard and will need a place holder for those times your vise is elsewhere. Holding wobble down isn't hard if you put some feet on it. A base plate that rests on the floor with three is ideal feet that will pok into the floor a bit. Nothing large, just some buttons like 3/4" nuts welded to the underside of the plate. Another method, the one I use because I have a concrete floor and feet don't push in, is to mount the leg plate so it holds the gozinta post just a bit off plumb. Sure I need to take a prybar to it to get it unstuck but it doesn't wobble. Frosty the Lucky. Quote
FieryFurnace Posted February 11, 2012 Author Posted February 11, 2012 Mine is not flush with the floor. I do hope to pour concrete eventually and want to think ahead for that. The lower shim is a good idea! I hadn't thought of that with the vise but I had the exact same problem with my hardy hole on the anvil. A few tabs on the stationary pipe and a few corrisponding tabs on the portable post, with bolt holes and heavy bolts would fix any wobble and any stability issues. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 I try to find angle iron in various thicknesses to shim such things and will use a full length piece with the top cut along the meet and bent back into tabs to keep it from sinking any lower. Some really flimsey angle iron is only used for such shims in my shop. Quote
FieryFurnace Posted February 21, 2012 Author Posted February 21, 2012 Here is the completed stand. Well pretty much completed. It still wants me to pain it, and it also wants a bigger vise. LOL I've got to cut some shims for it too! This hole was supposed to be on the backside of the pipe. It is the bolt access hole. I got messed up and welded the top plate on backwards. It's not really a big deal because with this vise, I can reach in there with a wrench and tighten the bolts without any problem. And this is the post support. The pipe is 5-inch square tubing with .25-inch walls. The top plate and down pressure support plates for the post are all 3/8-inch plate. The post sleave is 7/8-inch ID pipe...pretty thin stuff, and the two supports welded onto that are 1-inch by 2-inch tubing. (They are like 10 gauge or something.) It's a pretty stout stand, weighs a half a ton, and I think will serve me well. Quote
Chris_Riffe Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 Dave, I like the way you think. Shops run out of room fast unless you have the ability to readily move things around. But, of course, everything needs to be well mounted and stable to work properly. This idea seems to be a good compromise! My regards. chris riffe Quote
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