knifedude1999 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 How is your post vise's leg mounted? I am making a mount, but the leg I don't have clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I have a soft floor in the "shop" so mine is sitting on a 1" thick chunk of steel with a hole in it roughly the same size as the bottom of the post vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 For my forge area I have a large chunk of wide grader blade appx 18"x48" with mounting holes that I have on the floor with the vise leg acorn in one of the holes For my smaller vises I have heavy blocks of steel with holes in it. For my travelling set up I have a steel plate with a central hole for the acorn and side holes for tent stakes. I decided to drill a hole in the concrete for my armouring shop vise's acorn last weekend as it wanted to slip around and for a 100# vise that's unacceptable. I have an appropriate sized washer to deal with downward forces and not to pound the concrete on the edges of the hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 the base of my newly/nearly completed vice stand is a piece of 3" wide channel steel, into which I drilled a hole roughly the same diameter as the tenon on the post. need to gasket it with some rubber or something because the hole is a tad large, but the acorn (thanks for the term Thom, didn't know it had a name) just sits flush on the top of the channel. edit: spelling >.< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I have 2 leg vices, one is mounted on a metal stand I fabricated and the other is one a wood stand I made. The easiest solution I discovered it to not worry about the putting the very bottom of the "leg" into a hole, just secure it somewhere near the bottom against the post somehow. You'll have to look beyond my lazy welding and nailing...but to be honest I don't really care how the vices are mounted, all I want is for them to stay still and sturdy, which they do. I should point out that with the metal one I haven't welded the leg to anything, that's just 2 bits of angle iron welded around the leg. Wood Metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I don't think that acorn is the only term for this; just one I use, along with knob, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 The shop I currently work in has had that leg to swing free-bird style since 1974, when the shop was built. Why do you feel the need for it to be secured to anything? Just let it flop around like the blacksmiths in the historical society have for decades. I was not a blacksmith when I went to work there some three/four years ago. Never seen a post/leg vise in my life. I was to assume it was supposed to flop around like a fish out of water when you loosen and tighten that handle. I got this bright idea; had I secured that long leg to the base of the workbench, it would be held ridgid and then the jaws would line up............................ Duh. The other blacksmiths must have been smoking something all those years. That is all I will say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I saw this post vise stand with vise mounted to it recently at an auction. I really liked the stand design, but didn't need/want the vise attached to it, and of course it was being sold as one item. Depending on the size/thickness of the center column, this stand can be very beefy. I bid on it for a while before it went above my price, but I took some pictures of it so I could reproduce frabricating it with a visit to my salvage yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postleg Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Mine is just mounted to my welding table. I used a 1/2 in wood spacer under the mounting bracket. Then the post is set on a 3 x 4 piece of oak and just sits on the cement floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 If you want to use your leg vice correctly you need to make sure the leg is firmly sitting on something hard. The point of the leg is to take impact straight down. Just collaring the leg to keep is from swinging side to side is not enough. Imagine having hot steel in the vice sticking straight up, and you want to hammer on it with a sledge hammer. All the force is driving the vice down. The leg should be on something like a heavy timber sank into the ground, or in a hole in the concrete floor, or steel plate. If you only collar the leg shank in place all the downward force is placed on the mounting bracket. The force will cause the eye in the vice to jam into the mount caller and split it apart, and the force will pull on your bench, table, stand putting strain on it. The leg is there for a reason. If your not going to mount it against the ground you might as well use a smaller cheaper cast iron bench vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Cheers Martin, I'll keep that in mind before I start doing heavier work. I hadn't run into that problem yet as I've only been doing very light work & using the vices for cutting/filing/jigs & not done any hammering in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusb Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I drilled an oak 4x4 nearly thru then stepped for the Bulb. Sized it for a tap in fit, this is thru bolted to runners under the table. There is no movement at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Cheers Martin, I'll keep that in mind before I start doing heavier work. I hadn't run into that problem yet as I've only been doing very light work & using the vices for cutting/filing/jigs & not done any hammering in them. I have seen many people mount a vice just as you have. Seems to be a common thing. But it is easy to fix, just a block or wood or iron under the leg resting on the floor and your set! I guess many people do not forge in there vices any more. I am just happy to see the old tools still around! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 waaaait a second, theres something missing from that pic marcus :) there might be no movement because theres no HANDLE! :) unless that's a really bizarre trick of the light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I guess many people do not forge in there vices any more. For me it's not so much a case of choosing not to, it's just that I'm a beginner and the basic projects I'm doing are anvil orientated, hence my naivity regarding vise mounting reuqirements further down the forging line. Hopefully that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneeholiday Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I just acquired a post vise, as well. And I am trying to figure out the easiest way to mount it. I have a rigged work bench so would prefer my vise to be mounted independently. I was looking at some stuff on anvilfire and it made sense. but i'd love to see more pics of your setups. :-) thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Renee check out the "Show me your post vice" thread, or just take a stroll through the myriad of threads in this section to see what people have done for fixed and portable mounts. the variations are endless and largely driven by what kind of time and material you have available to construct such a thing :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Greetings Renee, I posted a while back two examples of moveable post vice stands .. Its under vises (movable vice stands ) Good luck Forge on and make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneeholiday Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Thanks, guys. I'll go check it out. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockcrusher Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Here is a pretty good way to get an exceptionally solid mount if you have a good floor to mount to. It is a chunk of 1-1/2" plate which has been recessed to perfectly fit the vise body. the face of the plate was drilled and tapped so a front strap can secure the vise to the plate. A heavy wall pipe was used to join the top plate to a lower 1" plate which also holds an old casting that fit the post base very well. A special epoxy was used to give 100% support to the foot. This is an 8" vise and the top of the jaws are set about the height of my anvil which I find a very useful. I do have another 6" post vise nearby that is about 8" higher. I know it looks like the leg was cut off but I'm fairly sure it came this way as the stump doesn't look cut. Any way here are a couple of pics. Ed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 I fabbed this up for my vise this year, the leg sits in a piece of pipe welded to the 3/4" steel plate that is lagged to the floor. It is very stable and I can twist stock without the thing moving all over the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Rockcrusher, could you have designed a more durable stand? Sheesh, that thing's a tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockcrusher Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Rockcrusher, could you have designed a more durable stand? Sheesh, that thing's a tank! Actually no. That was about as solid as I could mount it. In my day job at the quarry there is no such thing as anything being over built. :) What is interesting and not totally expected is that I get pretty good rebound off the top of this vise now. Not as good as an anvil but still about 50% to 60%. Very good for forging on or heavy bending. I used cone liner backing to set the foot in the casting and the wall thickness on the mounting pipe is about 5/8". This vise will not move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rascal Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Here's the stand I made a some days ago. I put it on the plate so I could stand on it when bending and the vise wouldn't move. The leg is into a short piece of 1" pipe welded on the plate The mount was actually my first forged piece, after (mumble) heats, but I did get it done. I also made the spring. An addition is the small table that sits on the back and locks into the holes drilled in the angle that is removable so that I can move the whole thing with my dolly. The picture of the table is it's bottom showing the supports and pin heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Rascal, the far right photo really helped me solve a problem with a 4" post vise I just bought. It needs to be a bit mobile, but solid as I can get with that situation. I have a piece of 1/4" scrap plate about 2' x 2' and if I weld a post or pipe for a stand and a top plate to bolt the vise to like yours, I could move it around with a two-wheel dolly. I also have a piece of 1/2" C-channel about 1 ft. square with a 2" or 3" edge. Might weld the channel flat side up to the 1/4" plate, then weld the post or pipe to that to give it a lot more base weight. Thanks for the idea. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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