bikecopXXX Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 anyone familiar with these? http://www.yostvises.com/mechanics-vises/forged-steel-bench-vise.html any positive or negative experiences? Looks like a 1/2 price alternative to a new leg-vise. Just need to weld up a vise-stand for it. thx Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Greetings Bike, I have been called a man of many vices.. Have you ever worked on a leg vise? You must take into consideration the depth of what you can put in the vise... Bench mounted style units are limited to the distance to the table top.. Also many units like these have aggressive jaws that are cross hatched and mark metal very quickly . I can't see where there is a price advantage.. You can pick up a great leg vise for a couple of hundred.. Check out EBay for reference.. I hope this helps you.. Just my 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 If you plan to use this vice while forging you will be very dissapointed. If you simply need a good vise to forge with you would save a great deal of money buying a used leg vise. For 200 you could buy a very nice leg vise used that will last many years. The price of a new leg vise is very high compared to the many used leg vices on the market in the USA. This type of vise will brake under normal forge work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I'll echo the others here. You really don't know how much better a post leg vice is until you use it. I've had a 65lb shop vice for years, it doesn't hold a candle to that old leg vice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 It's like buying a pickup truck---just because a new one may be $30K doesn't mean you can't buy a good old one for a fraction of that price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 SearchTempest is your friend on Craig's List. There are several dealers in anvils and post vises on Craig's List. I can vouch for the two in Denver, NC and Pageland, SC. They do this for a living, so no steals, just fair market prices. You can go to them, and look over the merchandise in stock. You can also sometimes find them listed by others on CL, and they do show up regularly at flea markets and junk dealers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 anyone familiar with these? http://www.yostvises.com/mechanics-vises/forged-steel-bench-vise.html any positive or negative experiences? Looks like a 1/2 price alternative to a new leg-vise. Just need to weld up a vise-stand for it. thx Mike Unlike most machinist's vises which are cast iron, you likely can do some heavy hammering on the Yost without breaking it. I had one in my collection once, it was a good machinist's vise. Truly though, you need both, since they perform different tasks. As a biker, I am sure you wouldn't want to trade your big sled for an enduro because it can perform two separate tasks, but neither of them well, would you? From what I can remember, machinists vises are cheap in your area. Get one, and then find a leg vice with at least 4" wide jaws, but preferably 4 1/2, or 5". Of course if you can find a larger one, all the better, but the cost starts to skyrocket above 5" jaw width. For some reason there are still lots of leg vises available used. Find a decent one, and it will outlast you, and likely some of your descendants. I can't imagine buying a new leg vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikecopXXX Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Thanks John, never heard of searchtempest...looks useful I greatly prefer seeing stuff in person rather than in pix from sketchy far away sellers. I see an ad from the guy in denver, i'll give him a call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I use searchtempest all the time, and I've rarely been disappointed. You have to be willing to wait, and you might have to take a bit of a drive, but you'll always find what you're looking for. Of course, the downside to buying a vise for $150 today is that as soon as you do, you'll find out your buddy's had one in his garage for the last hundred years and would give it to you for free just to get it out of the way. Happens all the time! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikecopXXX Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Well mr cook in Denver had a fine pair of vises and many anvils, hammers, and tongs as well. I bought an old rusty vise with good jaws and threads along with a handled hot cut and farrier shoe tongs for a relative bargain price. About an hour with the wire brush and the vise was rust free, cleaned, lubed, and BLT-ed. Looks great. Next project is a vise stand. I took half the neighborhood with me and everyone said they enjoyed talking to him. He showed off a few ball bearing steel knives and other projects. Very nice guy. Maybe a few new smiths in the making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 in case you have not noticed there is a major design difference between a bench vise:, where its only to hold things; and a leg vise which while holding also directs the downward pressures to the ground and away form the screw. they are not the same thing. Having said that your referance photo is a very good bench vise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 vises are expensive that side of the pond, I can get several good ones here that are hardly used for less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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