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I Forge Iron

What's the biggest vise you've seen?


scotto

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I saw a real monster once. A glass blower/ Smith just outside Gainesville FL in a town called Archer had a post vise with 12" jaws. My jaw dropped about 12" upon seeing it too. I can't recall the weight of it, but it was something else. Especially for a tool nerd such as myself. 

 

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I have an 8" vise that weighs close to 200lb but about 25 years ago when my wife and I were looking for our first house one of the houses we looked at had what was at least a 10"  vise in the garage.  Many years later I knocked on the door cash in my pocket and asked if they wanted to sell the vise.  Unfortunately the owner had gotten rid of it and could not remember where.  I kicked myself at the time for not going sooner.

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Ive known of a 10" leg vise but I cant for life of me remember who had it? I use to talk to him on the forums all the time.. Ive been trying to remember but cant yet... If Im not mistaken Larry has a 9" vise, Ive seen a pic of it..

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I was poking around the notorious online auction website of North America and there is a 12" leg vise up for sale right now, in Rhode Island. It looks massive, that's for sure! I'd link the page but I'm not sure I'm comfortable, as it'd still be a link for a sale, and this isn't the tailgating section nor is it mine. I will say that he's listed it as:

HUGE VINTAGE KAYES 12" JAW BLACKSMITH , WHITESMITH LEG VISE , NICE COND. ANVIL

though I found it under a general search for leg vise.

 

Current Price: US $1,975.00
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Yeah, it came right up, top hit on Yahoo. That's quite a beast but I don't think it'd like being hammered on with sledges. Smooth jaws, long and gracile, maybe a sawyers vise but for hand work of some kind I'm sure.

$'s out of my league.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Does appear to be a more specialized application. The main arms look about the same as what a 4 or 5 inch vise would have. I wouldn't do any hammering or heavy clamping with it. Definitely a collectors price.

Jakeshop. Really like that setup, solid but not totally immobile.

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Biggest vise I've even seen in person is one right here. I bought it about a year ago and still haven't gotten around to cleaning it up but I will be in the coming weeks.

It's a Reed 108. I bought it out of a barn in Reading Pa. It's actually what got me interested in blacksmithing. The guy had it sitting next to two 500lb anvils. If I knew better I would of taken them home with me too. The guy who had them wanted $1000 each per anvil. I had no clue what they should cost or if they were hard to find that size in good shape or not so I didn't think of much it other than spending $1000-$2000 more that day might not be a idea at the time. I keep thinking about how I liked the big anvils though and I wanted one. So now here I am starting to play with blacksmithing. Image of the anvil stuck in my head. This vise is so much bigger than my 137lb Peter Wright anvil I have now it's funny to see them together. Out weighs my anvil by 163lbs. It's a awesome vise. I love it!

image.jpg

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