How big of a post vice have you seen or was made? Just by crusing the internet I think I've seen one with 7 inch jaws. Not sure the weight but I think it was 250# or so...

Scott

I'm sure the one Alec Steele has is about 8-9". A few folks on here have vices that size. 

Andy

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. 

 

From the web:

Are you sure those aren't for crushing stuff instead of vising? 

Those are quite impressive John. I particularly like the second one. Awful cool. Wonder how big the anvil would need to be to balance those monster vises out!?

Scott

here is my 8 inch peter wright weighing in at 240 lbs on the hoof.  The purple and green vise is a five incher weighing 65 pounds for comparison

 

I see 8" vises listed from time to time, have yet to see one as big as John posted.

My 8" has a brass nut and belonged to Floyd Daniel, the first person to pay dues when ABANA was formed.  On another note I bought a 2.75" French post vise at Quad State this year.  A real cutie.

I have and use an Iron City 8" post vise.  Very heavy duty, and a beautiful forging.  Weighs about 210 lb.  I had another identical to it that I sold on ExxY a few years ago for big $$.

Fisher #6 double chain vises weigh about 200 lb, and have 8" jaws.

Do you have a picture of your Iron City 8 incher? I've found an 8 inch for sale but no markings I can see.

Scott

Edited November 3, 201510 yr by scotto

The above vise is not the biggest but one of the largest bench vises Ive ever seen. That's a 200 pound anvil its setting on..

my biggest vice is buying big vises

My 8" - stamped 1896. I need another 8"- anyone have one for sale?

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.

I have an 8" somewhere

Here's my 8 3/8" Peddinghaus vise. Just finished the stand in this pic. I used 1/2" plate I found at the scrap yard for it.

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..

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

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.

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.

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!

On April 25, 2016 at 7:56 PM, Jakesshop said:

Here's my 8 3/8" Peddinghaus vise. Just finished the stand in this pic. I used 1/2" plate I found at the scrap yard for it.

i love your post vise set up

Saw this on the internet