What's the biggest vise you've seen?

[ironwolfforgeca]

NOW that's a Leg vice WOW !!

that would go good with my 3" tc 5' x 9' outside weld table

though my forklift would more than likely run away from home

it doesn't like moving the weld table much LOL & its 8000 lb forklift

[Hammerfall]

Holy cow that thing is huge!

[jlpservicesinc]

That's the one I want..     It seems like the European vises and anvils are always bigger than stuff in the USA..   Over there the Quantity of anvils over 300lbs is amazing where here it's harder to find then over 300.. 

Here an 8" vise is hard to find..   Where over there it seems to be more common place..   Makes me think they were doing a lot of heavy blacksmithing vs here..  

[Rylan Fletcher]

On 6/7/2016 at 1:33 AM, Kaylee said:

 there is a 12" leg vise up for sale right now, in Rhode Island. 

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

What would the web address be for that site? I'm afraid I've never heard of it before.

thanks in advance

[John McPherson]

Rylan, he means fleaBay. Look it up yourself, no advertising links allowed.

[marcusb]

On 4/14/2017 at 7:40 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

That's the one I want..     It seems like the European vises and anvils are always bigger than stuff in the USA..   Over there the Quantity of anvils over 300lbs is amazing where here it's harder to find then over 300.. 

Here an 8" vise is hard to find..   Where over there it seems to be more common place..   Makes me think they were doing a lot of heavy blacksmithing vs here..  

I always figured the USA industry was prone to scrapping out the shops when newer technology came along

[jlpservicesinc]

I would think so on stuff not used anymore like Swage blocks, tire shrinkers and such but vises.. What kind of person gets rid of a vise in any industry where you need to grip something to work on? 

I knew 2 old timer blacksmiths and they kept the main items..  Anvil, vice and blower..  Everything else they were willing to part with.    but whos to say though if you look at all the old publication in the USA they list an 8" as the largest..    

[Judson Yaggy]

4 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

But whos to say though if you look at all the old publication in the USA they list an 8" as the largest..    

True.  

12 hours ago, marcusb said:

I always figured the USA industry was prone to scrapping out the shops when newer technology came along

Also often true but not always the case, I think there were exceptions to this behavior.

 

My hypothesis is that our (USA) industrial iron age peaked along with the acceleration of manufacturing technology.  We didn't need a 9" wide leg vise and a crew of workers to hit it with sledge hammers because suddenly there were other options for a given manufacturing process.  Who needs a big ass vise when the guy in the next factory over has a punch press and a pneumatic upsetter?  The Brits and Germans entered this game earlier in the global evolution of tech so you see more "big" hand tools surviving from that part of the world just because they used them for longer.  Some big hand tools were made and used here in America too, they were just superseded sooner.  

The exceptions to my suggestion above comes from the geographic size and diversity of the USA, and the specialization in regional manufacturing.  Some places due to remote location (the USA is a BIG place) or lucky location on the time/technology curve did need big hand tools.  If you are very lucky you can still find some of those tools today.  

[ThomasPowers]

Not to mention the bean counters scrapping anything they can't  take depreciation on anymore; though that is an artifact of the US tax system where a machine totally paid off and working to spec loses you money compared to a new one you owe tens to hundreds of thousands on.  (I took some economics and accounting classes over the years and I know how that works but I still think it's an HE double hocky sticks way to run a business!)

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Another thing about the availability of old heavy equipment was WWII and the iron & steel drives to support the war effort. My grandfather would tell me of complete shops in the Cleveland area that sent all their equipment for it. Such a loss to history and future blacksmithing.

[ThomasPowers]

One of the things to realize when touring Europe is that a LOT of what you are seeing is not "original" but restoration of stuff from after the wars. Luckily there were often detailed documentation on things and the will to put things back they way they used to be.

(This is also the reason I look for pre war guidebooks showing ironwork before WWII and if I'm lucky before WWI.)

[JT]

I've just been offered this one for sale.. a lot like one of the ones John has already posted.. I don't know the dimensions yet, but it weighs in at 550 lbs.  

[JT]

the measurements on this are 30" tall and jaws are 11.5" wide !!  

[Tubalcain2]

that's a Wooper.

[JT]

yes ..so is the price !! its in the neighborhood of $4000.00 USD.!!

[marcusb]

That would make one heck of a paper weight!

On a more serious note, the design of the large vise above would lend itself well to being fabricated from plate. 

[scotto]

 Nice big ol' vise! At $4k that would be the most expensive I've seen.

[ThomasPowers]

That vise is lovely but not US$4K lovely to me; now if it was 1/10 that price I'd be clearing a place in the shop for it---and that's saying something since my 6.5" vise cost me US$50...

[Glenn]

When was the last time you saw a vise that size for sale? I suspect it will hold anything you put between the jaws.

As to the price, was the last one you saw priced less or about the same?

Can you put that vise to work so it will pay for itself?  If the answer is yes, than consider the purchase.

Can you afford some really cool bragging rights? That is a personal decision only you can make (grin) 

[ThomasPowers]

Last one I saw that had a larger width and about the same throw was an old shaper vise and it was given away to me for free by folks that were not using it and tired of tripping over it in their shop. I passed it on to a friend for free as it was too large for my shop.  They loaded it with a forklift.  That was 25 something years ago back on rec.crafts.metalworking.

If you need it then a tool like that is cheap; but I've bought 4 triphammers total for less than that, any one of which would probably be more use in a person's shop than that vise.

Yes it's well known that I'm cheap (and going bald and bearded and a curmudgeon and stocked up on smithing stuff in the blacksmith's happy hunting grounds, (central OH), when the getting was *good*.)

[GusGusss]

mine is about 210 lbs it has 6 inch jaws and opend to 10.5 inches with a near full anvil

i just found a Hollands 56H it weighs about 210 lns has 6 inch jaws and opens to about 10 1/2 inches with full anvil

[FurFinFeather]

There's an 8" Peter Wright for sale at Ontario Antique Tools...big dollars though.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Here’s one of my big vises it’s 8” wide jaws and opens up just a hair under 13”. That’s a 94# Peter Wright setting there in between the jaws for scale, it’s ridgid branded but I’ve been told that it’s actually a Columbian, Cant remember how much it weighs but it’s really handy I use it almost daily In The shop. Anyways it’s the biggest bench vise I’ve personally found to date but I’m sure there’s bigger ones out there. 

[wrenchguy]

My 8" RIDGID weighs 190 lbs.  The total set up is 1150 lbs.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Wow your looks a lot cleaner and nicer than mine lol, I think my table is a little over 1000 pounds without the vise but again I don’t remember, is your handle custom? Also what are you using for lockdowns for your swivel base? They kinda look like giant acorn nuts but I can’t really tell from the picture.