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I Forge Iron

Show me your vise stands


Chris C

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What you need for stability is to make the floor plate large enough for you to stand on  and make the upright strongly attached to it.  If you use a disk for the floor plate you can tip it up and roll it to a new location.

If you are standing on the vise support it will be MUCH harder to get it to move---every try lifting yourself off the floor by grabbing your nose and pulling?

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Here's my most used vise + stand. The counterweight is removable should you want to move the vise around; those iron discs are 60 pounds each :D

I don't know why, but this vise with two legs takes pounding and heavy forging  without any issue. In fact, I clamped the head of a traintrack in it, and used it as backup anvil for straightening small things, worked like a charm.

 

mvg; Bart

twolegvise1.jpg

twolegvise2.jpg

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On 9/9/2019 at 9:23 AM, ohowson said:

Any examples of ordinary bench vices being mounted to stands?

I have two:

34724EDE-5B0C-44AA-AE41-BFB0F3E7C540.jpeg

The one on the right towards the back is my big Columbian bench vise, mounted on my old anvil stump with an added flat base. I don't like it, and plan to change it to something more like the stand above with the removable weight plates.

The one in the foreground is mounted on an arrangement of 2" square tube that fits into my portable hole/striking anvil. Too wobbly for filing work, but I've been using it to hold things that need to get welded, and it works great for that.

 

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the big post vise (5 inch?) was mounted to a section of 2x6 lag bolted thru the studs on the shop wall. Stuff kept coming OFF the wall in the shop so a free standing vise stand was bolted together (pre welder) from a cafe table stand, some random diamond plate I had on hand and a big cast iron sheave pulley for the base. The sheave pulley was a failed flywheel-on-a-treadle-lathe project.

Second vise, a 4 inch and was mounted at right angles to the bigger one on the stand.

Visemod1.jpg

0806vise.jpg

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On 9/9/2019 at 9:23 AM, ohowson said:

Any examples of ordinary bench vices being mounted to stands?

If you go to my post on the first page there is a small bench vice mounted behind my post vice. I would post the pic again but i think admin would frown upon a double posting. 

 

If one image answers a specific question it is allowed.

20190817_121507.thumb.jpg.58de6a4c48c96c0a55e73574d862e2bb.jpg

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I bought a 6" vise that they threw in the table it was bolted too.  Old work bench with cast iron legs and the vise was mounted to a piece of bent steel bolted to the under side of the top sort of like \__/ to get it to the correct height. This was the vise I bought from an auto repair place closing business auction---the add said they had been in business at the same location since 1918 and so I knew they had smithing stuff hiding under the junk. 

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Is the stump buried in the ground any?  That was a fairly common method of mounting a vise back a ways.  It also depends on how you plan to use it.  Twisting may not need much, heavy bending and hammering and filing may need a very stable vise.  I have different vises mounted differently; from a 4" travel vise attached to a folding metal sawhorse that a previous user had widened the face and put telescoping tubes on the ends, (good for light work, easy to travel with), to a 6.5" vise attached to a telephone pole buried about 5' into the subsoil and rocked and cemented in that I use for heavy work. (Also 4 currently attached to workbenches, a 4" and a 6+" to two benches.)

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On 9/5/2019 at 1:45 AM, BartW said:

Here's my most used vise

Interesting pivot. Have not seen that one yet.

 

On 1/31/2020 at 8:20 AM, caotropheus said:

leg vice

love the chamfered legs.

3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Is the stump buried in the ground any? 

It is not. I will need to use it a bit to figure the height I like. My setup will be moving to the other side of the house come spring. I will bury to the proper height then. I like the idea of an immovable object but will need to wait till work flow is realized.

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I'm slowly working on a removable postvise for the middle of the shop driveway---bury and cement a gazinta that is about level with the ground surface with a nesting upright with the vise mounted on it. When I need to swing long pieces, I haul the vise out and drop the upright in the gazinta and can run a full length stick of steel around it whilst laughing insanely. When I need access to the shop, I pull it up and lug it inside.

I'm getting an urge to do some calligraphy in steel for a gate and need to maneuver longer pieces than what my shop supports.

Now my wife has a basic opinion that our house only has two sides: Inside---which is Hers---save for the smallest room not containing a toilet which is my study; and Outside---which is mine and that I am responsible for all maintenance, cleaning, etc.  Our bedroom does not have a window on the side towards the smithy---I find this to be a major feature!

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52 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Our bedroom does not have a window on the side towards the smithy---I find this to be a major feature!

:D

Mine will have a similar feature! Smithy will be moving opposite side of living spaces also invisible from any window. 

I will want to apply your gazinta technique once I take on my first arch or rail project.

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8 minutes ago, Nodebt said:

How is your post holding up there

It seems to be fine but I haven't cranked on it yet. It is buried about a foot and a half then cemented in. I have yet to customize a foot for the leg. Any ideas? I was thinking of using the small rail tie plate with its existing holes but it would need to be cut to fit around the base. I do have an old sad bench vice that cracked it's swivel base, so it is sitting in the corner for now.

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A short piece of angle iron will make your leg holder thingy. One hole for the leg and two or three to screw into the post and it's a done deal. Another bit of extra would be one of two holes through the section parallel with the floor to drive a spike or two through. A shortened 20 penny nail will keep it from moving. 

I'm thinking your vise stand is solid enough to prevent a truck bomber from getting through. :ph34r:

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 3 months later...

Inspired of the "Steven NY"-version I built two new stands for my vises. The smaler one is for rough forging working. So it got a wider bottomplate as the higher one that is more for benchwork, filing, bending and so.

The main dimensions:

small one - hight without the vise 690mm

                 - squar pillar 200/200mm

                 - Base 700/700mm

 

high one - hight without the vise 960

               - squar pillar 200/200

               - Base 500/500mm

As the higher one is not only higher but has also a smaler base it tends to swing/vibrate a little bit, so I added some bracings (red circle on the photo).

Even though they are not soooo big, they make the whole ensamble much more stable than I thought. So I put some too to the smaler one for my own good feeling :)

Greetings Sascha

smalraw.thumb.jpg.a64936b87a2c637208f6d646fd622f22.jpgsmall.jpg.13e2fa8770c2bcb7d6e6b7c7e0eeb73f.jpgsmallnear.thumb.jpg.a275de454ce21b755fec3ffb1970d7b4.jpg

Above the small one

 

highraw.thumb.jpg.3a0c4ce2c617bf17e7223d809df63fbd.jpg

 

high.thumb.jpg.d2c0eb5b73e9963d02133f15c945609c.jpg

highnear.jpg.1276af5e49b571417178841472a1fa71.jpg

 

 

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