A couple of ideas from the Prospect Hill Forge blacksmithing school in Waltham, MA. 

A combination wire brush and flux spoon, for easier forge-weld prep:

(Also in this photo is one of their flexible “mats”, for shorter students to stand on to put them at the proper height relative to the anvil. It’s made of thick boards drilled through and strung on thin steel cable. They have two or three in different thicknesses.)

 A figure-8 loop of thin coil spring, to keep your vise handle where you left it:

I especially like the directions on the brush. Good ideas all, how well did the vise handle brake work?

Frosty The Lucky.

Perfectly. 

In fact, here’s one installed on my own post vise:

I'm going to have to find a couple small coil springs.

Frosty The Lucky.

I got a 16” replacement closing spring for a screen door (the old-fashioned kind, not the new kind with an adjustable cylinder) at my local hardware store. This I cut in half and made into two loops, one for the post vise and the other for the big machinist’s vise.