Vice mounting?
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I love mine mounted to the rear of the service truck, and in a shop a good heavy bench works great.
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Mounted to a really heavy bench, would love to have one mounted on a stand by itself, right into the floor. Would give a lot of flexibility with it.
I am liking the idea of mounting it into or onto the floor. The reason I am asking is our current set up was onto a heavy wood bench like you were saying chance2, but over time we have been really hard on the bench prying and pounding, so I am going to redo the set up and am looking for ideas. I want to try something that is tied directly into or onto the floor but I am not sure of the best way to do this. Also I don't want to mess up the floor pounding on a vice that is tied to the concrete. I am not sure how much constant pounding like that concrete will take. Has anyone had a problem with that.
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Our so called shop is very small so doesn't led itself to having anything mounted into the cement away from the wall area but what we have been using is a steel table that was acquired years ago at a shop that sold out. While it is quite physically heavy it's still not heavy enough that doing a lot of prying etc won't move it and would be nice to be able to have a way of bolting it to the floor but also to undo it and be moved about as well for projects where the wall of the shop is in the way when bending various pieces of metal and so forth. The strength of the table has never been put into question though, its 5/8 plate steel with thick angle iron welded on the underside to really stiffen it up and then round pipe legs with large nuts welded into the bottom side with bolts screwed into the legs so the head of the bolt becomes the surface sitting on the cement and able to level the table so it doesn't rock. There is an expanded metal shelf incorporated into the table as part way down the legs they used angle iron to run around to all the legs for rigidity. While not perfect, it does make a pretty good vice table and I managed to destroy the 6" Record vice in a catastrophic way a couple of years ago and bought a 8" Record vice to replace it. Its hard to get a good quality vice but that's another topic.
Long ago dad had that same 6" vice in another little shop that had a thick plank work bench as part of the building and I remember him prying and so forth and that bench deflecting, same with pounding on objects in the vice as its hard to have a wood structure solid enough when working out a vice well beyond what it really should be !.
Long ago dad had that same 6" vice in another little shop that had a thick plank work bench as part of the building and I remember him prying and so forth and that bench deflecting, same with pounding on objects in the vice as its hard to have a wood structure solid enough when working out a vice well beyond what it really should be !.
When I built the shop 30 years ago I went to a place that sold used steel found a plate that was 1 1/2 " thick and 3by 7 ft long made a bench with 4"x4 tub use fork lift when we move it you can pull on anything you want in the vice and the bench will not move ,the vice was my dads before I got it ,made in Canada that says quality not China crap.
Yeah very handy to be able to work around it, mine is on a pole in the slab, bout 3" from memory and the pipe is full of concrete as well, still vibrates a bit unfortunately when hack sawing.
Reckon a big vice would need 4" x 1/4" wall min and full of concrete for no vibration. Heavier the better.
One important consideration it to somehow to earth the vice to something else so when you are welding you don't need to reattach your earth. I have had one that was tied to the shed frame. I used a trapeze for my traveller on the mig welder and just clamped the earth onto the side of the shed. Worked fine .
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deetwocat, that is one impressive piece of steel for a table. It got me wondering what it weighed and by a steel formula the table top would weigh 1300 lb and then your legs and so forth on top of that.
Our table is 32" wide by 6 feet long so that 5/8 plate would weigh 410 lb, then the legs and angle iron stiffeners on the underside, the shelf along with tools I place on it adding a fair bit to the weight. That just shows the difference between a table like ours that works pretty good but will move or tip if too aggressive while yours becomes a rock solid structure.
So when I see someone who has set up a work bench/cabinet system along a wall and put on 1/16 thick metal they had formed to make a nice surface with a bent over edge and a vice attached, all I can picture is an upset farmer when it begins to disintegrate the first time a big hammer comes down on whatever is in the vice. Fine for small items and not beating away but would never begin to take what these steel tables can handle.
Our table is 32" wide by 6 feet long so that 5/8 plate would weigh 410 lb, then the legs and angle iron stiffeners on the underside, the shelf along with tools I place on it adding a fair bit to the weight. That just shows the difference between a table like ours that works pretty good but will move or tip if too aggressive while yours becomes a rock solid structure.
So when I see someone who has set up a work bench/cabinet system along a wall and put on 1/16 thick metal they had formed to make a nice surface with a bent over edge and a vice attached, all I can picture is an upset farmer when it begins to disintegrate the first time a big hammer comes down on whatever is in the vice. Fine for small items and not beating away but would never begin to take what these steel tables can handle.
The best vice that I know of today is a Record from England ,I think they were bought out by Irwin tools the company that makes vice grips but I don't know were they are made today. The receiver idea is good also my son has limited space stores vice,bench grinder,small drill press all on 2" tube
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Ours use to be mounted to the bench. Several years ago I got tired of it pulling out of the bench so I made a stand out of 4x4 square tubing and anchored it into the concrete floor. It has not moved since.
Don't make em like this anymore
I think this was old when my Dad bought the farm 53 years ago.The bench it's on is attached to the shed wall.The post behind the vice goes through the wood floor into the dirt underneath,it's pinned to the post with a large nail on either side of the steel rod.It has seen a lot of hard use and never broken loose.
I think this was old when my Dad bought the farm 53 years ago.The bench it's on is attached to the shed wall.The post behind the vice goes through the wood floor into the dirt underneath,it's pinned to the post with a large nail on either side of the steel rod.It has seen a lot of hard use and never broken loose.
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The leg vice is my favorite. Had one for years until the threading on the tube disintegrated. Bought a 7 inch Wilton but it's not the same. Those old vices could be hammered on and didn't crack. The spring give up and I replaced it with a buggy seat spring. Any vice you do buy today I suggest you get one that has provisions for holding tubular objects. Whether you are fixing rams, working on shafts or pipe; a pipe holding vice is handy.
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