Ideas for Outdoor bench and vise setup.

[bigredcornhead]

Does anyone have a setup outside their shop for a bench and vise? I was thinking if i can get my hands on a scraped expanded metal picnic table top, i can pour some small footings, and either use some metal legs or 4x4 posts. Then add a vise either leg vise or bench top to do all my cutting and grinding outside. Keep some of the filth and grime outside. Any suggestion, ive seen a few people with vises outside might just do that instead of the bench as well.

 

[NUTTSGT]

How about a vise mounted on a piece of tubing that is welded to a steel rim or something similar that can be moved.


Edit: forgot steel rim

 

[no704]

Sono tube filled with rebar and concrete?

 

[Fav Onefour]

How about a vise mounted on a piece of tubing that is welded to a steel or something similar that can be moved.

Receiver hitch mount? Main disadvantage would be a nice vehicle getting hit by grinding debris. It sure would be mobile.

 

[lolaetype]

Does anyone have a setup outside their shop for a bench and vise?

All my grinding and most of my cutting metal is done outside. I don't do a lot of it, but I don't want to do it in the garage (too lazy to clean everything). I use a BD Workmate for the bench because it's easy to move around to where I need it and fold it out of the way when I'm done. I've bolted a 4.5" vice to a 12" length of 2X6 that I either clamp onto the workmate or hold in place with a "C" clamp. If I need more table area a have a 2' X 3" piece of 1" thick plywood with a 2" X 3", 2 feet long screwed on center onto the plywood. I can clamp that in the workmate and "C" clamp the vice to it.

 

[four.cycle]

^ You want to check out @Beerhippie's home-made "roll it in, roll it out" set up he fabricated. Very slick.

 

[Beerhippie]

^ You want to check out @Beerhippie's home-made "roll it in, roll it out" set up he fabricated. Very slick.

This old thing?



Wish the casters were bigger.

 

[four.cycle]

Wish the casters were bigger.

Make you a hell of a deal on some new Grizzly 6-inch "all terrain" casters, but shipping would be deadly. Maybe I need to go check out the Wallowas.

I found a home-made, rolling metal work cart. My plan is to go over to Earthwise Salvage, have them slice me off a couple pieces of 1-1/2" butcher block, glue them together side-to-side to make a top with an edge around the perimeter which will allow the top to be dropped onto the top of the cart but not slide off, and make a provision for a "quick-on/quick-off" little 4-inch Taiwanese vise I have out in the garage. It would be light enough I could just lift it off or put it on as the situation calls for (as I actually rarely use a vise.)

 

[rmack898]

I built this bench 2 years ago and added a Craftsman vice that I got for Christmas in 1975. It lives outside my shop and is quite handy.

 

[tarmy]

I use this with grinding and dirty ****…I have a nice Vice mounted to a 2” receiver tube that slides into that mount. Works great and gets the vice outa the weather.

 

[bigredcornhead]

I use this with grinding and dirty ****…I have a nice Vice mounted to a 2” receiver tube that slides into that mount. Works great and gets the vice outa the weather.

Now this is what I'm talking about thanks for sharing great idea on the hitch receiver also!

 

[tarmy]

I will try to remember to take a pic of the vice mounted I made and with it installed. You need a big bolt or handle to secure the vice when the BFH comes out…

 

[tool_scrounge]

Find a vintage cast iron machinery base for cheap. I knew a scrap dealer who found an old overhead pin router cast iron machine base and used that as a nice stand for a vise. Very heavy and he liked the style. The entire top of the machine unbolted and he just added a steel adapter plate for the vise. The fully assembled pin router (image found on the internet) is shown below.

 

[tarmy]

As promised…

 

[The Metric System]

For years at a previous shop I had a ~ 3' x 5' outdoor workbench adjacent to the garage, it was great for exactly the type of dirty work you describe: anything that generates chips/dust/smells/fumes that I didn't want in the building.

A few tips based on what worked well for mine:

• Build the top out of pressure treated dimensional lumber rather than sheet goods or expanded metal. Something like 2x6s will allow rain to drain through but give you a mostly solid surface that small hardware can rest on safely. If a single piece degrades or is damaged it's easy to replace piecemeal.
• A cheap no-name knockoff vise will likely work well for the sort of light-duty fixturing you will be doing out here, you don't need something good or fancy. Presumably you have a better vise indoors if you really need to get medieval on a workpiece. The cheap vise I had on mine had some cosmetic rust but otherwise held up fine to the weather; consider all the service trucks you've seen with a vise permanently mounted to the rear bumper exposed to vast amounts of salt and road spray.
• An air line within easy reach of the bench is handy to blow away those chips and dust you are creating.
• Get in the habit of checking for wasp nests before you start using the bench. A bunch of stinging insects coming after you when you have your hands full with a grinder is no bueno.

 

[bigredcornhead]

As promised…Dang Hip, i want your vise too that is my grail vise, been looking for some time, i will find one eventually!

For years at a previous shop I had a ~ 3' x 5' outdoor workbench adjacent to the garage, it was great for exactly the type of dirty work you describe: anything that generates chips/dust/smells/fumes that I didn't want in the building.

A few tips based on what worked well for mine:

• Build the top out of pressure treated dimensional lumber rather than sheet goods or expanded metal. Something like 2x6s will allow rain to drain through but give you a mostly solid surface that small hardware can rest on safely. If a single piece degrades or is damaged it's easy to replace piecemeal.
• A cheap no-name knockoff vise will likely work well for the sort of light-duty fixturing you will be doing out here, you don't need something good or fancy. Presumably you have a better vise indoors if you really need to get medieval on a workpiece. The cheap vise I had on mine had some cosmetic rust but otherwise held up fine to the weather; consider all the service trucks you've seen with a vise permanently mounted to the rear bumper exposed to vast amounts of salt and road spray.
• An air line within easy reach of the bench is handy to blow away those chips and dust you are creating.
• Get in the habit of checking for wasp nests before you start using the bench. A bunch of stinging insects coming after you when you have your hands full with a grinder is no bueno.

All great tips need to him my local salvage yard for some expanded metal.