Asking for your opinions please

[Mickm]

I posted in a thread about mounting your vice somewhere other than on your new workbench top. I designed this versatile approach a few years back and it has proven to work great. After many emails and PM's about the availability of one of these I am giving though to manufacturing them for sale.

These are actual pictures of mine that I have used for several years without any problems.




These would be made in American from steel with a powder coated finish. It is able to mount almost any size vice. It will sit horizontally but can be rotated any increment of angle up to 90°. I would offer it as a wall mount (16" between mounting centers) and as a trailer hitch attachment.

Now for your questions.

1. Would you consider one of these for your shop (only if you did not want to drill holes in your worktop).

2. What would you consider a fair price?

All input will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Davefr]

1. Would you consider one of these for your shop (only if you did not want to drill holes in your worktop).

No, it doesn't offer enough working room from behind the jaws.

It doesn't look rigid enough. I could forsee a lot of vibration and flex.

A workbench is #1 priority. I can't image a vise without a workbench (even a simple workbench)

I'm not sure how many shops lack a workbench but need a vise. Sounds like a tiny segment.

Sorry, but I call them as I see them. It looks like it's well made but not too practical.

 

[jallyn]

Looks interesting, especially the swivel base. Nice design! I might be more interested in a model that clears the wall a few more inches, though that would surely add cost.

As shown I would think it is worth $50 or more. I would recommend keeping your price $99 or less if possible.

 

[Mickm]

Thanks for the input Davefr, It is appreciated. I will add there is a bolt at the rear that removes any vibration or ability for the vice to move. I have found that I usually need the most room in front of the vise rather than behind it.
I'm not trying to sell the idea just letting you in on something that can't be seen in the photo's.
Thanks again,

 

[d.mcfarland]

I could see the usefulness of one, but it's limited.

As a business professional 1st and an amateur tool nerd 2nd, your production costs, along with time, shipping, and profit, are going to be much higher than most people would be willing to pay.

Floor space is at a premium for most people (along with the need for a working surface when using the vise) so the need to have at least a 3 foot area on either side of the wall near their vise would really eat away at useable space.

I like the design and engineering behind that device though.

 

[Mickm]

jallyn, Have the unit sit father away from the wall is a good idea and one I will explore.

I doubt you could manufacture, powder coat and box them for $50 but I believe it could and should come in under $99.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Davefr]

Thanks for the input Davefr, It is appreciated. I will add there is a bolt at the rear that removes any vibration or ability for the vice to move. I have found that I usually need the most room in front of the vise rather than behind it.
I'm not trying to sell the idea just letting you in on something that can't be seen in the photo's.
Thanks again,

Give it a test. Clamp a large piece of steel in the vise and then go at it with a hacksaw with 12-18 tooth blade. Any flex or vibration will be an opposing force working against you. The further away from the jaws will magnify the affect.

The amount of force applied to something like a vise can be pretty large.

 

[Can I try?]

Mickm, I can see the potential appeal of your design, but I don't think the GJ crowd is your ideal target audience. Kickstarter, maybe?

It's a clever solution to a problem many of those here don't have. As a group, I think the folks on GJ would rather have a heavy duty bench-mounted vise.
Also, as a group we tend to like big, hulking old American vises, bigger than your display vise. This would put more weight on the mount and require it to be further from the wall. That's not a good recipe for a few lags into studs (Think levers!). In today's society the consumer would be going after you, as the manufacturer, if it were to give way and cause damage.

Ultimately, I think it's a good idea, but I think you should seek out a diverse set of opinions and don't just rely on the feedback given here on GJ.

Good luck!

 

[Mickm]

Can I try?- All good input and very appreciated. I spend a lot of time reading here and while you make valid points, I am just looking at this as a spring board for ideas, both positive and negative towards this overall design before I look seriously into manufacturing them.

Davefr- That is a great test and one I have already done several times. I will confess the vertical security bolt at the rear that I mentioned came to be from that test.

Thanks again guys,

 

[Davefr]

Mickm, I can see the potential appeal of your design, but I don't think the GJ crowd is your ideal target audience. Kickstarter, maybe?

+1.

I agree it's not for the GJ crowd. That leaves "Joe Six Pack" consumer.

They won't pay the price unless it's less then the price of the $39.99 Chinese vise they just bought at HF.

Marketing to the tiny niches that wants your mount (and will pay a fair price) will be tough.

 

[loke]

I use a vise on a bench and off. The bench vise I want extreme rigidity. I want to hammer and reef on whatever is clamped in there. Off the bench I use a vise on a Harbor Freight grinder stand. I wish it was more solid but I typically just want room to move the part and move around it without interference. Cutting, grinding, welding, painting, etc.

That all said, this mount would work great for the bench replacement in small areas. To be honest, I wish I had the bench space back. The key would need to be that it is solid. I appreciate the ability to change angles but as long as it locks and doesn't move.

I've thought about bolting the HF stand to the floor. I would look at something like that as a competitor for this product and base pricing from that. Everyone I know with no bench who needs I vise uses the HF stand.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[928'er]

Mounting something like that directly to the studs may work fine. Mounting it to the studs through drywall - not so much. We often use a vise to hold something we need to wail on or pry on. I foresee crushed drywall and the vise mount flopping around.

Maybe add a backing plate to spread the load....

Just my $.02

 

[four.cycle]

Mounting something like that directly to the studs may work fine. Mounting it to the studs through drywall - not so much. We often use a vise to hold something we need to wail on. I foresee crushed drywall and the vise mount flopping around.

^ when I first looked at the photo I thought "Oooh what a great idea!" and then started thinking about exactly where I would bolt it in my garage: in a "cubby hole" of sorts, on drywall. I'd be working in the dark and most likely smash a hole through the wall, which would really make the south wall in my living room look bad.

... and not all of us have huge vises ... I don't even have one mounted on anything - I have a couple dinky little clamp-on models, but they fill the ticket most of the time.

 

[mypov]

Could be handy for applications where one just needs to hold something while working with the object without a lot of force. can't see myself using that for installing or removing u joints, or working with steel to bend/fabricate brackets and stuff - looks fancy, I like how clean it is, but not very usable for my shop space. Hope you find a niche for it though.

 

[PoorOwner]

Obviously you had a lot of inquiries about it then there must be a bit of interest.
Sometimes just need to hold a throttle body and get a screw out or something like that. I could see it holding a small 3" machinist vise for more precise/detail work but not a big vise that invites you to put a lot of force.

But remember everyone here seems to weld 1/2" steel and beat their vise with a sledge hammer.

 

[bdelmar2]

Just doesn't seem practical.

The reason I have a large vise is to put large stuff in, or hammer on, generally do bad stuff to. Quite often a torch, grinder, cut off wheel or the like comes into play.

Its hard to say what I will want to put in a vise at any given time, but its more than likely going to be awkward. Quite often its a pain to get said item into a normally mounted vise, no way I'd want it mounted against a wall besides.

I know there are people here who have vises mainly to look at, or collect to say they have, or restore and sell, or whatever.

They are probably gasping and staring at the screen in horror as they picture me hammering, folding, spindling and mutilating my vises.

But that is just here, well here and probably some other similar sites. Pretty much what I would call your target market. I doubt it is large enough to justify producing such an item for profit.

The vast majority of the world buys vices to beat the living **** out of. Not surprising as this is what they are made for.

I imagine you would sell a few to members here, a few to members of other similar sites, maybe some on the 'gee wiz' factor or whatever its called and that's about it.

I could be wrong as I am in no way a marketing specialist.

I guess my main point is that I would be careful to not view the responses from here as representative of the tool/accessory market at large.














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[sberry]

Lot of work, low margins, low numbers in many markets. Would make flipping burgers look like big money.

 

[Whitworth]

There's no room to accommodate swivel vises (z axis). And I can't see much room to use a hacksaw for instance, without banging into the drywall.

For those reasons, I'm out.

(Shark tank talk)

 

[bobcatdan]

Not a bad idea but not for me. I like classic pedestal for vises not on a bench.

 

[shoot summ]

I like your design, and I think it's innovative, it does appear close to the wall, and I would have concerns on the transfer of vibration and sound to the wall if it is shared with living space.

For me I don't have any free wall space where I could make that work. My main vise is on a Harbor Freight grinder pedestal, I drag it to where I am working at the time and for the most part it works great. I need to add some horizontal supports at the floor because it does get a little "tippy" at times, but works great for what I need.

And I use my vise my like bdelmar2 described above, I don't have a "show vise", it's not pretty, it gets abused, I don't worry about hurting it, and most anything I do in it creates a mess.

 

[Davefr]

If your target market is the general public vs DIY enthusiasts, the other issue I see is your device not well suited for woodworking.

I'd guesstimate "joe six pack" would want a vise for holding wood just as much as metal. (ex: cut off 2X4). There's no way that device has the clearance for using a hand saw.

Maybe a more viable market would be to mount it on the inside wall of mobile service vans. (HVAC, electricians, appliance repair, locksmiths, etc)

 

[lakeroadster]

Based on how I typically use a vice mounting, it that close to the wall just isn't practical.

The vice in my workshop is mounted on the front edge of the workbench, which is about 2 foot away from the wall... and often I wish it was farther away.

Neat concept though if the mount was available separately to allow the z axis rotation.

 

[geartow]

These are actual pictures of mine that I have used for several years without any problems.

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Must be very minor work not even a finger print on a white wall. I wouldhave burned the place down using your idea. Clamp the tie rod end in there heat it cherry red with torch, burn down shop. Lawn mower blade sharpening n mower blade with grinder lots of sparks. Might be good for building models ,but I would still get glue on the wall.

I applaude your idea but think it defeats the common uses of a vise.