How to mount this Chas Parker Vise?

[GTFactory]

A friend gave me this Chas. Parker machinist vise. It's in good mechanical shape - all the parts seem to be there, no obvious repairs. But I'm not sure how to mount the thing. There's a 45 deg wedge which doesn't allow for mounting on a flat table since the top of the slope intersects the mounting holes. I've seen images of similar vises but not a single image are shown mounted.

I assume since the vise is heavy the wedge is there for extra support and supposed to be mounted with a 45 deg support of some kind but I'm just guessing and feel like a knucklehead if I go modding my welding table only to find out there's a simpler answer.

Any suggestions or examples of how this is mounted would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jakemac]

A common conundrum with vise's like this.
2 solutions :

1) notch the bench to accept the 45* wedge.
2) make a spacer for under the vise by tracing the base of the vise and cutting the notch out of the spacer. This will raise the height of the vise.

A third solution would be to cut the wedge off the bottom of the vise. Not recommended. This would weaken the vise support and upset the GJ vise community, resulting in a demand for revocation of your Mancard.

One member who is a machinist, milled the 45* wedge into 90* angle to fit the front of his bench. Mixed feelings about that approach.

 

[jimreed2160]

Congrats. That is a nice Parker. I mounted a smaller one to my workbench using a wooden base. I chiseled out a space for the 45 degree foot and laminated some ply below the top piece. I attached the base to the vise using bolts and then just screwed the base onto the workbench. It works great for light work.

Since you are working on a welding table, perhaps wood is not a good idea but you could sandwich some steel or alum plate with rectangular cut outs on the front.

Once you mount the vise, make sure the static jaw face is in line or just proud of the benchtop edge.

 

[GTFactory]

thanks jake - those were all the solutions i thought of even considered for a second cutting out the wedge but that's def not the answer ... i'm thinking the wedge is there to support heavy operations like forging or bending - like a post vise - so inclined to mount on a couple of steel plates with 45deg notch. would love to see a picture of how it was set up in a shop back in the day.

A common conundrum with vise's like this.
2 solutions :

1) notch the bench to accept the 45* wedge.
2) make a spacer for under the vise by tracing the base of the vise and cutting the notch out of the spacer. This will raise the height of the vise.

A third solution would be to cut the wedge off the bottom of the vise. Not recommended. This would weaken the vise support and upset the GJ vise community, resulting in a demand for revocation of your Mancard.

One member who is a machinist, milled the 45* wedge into 90* angle to fit the front of his bench. Mixed feelings about that approach.

 

[GTFactory]

thanks jim ... sounds like the way to go

 

[rsanter]

If it was me I would notch the bench and then also put a piece of 1/4" steel between the bench and the vise to reinforce that area (unless it is a thick solid woood top)

Or I would make it a mobile vise mounted to a pole on a truck wheel

Bob