Looking for a Foot Vise

[stampman100]

Hello everyone. I am currently searching for a foot vise similar to the T&O 63-601-100 Jaw Width Bench & Pipe Combination Vise (it went out of stock) since it functions similar to a blacksmith vise but isn't as bulky and more suited for rod/coil bending. I don't mind buying one internationally or with shipping too, if available.

Other similar ones are, which also all went out of stock, Palmgren WBS135 and Dake FV135.

Does anyone know where I can possibly find something like it for sale (new/used)? Thanks.

 

[Maui]

Can you post a photo of what one of these vises looks like?

 

[stampman100]

They look like this.

 

[stampman100]

Can you post a photo of what one of these vises looks like?

Here is also another similar one (this is the FV135).

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Cool, never knew about these.

 

[MichaelP]

I've never seen those either (not counting jawhorses like Rockwell).
Do you adjust jaw opening with the handle and use your foot to close the jaws?

 

[larry4406]

What does a foot vise do that a regular vise doesn’t?

 

[MichaelP]

I guess it's quick, but you'd need to keep pressing to hold the workpiece. Similar to pliers.

 

[stampman100]

I guess it's quick, but you'd need to keep pressing to hold the workpiece. Similar to pliers.

Essentially yes (they're just smaller and more compact version of a blacksmith vice). If I remember correctly, the handle can make it serve as a regular vise too if necessary.

 

[neophyte]

I think there must have been a single manufacturer of this vise, maybe in Taiwan, and the vise has since been dropped from production.
I don’t think I’ve seen these vises available for sale under any brand name for at least a decade or more.

Hydraulic Assist vises are the closest design I know of ghat might still be in production.

BVA Hydraulics HBV5 Hydraulic Bench Vise with PA1500 Foot Pump, 5 Tons, 13" Height: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

BVA Hydraulics HBV5 Hydraulic Bench Vise with PA1500 Foot Pump, 5 Tons, 13" Height: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[stampman100]

I think there must have been a single manufacturer of this vise, maybe in Taiwan, and the vise has since been dropped from production.
I don’t think I’ve seen these vises available for sale under any brand name for at least a decade or more.

Hydraulic Assist vises are the closest design I know of ghat might still be in production.

BVA Hydraulics HBV5 Hydraulic Bench Vise with PA1500 Foot Pump, 5 Tons, 13" Height: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

BVA Hydraulics HBV5 Hydraulic Bench Vise with PA1500 Foot Pump, 5 Tons, 13" Height: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

I agree, the move to discontinue this type of vise started nearly 20 years ago and the final ones went out of sale more than a decade ago. While I agree the hydraulic assist ones are closest to my use case, I don't really like them for my application and at the same time they are really expensive.

At this point my main hope is to find someone who has one lying around in decent working condition (I've found a few in rough condition) and is willing to sell it.

 

[whateg01]

Seems like it would be a pretty easy thing to build with the right tools. Course I don't know what tools you have available

 

[stampman100]

Seems like it would be a pretty easy thing to build with the right tools. Course I don't know what tools you have available

Well, sorta yes. Anything can be built with the right tools, even the previously mentioned $2.5k hydraulic vises. But whatever I'll make will take a lot of time for me to make (there are a lot of moving parts in there) and will cost a bit more than buying one from someone. Maybe if I won't find any in the next year or so I'll consider making something similar but basic.

 

[whateg01]

...and will cost a bit more than buying one from someone. Maybe if I won't find any in the next year or so I'll consider making something similar but basic.

If you can't find one to buy, and you really want one, what order choice do you have? I guess you could pay somebody else to make one

 

[stampman100]

If you can't find one to buy, and you really want one, what order choice do you have? I guess you could pay somebody else to make one

My other choice is casually looking through facebook, craigslist, forums, trying to find someone who has one. I don't urgently need one so I'll probably make it myself if things come to it in a year or two.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I've been looking for a decade.. have a saved Ebay search etc. Nada.

I agree that making one is probably the ticket.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Could you adapt a sheet metal shrinker/stretcher stand to work? I've never taken a close look at one but it seems like something that may work.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Making one may be easier than you think!
(not mine, but I will be doing one)

 

[stampman100]

Making one may be easier than you think!
(not mine, but I will be doing one)

That can work. The one nice thing about the one's I've been looking for is that they are instant on/off, I don't have to wait for the hydraulic system to slowly close. I think I can make something closer to that, pretty cheaply too, but it might take a bit of time.

 

[RTM]

Buddy of mine has one he uses for his hand crafted metal fab business. High end metal chasing I believe is the term. His is like 50+ years old, and the only one he had seen in a few years of looking. I will ping him for a brand name later today

 

[finn]

I bought my well worn circa 1890 blacksmith vice (post vice) at an auction for something like $50 years ago.

My grandpa had one on the farm when I was a little kid, and my uncle took his from his farm to suburban Detroit when he got his engineering degree and quit farming in about 1959.

I realize the op is looking for something a little different, but I think of my now departed uncle every time I use that old blacksmith vice.

 

[slowtwitch73]

The one the op is after is not a blacksmiths foot vise.

It's a high quality bench vise with adjustable gibs and interchangeable jaws for metal forming, bending etc. The jaws travel in a single plane like any other bench vise, not in an arc like a blacksmiths.

 

[stampman100]

I bought my well worn circa 1890 blacksmith vice (post vice) at an auction for something like $50 years ago.

My grandpa had one on the farm when I was a little kid, and my uncle took his from his farm to suburban Detroit when he got his engineering degree and quit farming in about 1959.

I realize the op is looking for something a little different, but I think of my now departed uncle every time I use that old blacksmith vice.

The old blacksmith vices and post vices are really nice. Did the job they were intended for really nicely. The engineering of the past was marvelous.