Vise stand build--too many options!

[Beerhippie]

Ooh! Look--A dead horse! Let's kick it!

I know this has been discussed before--I've read the threads--a long time before and I want some fresh input on this.

I have a 5" Palmgren Industrial vise on the way. I have two vises mounted to my bench already and want to be able to move this one to where the job is, or just outside on nice days or when doing dirty work (grinding, some welding).

My bench vises have the top of the jaws about mid-chest high, which is nice when doing fine work like filing or TIG welding, but too high for heavy work like serious grinding.

I'm trying to find a nice compromise where I don't often find myself bending over to see what I'm doing, but don't need to hold a grinder up to my ******* when grinding. I'll be doing some light pounding on it, too.

That's the first question: How high?

Second dilemma is what to use to build it? I seem to have several options:



5" square tube, 1/4" wall, with a nice piece of 3/8" plate already welded onto one end. Weighs a ton.



Universal brewery scrap material. I'm thinking turn it over, cut a hole in the bottom, pour in a couple of bags of grout then stick in a piece of 3" well casing (also in the boneyard). I can weld some angle iron to the ring of the keg--now at the bottom--for some casters to tilt it onto.

Seems the bottom of the keg would make for a handy place to set tools and such when working.



Or, cut the keg in half and fill with grout. Again, either that monster square tube or 3" well casing for a stem.

In any case, it will have casters that I can tilt it onto to move it. No matter where I put it in OR outside the shop, it will be in the way half the time.

Any thoughts or suggestions or just snide comments welcome!

 

[GaryM909]

I had a vise mounted on the back of my truck when I was still working but I also have a Record #3 (4") vise that I used in one of my jack stands. The jack stand is collapsable and easy to store and move. The vise is mounted on 3/8" plate and 1" pipe. I just remove the sleeve in the stand and slide the vise in. Adjust the height as needed. It works fairly well for my needs anyways.

 

[gahrajmahal]

My vise stand (I only have one) is bolted to the rim joist of my house in the garage via. a piece of unistrut. If I want to move it outside for grinding or welding or just more room, it has only two bolts to remove, then tip it away from the wall and wheel it outside where I clamp it to the center 6 x 6 post for the second floor deck out in the driveway.

Vise-a-Roni and Clamp-a-Tini

Yea, I know, confusing title, that is why I liked it. Well I am not sure what to call this thing I built for the gahraj. Its a vise stand that is multipurpose as it also is a C-Clamp, Vise Grip and Quick Grip stand / holder, but... it is very very small. Oh, and I added a light for that dazzle...

www.garagejournal.com

I made it the standard height for a tool stand as that was part of the base.

 

[Beerhippie]

I'm getting there.

How to determine the right height for me:



Nothing like a mock-up to try out different heights.

Here's the base:



Salvaged from an old commercial scale, some casters saved from something and a piece of 3/16" plate left over from another job. 3" well casing is just sitting there until I decide where to go from here.

Will it be able to support a 60-odd pound vise?



Yeah, I reckon so.

 

[KwikFab]

Depends on the vise - if it's small and cheap, small effort but if it's a large nice one, definitely make it sturdy

My cheap HF vise lives on a 1/4" plate, welded to two 2" square tubes (3/16" thick) all sitting on a steel wheel



I welded some solid rod to hold all the tooling for my small rod bender




Ignore the mess

 

[Beerhippie]

I didn't have easy access to used wheels nor brake drums. Gotta work with what I have.



That's my old Reed 4" just to see what it'll look and feel like. Rolls like a dream, steady as a rock.

 

[Beerhippie]

Come spring, I'll give it a paint job. It really not painting weather outside right now.

I'm thinking a deep blue to match the Palgren vise. Until then, it can just accumulate some nice patin--I mean rust--on the mild steel parts.

 

[budget76]

I like that you made a "cutout" of sorts for the standing area, and it looks like you've got threaded adjustment for that area if on uneven ground


suggestion since I know it's not really painting weather: bring a can of clear inside the house to warm up, then give the base a quick coat till you really paint it in the spring. it'll save you having to clean up the rust, and since it's clear you really don't see it on anything like a shop floor. I use Matte clear for anti-rust on my black oxide stuff, same idea

 

[Beerhippie]

I was looking at the vise stand this morning and it hit me that something was missing...



A vise!

My $60 Palmgren 5" arrived this AM. I welded studs through a 3/16" plate after counter-sinking both sides, then bolted the plate to the stand. If I want to, I can remove the vise pretty easily and use the stand for bench grinders, etc.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here's just what I built the portable stand for:



Keeping the new dirt outside with the old dirt! It's 52F and sunny outside today, after two weeks of low thirties for the daily highs with occasional snow, slush and freezing rain.

I need to fab a handle of some sort for the stand.

 

[Beerhippie]

The last piece (but one) for the portable vise stand:



Another trip to the boneyard yielded the SS pipe and angle--both parts of old equipment, so I got to use the newish cordless angle-grinder and cut-off wheel.

It now balances perfectly. I can quite literally move it with one hand.

In some perfect world, the top of the handle would be level with the vise jaws (I think) for material support. I don't live in that world.

Just needs some tool space now--that 1 ft. sq. table ain't much room.

 

[Beerhippie]

I got tired of the half-painted, quarter-rust, quarter bare look.





Not bad for rattle-can painting outside between snow squalls on a 40 degree day.

 

[Beerhippie]

Project is finished until better painting weather.



I chose the red oxide primer (Rusto Red Primer) as it matches much of the metalwork in the brewery, it's pretty durable and rust-resistant and it's also the fastest drying paint I have. Considering it was ~40F outside when I painted it yesterday--rushing in and out of the shop to get it painted between snow squalls--it came out OK. It dried overnight in my ~60F shop to the point I could put it back together and into use.

TFL--

 

[Beerhippie]

Interesting how much my "massive overkill" welds bent the 1" Sch. 40 pipe of the handle.

 

[Fixr]

Interesting how much my "massive overkill" welds bent the 1" Sch. 40 pipe of the handle.

Clearly an intentional design to help keep your hands from slipping off the hand grips.

 

[Beerhippie]

I've found another use for a portable vise and stand!

One of the reasons I wanted a portable vise stand was to get particularly grimy, dusty, dirty jobs out of the shop--or at least, off of my workbench. What tools fit that description?

Here's one:





I'd thought of removing the vise and mounting the grinder in its place, but that's too damned much hassle and puts the grinder too low for my liking. I saw this SS bracket in the boneyard this AM and thought... hmmm....

I need to cut an inch or so off the bottom of the bracket so it sits on top of the vise jaws and then the grinder will be at the exact height it was on my bench--perfect for grinding/buffing!

 

[Beerhippie]

Wow. This little project has kinda' snowballed on me. What began as a portable vise stand has now become a portable workstation!

The grinder now sits just where I want it:



But then I got thinking, if I can clamp a bench grinder into the jaws of the vise, what other handy things can I use it for?

How about a free-standing, portable work surface?



If that looks familiar from earlier in the build, it is. It's the other half of the old electronic scale that forms the base of the stand. Or, the frame thereof. There's still another part to make it an actual table:



Now I can use it for things where access to several sides would be handy--like this:



I can also use it to work outside when the weather allows--we actually do have a few weeks of nice weather out here most every year.

Since the top is the same size as the base, it's quite stable.

 

[Beerhippie]

Do I need to mount a vise on my vise-mounted work table?

 

[Beerhippie]

Well, here it is a year-and-a-half (or so) later.

Some additions since the last post: I carried the adjustable feet--just carriage bolts--through the frame so I can adjust them without a tool and from above:



Now I can level and stabilize the stand in seconds with my fingers.

I electrically bonded the vise to the stand by grinding off some paint and using star washers on the mounting bolts. While the bare SS of the handle works fine for a ground, I ground off some paint on the base to attach a ground clamp so the cable isn't tripping me up when walking around the vise and stand with the helm down. I end up doing a fair lot of welding in this vise as I can put it just where I want it--mostly outside if it ain't snowing, blowing or twenty below.

The waist-level height is perfect for many uses that a bench-mounted vise is too high for--and I have those for things that need to be high, like filing.

The portable vise stand is probably the most useful tool I've ever built for the shop. Being able to move it wherever I want to--in or out of the shop--is too convenient to describe. A better vise would be nice, but I'll probably tear the cheap Palmgren down soon and make it smoother.

Now I have a commission to build one for a friend....

 

[Jgaz]

I love your vise stand, grinder holder, work surface, etc. combo.

One question though. In post #16 above, you are showing a tilting tool rest for your grinder.
Is it a DIY? If so, it is an awesome build. If you bought it do you remember where?

I have the Lee Valley version and love it.

 

[Beerhippie]

I love your vise stand, grinder holder, work surface, etc. combo.

One question though. In post #16 above, you are showing a tilting tool rest for your grinder.
Is it a DIY? If so, it is an awesome build. If you bought it do you remember where?

I have the Lee Valley version and love it.

It's made by Peach Tree--right from the Peach State of Georgia, China.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049RD9YO?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'm sure it's a knock-off of the Lee Valley.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I bolt a piece of angle iron to my grinders and store them on a shelf. When I want to use one I grab it and clamp the angle iron in the vise.. only need to open it 1/8". The vise tilts and rotates, so lots of options.

 

[Beerhippie]

I bolt a piece of angle iron to my grinders and store them on a shelf. When I want to use one I grab it and clamp the angle iron in the vise.. only need to open it 1/8". The vise tilts and rotates, so lots of options.

That's basically what I did, but the angle is bolted to a piece of 3/4" plywood with the grinder mounted to that. It gives me a place to mount the tool rest, and allows me to clamp it to the benchtop if that's where I want to use it.

 

[no704]

Mount to a HF lift table or transmission Jack. Would be pretty wobbly but would be height adjuable.

 

[Beerhippie]

Mount to a HF lift table or transmission Jack. Would be pretty wobbly but would be height adjuable.

I've thought about that. A telescoping section of square tube and a lift cylinder... or big Atlas thread rod.

 

[Ultradog MN]

This one is not height adjustable.
The pedestal is the rear axle housing from a Ford tractor. Weighs about 250 lbs. plus the vise
I leave it parked in the dirt outside my garage - for grinding so I don't mess up my shop. I haven't moved it since I set it outside a couple of years ago but could pretty easily with the loader tractor.

 

[Beerhippie]

This one is not height adjustable.
The pedestal is the rear axle housing from a Ford tractor. Weighs about 250 lbs. plus the vise
I leave it parked in the dirt outside my garage - for grinding so I don't mess up my shop. I haven't moved it since I set it outside a couple of years ago but could pretty easily with the loader tractor.

Grinding outside is one of the main reasons I set the height so low. Using the angle grinder at waist-level is much less tiring than at high-chest level like my vises mounted to my bench.

Being so easy to move, the stand and vise go wherever I need them.