Vices

[Jonathan]

Bolt it to the floor! Solid.

my pedestal is, but it's not solid like a piece of cast that weighs more than i do.

[steve garro]

One of the bike shops in Moab has a pretty polished Wilton .

Are you sure it wasn't the giant chromed Snap-on in Rim Cycles?
- Garro.

[Jonathan]

Are you sure it wasn't the giant chromed Snap-on in Rim Cycles?
- Garro.

Might have been. Chromed makes more sense but I thought it was a big Wilton.

[EricKeller]

Best case scenario, a good tool lasts forever and is a pleasure to use. Worst case, a crappy tool stays crappy and is a pain in the ass for-EVER.

or as I like to say, you are still living with the tool long after you (your wife) forget(s) how much it cost.
Getting rid of crappy vises is not a slam dunk either.

[Luke]

My old USA Craftsman here...had it around the shop for years.
Bolted to my handmade 1/4" plate bench, which is in turn bolted to the wall.
(You can beat on it and pry without it jumping around and knocking all of your other tools to the floor.)
I think I got it as a gift from my father about 15 years ago.
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[fortyfour]

I have two Wilton's. The first is mounted to a pedestal I made which is height appropriate. I really dig how I have 360 degree access around work when it's in this vise. In the process of building a base for the second one which will be in front of another work bench in the finishing area of the shop:

[Jamie Medeiros]

I found a nice little Starrett on craigslist.
Now all I need to find is a pedestal to properly display it on.
starret vise.jpg

[Generalcuz]

Look up Hamilton Tool & Supply in Beaver Falls PA. They pull some amazing old vises and tooling out of work shops and old machine shops in the Pittsburgh Area. A few years back they were some of the first people to get access into a machine shop that had been locked since World War 2. Amazing fnds.

[cement shoes]

I have the same vise as the O.P., scored at MD wine festival for $70.00, late 60's vintage, works like a champ. I'll echo what Garro said. I originally bought a $65.00 6" Sears Craftsman. More like Sears junkman. It contstantly racked to one side and the bolt underneath would come loose all the time. I tnow sits on the floor in the corner. A pedestal is key too, so you can walk around the vise and have more positioning possibilities for the work piece. Short of a pedestal, you can sister two lengths of 2x8 and bolt it to the bench so it hangs off a good bit.

TT, get me the height you want and the c-c on the base holes.

[Too Tall]

Here you go Tom. Four bolt holes that are 22cm CTC (see pic).
Can you cats who are using this setup comment on pedestal height? The top of my workbench surfaces is a whopping 40". I made them high'ish for my freakish stature. The Wilton is 9" and to get max umph into my work I'd work lower than 40 sooooo what say you to 28" height?

[Curtis D.]

100_1515.jpgnew photos 087.jpg

Wilton and Athol, hard to beat.

[Too Tall]

Keep this up and y'all might need a VSFF Framebuilding Tools Gallery.

[steve garro]

IMG_0112.JPGBison tubing vise - Polish.
I'd but any Bison after owning this one.
50+lbs of metal love.
- Garro.

[dbohemian]

Got a couple of new additions. A 4.5'' Reed swivel jaw about 90 lbs and about 60 years old I think and a Parker 3.5''. Both repainted and ready to go.

[IMG] IMAG0100 by dbohemian, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] IMAG0101 by dbohemian, on Flickr[/IMG]

[cement shoes]

Hey TT,

Thanks. Regarding height, my vise is set up about waist high (the top of the vise jaws). I find if the work piece is positioned such that it is lower than the vise jaws, it kind of tweaks my back after a bit. On the other hand, too high, and it tweaks your shoulders.

-Tom

[Too Tall]

Hey TT,

Thanks. Regarding height, my vise is set up about waist high (the top of the vise jaws). I find if the work piece is positioned such that it is lower than the vise jaws, it kind of tweaks my back after a bit. On the other hand, too high, and it tweaks your shoulders.

-Tom

Good point. Looking at other pedestals seems like 33" is standard. Let's do that.

Dave, you might be the only guy in the world with a campy wrench painted to match your vise.

[Doug Fattic]

TT, i believe the best vise height is to have the the top of the jaws equal to your elbow height. It places your arms in the most comfortable position for most motions without having to bend your upper body some.

[JFW]

It's about time that someone breaks the American cultural imperialism of this "show me yours, and I'll show you mine" thread, and provide some vices from the old world. Here's mine. All are made by A/S Conservator in Oslo, Norway (no history or info, sorry - most likely from the industrial boom of the 50s and 60s). The two first ones are inherited (along with the table) from my granddad and where used in production of oil furnaces and central heating systems from the mid 50's to the early 70's. The smaller one I go when the Technological Institute in Oslo moved a couple of years ago. Now it sits on my welding table. All of them are solid industrial units, but without the exessive bulk that quite a few of the american made ones have.





Cheers,

Truls
Johnsen Frameworks
Hølen, Norway

[Eric Estlund]

Those look similar to the Ridgid vises. I've always liked the look, seems like the shape would be quite useful. I hope to add one at some point.

[Dave Anderson]

Here's mine.......don't laugh! :-) I bought it 25 years ago for like $30 brand new and its never let me down. I use (and seriously abuse) it every single day.

Dave

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