Look what I built for $2.35

This was my Saturday project. I have seen a few posts on here about Vise stands so I decided to build one. Here is a breakdown of the costs.

Wilton 5 inch vise- Free Score
Steel Wheel- Free, found on side of road
1 1/2 inch square tubing- Scrap bin
Other steel- Scrap bin
10x10 1/8 inch plate- $2.35

 

pretty sweet but it seems like you'd want it mounted on more or a substantial base if you're going to use it for anything. looks like it would tip over if you were working on a piece of steel a couple feet long.
maybe not.
i have a similar setup that i made, but it's for a bench grinder.

 

I have a twin to that vise that I need to build a stand for but I was going to bum a junk truck rim from the tire store for mine. I'm another one that likes my vise and bench grinder out away from the work bench.
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

 

Um, my vise is bolted to my 4 X 10 foot long heavy steel bench and sometimes my whole bench moves when I use the vise! Unless you're going to bolt the rim to the floor I would render it almost useless. Also, one accidental bump would knock that over.(probably into something freshly painted or tender toes)

 

I made a 2" receiver post for mine to go onto my fab table when I need it and store it under the table for when I don't need it...

 

Suggestion for next time:
Get a used brake drum from an 18-wheeler.
They weigh a ton and don't go anywhere.

 

I agree - mine is bolted to 1/2 thick plate steel 4x8 bench, and sometimes the whole thing moves when I'm using the vise.

 

I welded a couple of heavy old brake rotors inside the rim to help counter balance it. It definitely made it more stable. I'm just basicly gonna use it to hold smaller things while I weld. I put in a long 36 wishbone and it held it fine I even bumped it to see if it would tip and it didn't budge.

 

See, It doesn't tip over.

 

Mine is made from a 5 foot long 4 inch pipe set 2 feet in the ground with rebar bored thru it at different angles,it ended up at waist height,then I poured concrete a foot around it,let it sit, then poured the shop floor 5 inches over that.Then I slipped over it another pipe with a diameter of roughly 4 1/8 (like a sleeve),then welded a 3/4 nut 'n bolt to act as a lock so I can turn it as needed and then lock it down, on top of that a big vise.

 

Dude, when you need to break a bolt loose using your vise, or hammer on something, that post setup is going to be absolutely useless...if it's just for holding things while you weld, it kinda makes it useless too, since it's a one trick pony...I like much of my equipment to be multi-use, otherwise it just wastes shop space until I need it for that one thing that it does...

 

nice concept,that's been around for a century. wait till you get a 500 dollar part in that thing and it falls over...YIKES!!

 

Until you touch it....

 

Dad made this back in the '50's - The advantage of the truck rim is you can stand on it when you don't want it to move when hack-sawing. Accidentally tipping over is NOT going to happen, Just tipping it over enough to roll it to a different location takes a bigger man than I was until I turned 20

 

This is just a temporary fix until I get a sturdy steel bench. All I have right now is a crappy wood table on rollers.

 

And your time in assembling welding etc is worth.... ?

 

I have more time than money so it doesn't bother me.

 

cool

 

When you get a bench built you can always re-purpose it as a bench grinder mount. I need a steel work bench on wheels to mount a vice on.

 

I think it's nice but can't do anything heavy with it . BUT it's better than NOTHING ! That's his point !
My vice is about 50+ lbs and is on my heavy metal work bench too . The difference is my bench is also bolted to the upright beams of the garage wall and they aren't going anyplace !

RetroJim

 

Great ad-"vise".

I gotta get my big vise mounted and that sounds like a great idea.

 

Weld 3 tabs of 2" x 3/8" x 2" flat bar at 3 equall spaces around the bottom of the rim and attach it to the garage floor with three 1/2" expanding lead anchors.-then you will have something functional.

 

Cool Idea, thinking about doing something similiar for my bench grinder though.

 

With all the money you saved, you can buy some steel-toed boots.

 

Good job! Looks good.

 

I found an old piece of I-beam in a salvage yard...had flat pieces welded to the ends and it works like a dream. It's so heavy that it takes alot to move it and it's very stable.

 

id put it on a piece of plywood mix up a bag of concrete fill rim let set a couple days remove fron plywood and wambo ready to go sturty and wont tip over....jeffrey just my 2 cents ...

 

mount a junk tire on it.
drill some holes in the tire.
fill with cement.
The tire keeps you from scratching up the floor and from sliding around to easy.
mine is this way and works great. No vise , but I use c-clamps on a top plate.

 

There's nothing wrong with what you built. Just like every other tool in the world, it has its limitations and if you understand them you will not get into trouble.

I can't have enough vices -- excuse me -- vises.

I have several mounted to workbenches and here is a portable - because - sometimes it makes sense to work on something away from the workbench. It is an aluminum server stand from someone's computer room. It was headed to the dumpster. It is heavy construction yet fairly light and with a wide footprint is fairly stable. I have it set up for the vise in this picture. I also remove the vise and use the stand for things like a wire wheel/buffer (c-clamp the whole thing to the flat top of the server stand).

 

put a bag of sand around the base that'll help a little