Leg Vise restoration and Stand

[natie123]

Bought at an action many years ago for ZAR10 (less than one US$), this leg vise was painted, rusted and the individual parts were welded to each other and to a section of pipe. The parts were carefully cut apart, the paint removed, the welding ground off and a new wedge (for securing the vise to the stand) was cut from 10 x 50mm mild steel. The individual parts were then heated slightly with a blow torch and treated with a DIY paste wax. The restored vise has been used to good effect inside and outside the workshop for the past year. (Photo 1)
The base consists of a 1” car rim, with a socket (10x50mm flat bar and 50x50 angle iron) welded to the bottom for the leg vise shaft. Rebar was added for support and the base was filled with concrete (the socket was covered in masking tape and all other openings were covered to prevent the concrete from seeping out while setting.) Indents of 3mm were ground into three sections of the rim to improve stability where the workshop floor is slightly uneven. (Photo 2)
A pipe (100mm diameter) and a base for the vise supporting bracket were added. Sturdy nylon wheels were added and are 3mm off the ground when the base is level. A removable handle is used to facilitate moving the vise (Photos 3 and 4). When required, the vise can be clamped the corner or side of my steel workbench, which in turn is bolted to the wall (Photos 5 and 6). I have rarely needed to do this, as the assembly weighs 84 Kg (186 lbs) and is quite stable.

[DIYer]

Thanks natie123! We've added your Leg Vise Stand to our Vises category,
as well as to your builder page: natie123's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Leg Vise Stand by natie123

tags: vise, stand

[alan_c]

Thanks Natie, recently got myself one as well, paid a lot more than R10 though (how do you sleep at night? ) I have been looking for an easy solution to mounting it. I have a similar arrangement for my bench grinder but was not sure how well it would work for the leg vise - seeing yours gives me the confidence to give it a go.

[TheElderBrother]

I have a leg vise on its way from Chicago, but it's stalled in Atlanta. (My buddy was on contract with a hospital up there, so he brought it home for me, but he hasn't gotten to bring it to Birmingham yet. I cannot wait to get started on this restoration.)

[natie123]

Good luck with your stand alan_c. Mine really turned out nice and solid. I have done quite a bit of hammering and twisting of metal in the vise with no problems. The leg of the vise is a tight fit in the socket, but if you knock out the wedge the whole vise just lifts out of the stand. If you then unscrew the swivel bolt the vice is easily dismantled into it's component parts, making maintenance easy. Having said that, I find that the past wax protects the vise for a very long time, even though I live 800m from the beach.

[natie123]

Good luck with your restoration project TheElderBrother. Hope you will be as satisfied as I was with the transformation from an abused and neglected vise to a useful tool that has pride of place in my workshop.