post leg vise

[RichG]

I've seen a couple discussions about these vices and was wondering what the advantages if any compared to a bench vise. I've found a Cleveland "Columbian" with 5" jaws that's in good shape for under $200. Are they just old school and cool or have some real advantage ?

[Dave B]

They are great for pounding on hot metal or cold metal for that matter. You get full transfer of force of your blow. A bench mounted vice tends to have a little give to it unless youve  mounted over the corner post leg of your bench but evne so wood has give to it the post vice I use has  shank that inserts into a plate mounted to the floor. I had two vices like this. The 5" and the 4".  I quit using the 5" it was just too heavy the 4" was much quicker to use I sold my 5" for 150. and I have seen them around as low as $120. I would go for a 4" but if you get 5" for cheep you can always replace it down the road. I woulnt sell my 4" for any price.

[BOB HILL]

Another advantage I've found is the depth of the throat when forming the hinge on a patchbox, as compared to all but a large bench vice. There is more depth for the lid below the jaws.... Bob

[David R. Pennington]

i have two currently in use, one mounted at the end of my heavy bench and one on a 6x6 post near the forge. They are old school and cool, but also very practical. The long handle provides a lot of tighteneing torque. Properly mounted they are very stable and are almost indestructable. I love mine. I line the jaws with copper sheet (from anealed recycled water pipe) for delicate work. I think I gave $35 for one I dug out of the mud at a junk shop and $75 for another.

Vices are one of my vices you might say.

[Hungry Horse]

Most of them are forged, not cast. So they are not brittle, and won't chip and fracture when hammered on. They are primarily for forming metal. The leg makes them very solid, and keeps hammer blows from breaking the vice away from the bench.

  Hungry Horse

[BOB HILL]

This design is virtually unchanged since medieval times.....Bob

[Nordnecker]

If I could only have one vise, it would be a leg vise. I have 3 set up in my metal shop, a 3" is my main filing vise. A 5" is on a post near the forge, and a 7" is there if I need it. The 7" is great for removing breech plugs. All have smooth jaws. The jaws will conform to non-parralell objects. I have 3 machinist' vices in there ,too. One of them has smooth jaws. I do not like teeth on a vise.
Pay attention to what you're buying. The one mounted to the post above is missing the mounting plate. The one mounted to the bench is complete. In addition to fastening the vise down, the mounting plate secures the spring. If this isn't tight, the handle will fall down when it isn't tensioning the jaws.
I would only pay $200 for one in VERY good condition.

 It is interesting how the threads were made on some of these vises. Some have threads that were cut on a lathe. Earlier ones have threads made from two pieces of square stock that was wrapped around the shank of the screw. These pieces were then unscrewed from each other. One piece brazed to the screw, the other piece brazed inside the nut, making mated threads. I have 2 vises made like this.

[Curt Lyles]

I have several in my shop as well (4)and they are real handy ,my favorite is a Peter Wright.I think Ive had it the longest.I also have a 285 lb anvil that came from the old Studebaker plant in South Bend In I bought it from the guy that was in there maintaince shop when it closed the doors.They gave it to him when he left as it was his to use then.Take care of them and they should last a long time.I am a tool junkie and have been since I was in 4th grade .My grand dad was a blacksmith and I missed his sale when he passed ,would have been nice to have kept his equipment in the family.  Curt

[Hungry Horse]

A little learn from my experience moment here. Always examine one of these vises carefully. When I bought my leg vise I was so excited because this was the first one I had found that didn't either have parts missing, or the leg cut off. I ignored the fact that the leed screw had three big flat washers on it. After I got it home, I cranked the jaws all the way open, and found out two threads were sheared off of the leed screw. It still works fine, it just won't open as wide as it used to.

  Hungry Horse

[RichG]

I can see the advantage when pounding on things in the vice. makes sense. I don't really have room for one ,but they are neat. haven't  got into the blacksmith stuff yet.

[David R. Pennington]

Yes the one on the post is missing original mounting, but I got it cheap. I learned that when you make a bracket, homemade like mine, back it with metal or it will eventually sink into the wood and get loose. Seems like a lot of them got seperated from their brackets and springs over the years. If the rest is in good shape forging a new spring and making a bracket ain't too hard. I picked another one up recently for cheap, haven't had time to evaluate its condition yet. Yes the old ones are forged and very tough and sturdy.

[Treebeard]

I enjoy using my 3&3/4 inch post vice for a variety of purposes. I have set up now to use as part of the stock support for the kit build I am starting. I like it so much I had a chance to pick up a five inch in good condition for very little and grabbed it. I would post pictures but could not figure out how to do so on this site. If you get one I believe you will appreciate using it.

[Mark Elliott]

I have one at my forge for blacksmithing.   It is essential there to transmit the hammer blows to the ground.  They would be historically correct elsewhere in the shop, but they are expensive and not as useful as the cheaper swiveling machinists' vise and carvers' vise.    I do use an antique  watchmakers vise and a hand vise for finer bench filing jobs.    If I was doing a period stocking demo,  I would use a post vise with wood jaw liners.   The wood liners rack to hold tapered stock.

[RAT]

Several years ago I broke the screw on my dad's old machinist vise by trying to bend a piece of heavy steel (hot from the forge). I'm still feeling bad about it. I've been looking for a post vise since then and finally found one antique store in town that had several in a pile in back of the store. I paid $110 for it. It was the only one in working condition. The only thing I had to make for it was the steel wedge for the mounting bracket. After cleaning it up it was clear that it had been sand cast from an original hand forged pattern piece. The forge marks are present, but so is evidence of the casting gates.

[RAT]

One more thing... in the old days they were sold by weight (by the pound). You can find a chart on line at one of the blacksmithing websites that lists how jaw size compares to weight. Mine weighs around 80 lbs.