Anyone know who makes a Post Vise?

[rScotty]

I grew up in a cabin that had a workbench along one wall of the sitting area. One leg of that workbench was a heavy pine post that went deep into the ground, and that leg had an elm or oak wooden post vise built right onto it. Very strong, real handy, and you could hang your jacket on the handle....

Anyone know who makes such a thing today? Or maybe the parts to make one: the handle, pivot, and acme screw pieces?
rScotty

 

[thepumpguysc]

Harbor Freight has 1.. dual purpose.
Flat jaws on 1 side & flips for a pipe vise..

 

[RickB]

I grew up in a cabin that had a workbench along one wall of the sitting area. One leg of that workbench was a heavy pine post that went deep into the ground, and that leg had an elm or oak wooden post vise built right onto it. Very strong, real handy, and you could hang your jacket on the handle....

Anyone know who makes such a thing today? Or maybe the parts to make one: the handle, pivot, and acme screw pieces?
rScotty

I sold an antique post vise just before we moved. I was surprised to find so many listed on eBay and and for what I thought were low prices. Of course you are on the other side of the fence. But if I were looking, I’d look there before buying some Chinese garbage.

 

[oosik]

When I relocated the log cabin to its current location and it became my primary work shed - I also looked for a post vice. Unable to locate one so I took a standard 8" Yost woodworking vice and put red oak jaws in it. It works - but its still not the same thing.

 

[Wagtail]

Well, now I know what a Post Vice is. I'd not seen one before nor what it would've been called if I had.

Thanks TBN!

 

[Stimw]

I have 2 vices mounted on posts on old semi trailer rims that I have had for years.
I can roll them around to where I need them and are very stable.

 

[rScotty]

Well, now I know what a Post Vice is. I'd not seen one before nor what it would've been called if I had.
Thanks TBN!

The Post Vise we had where I lived growing up was made of wood - I didn't know myself that there were metal ones until I googled them for this thread! Here's a photo of a wooden one (from the web).
rScotty

 

[radios1]

this is wider, but the same principle Milwaukee Quick Release Bench Vises - Made in USA it's a woodworking vise.. there's these, if you need a narrow clamp. Dubuque Clamp Works Made in USA Wood Hand Screw Clamp 1 inch Hard Maple jaw - - Amazon.com notice MADE IN USA on both.. not some junk..

 

[stuckmotor]

There are blacksmith's post vises also called leg vises Blacksmith Vises : Solid Box, Post or Leg Vise (Vice)
and woodworkers post vises in what seem like endless variations https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/humble-leg-vice.jpg
When I was around thirteen, I saw a plan for a wood workers vise and wanted one. I got hold of the screw and nut from an old scissor jack, pinned a tee pipe fitting to one end and ran a huge bolt probably 18" long through for a handle. The part at the bottom was adjustable with holes for a pin to go through, the rest, except for nails, was made of wood. It was a rough, crude version of the one pictured. That thing worked great! It's a shame all of my projects haven't worked out as well.

 

[rScotty]

There are blacksmith's post vises also called leg vises Blacksmith Vises : Solid Box, Post or Leg Vise (Vice)
and woodworkers post vises in what seem like endless variations https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/humble-leg-vice.jpg
When I was around thirteen, I saw a plan for a wood workers vise and wanted one. I got hold of the screw and nut from an old scissor jack, pinned a tee pipe fitting to one end and ran a huge bolt probably 18" long through for a handle. The part at the bottom was adjustable with holes for a pin to go through, the rest, except for nails, was made of wood. It was a rough, crude version of the one pictured. That thing worked great! It's a shame all of my projects haven't worked out as well.

Yes! That's it! Locally it was called a Post Vise because it was mounted to a post. The workbench top was made of heavy planks and sat on posts sunk into the hard dirt floor.

The one pictured in the link (below) is beautiful. Ours was butt-ugly, but it did have a pivot pin that allowed some angular movement between the main vertical jaw and the adjustable bottom piece with the holes in it. That simple change made it much more versatile.
rScotty

 

[Diggin It]

I've seen them now that I see some pictures. Have probably used one at some point. Not the name I would have called it though. Don't remember what we called them.

Suggestion to use a scissor jack screw seems worthy.

 

[rScotty]

I've seen them now that I see some pictures. Have probably used one at some point. Not the name I would have called it though. Don't remember what we called them.

Suggestion to use a scissor jack screw seems worthy.

I'm glad we found some pictures. That type vise must have had a real name, but I don't know it either. Maybe that style never got to be real popular. I could see why, just about any other type of vise is better - but none cheaper. Especially for a big powerful vise. Big vises were/still are Expensive! But this one could be made cheaply with only a few iron parts. That would make it popular with pioneers.

Even today, everything except the screw, nut, and some way to mount the handle could be made out of scrap wood with a saw. Close tolerance fits not necessary. As you say, a scissor jack does have approximently the right pieces, maybe I'll build another one someday....Who knows, I may even mount it in the living room of our modern house just for nostalgia! The stairway has lots of posts......

In today's world, that Milwaukee Quick Release Bench Vise that Radio1 linked to in an earlier post looks to be more than twice as good a vise ..... for about 10X the price. Although any vise is better than none, truth is that any vise with more metal in it would work better than those old crude wood vises.
rScotty

 

[oosik]

The one my dad had was exactly like the one in rScotty's picture. Except - there was no "built in" lower leg adjustment on his. If you wanted the leg out - just put chunks of wood down there until it was right.

 

[Diggin It]

Even today, everything except the screw, nut, and some way to mount the handle could be made out of scrap wood with a saw.

That can be done too. I have some old wood clamps with opposing wood screws. It would be a lot easier to make with a lathe, but a skilled woodworker could do it with a saw and chisel set.

Although any vise is better than none, truth is that any vise with more metal in it would work better than those old crude wood vises.

No necessarily. Some things are better clamped in wood with soft(er) jaws that won't mar and apply as much pressure.

 

[WranglerX]

There are two types of post vice woodworkers and blacksmiths... Most popular reverence to "post vice" is the typed used in blacksmithing... If interested in blacksmith type check out info below...

Check out BLACKSMITHING suppliers like Centaur Forge or Pieh Tools.... They are still very popular in blacksmithing world.....

Vises-centaurforge.com

Got a used one for $20 had to do bit of restoration....

Blacksmith: Hammer Anvil & Forge - Photos | Facebook

Dale

 

[GLyford]

Dad had one on the end of one of his benches, made from roughsawn 2x8 or so. Acme screw I suspect was rescued from a jack, there was a stack of fender washers and wood rings to support the screw against the wood. There was a 2nd smaller screw near the bottom that helped with adjusting the angle of the top jaws for larger pieces, I seem to recall chucking spacer blocks in on occasion. It was sufficient for cutting up wood with a handsaw or drilling with a single speed b&d drill or chiseling. It was lacking if you were trying to bend metal rods or pound over sheet metal or some such, but we also had a mechanics vise and a cast iron wood vise (one of those with the handle that ratchets and turns half way to lock)...eventually.

Dad's was painted, which seemed to help give it a hard surface and last longer. I suspect the wood was something like Hemlock, I don't think it was hardwood, which certainly would have been a step up. The nice thing about the jaws being made from wood is that it didn't matter if you cut too far, you wouldn't kill the edge on the handsaw. There were more than a few nicks in that top surface.

So depending on what you want to do, and the care and materials you chose to make it from, they can work very well or they can be pretty miserable.

If you want to buy one rather than scrounge and make one, a number of finer woodworking outlets sell both whole woodworking benches with that type of vise as well as a "vise screw kit" of screw, nut, and handle to make you own. Depending on how old school you want to go, you could also get a tap and die for making threads in hardwood and make a screw and nut out of something like maple.

As to the other type of leg vise, I found one at a fleamarket decades ago near closing time for a bargain, the seller didn't want to pack it up again.