Building a Custom Bench-Vise of Awesomeness from Scrap Metal (Videos)

[ChuckE2009]

Goodafternoon, everyone!!

Last summer I managed to break my trusty Craftsman bench vise... I took it back to sears, they informed me that their vises don't carry the lifetime warranty, so I was on my own.

I looked around online... I didnt want a cheaply made vise, been there done that... I found a few good ones that I really liked, but they were all in the $700+ range, WAY out of my price range...

But I knew I could work something out... Craigslist was a disappointment (WELL used, beat up, and 3/4 the price of new), so that fell through as well...

And after a little time spent online, I thought to myself "Why not just make one? I mean, there isnt much to a vise, is there?"

I took the ole' craftsman apart piece by piece and sure enough, nope, this isnt too complicated. Granted I *have* screwed up simpler things (I once literally broke a hammar) I felt like this was a project that was well within my abilities...

So, I drove out to the city and bought some steel, ranging in thickness from 1/4" to 3/4", a ratchet and nice Kobalt socket, a couple feet of threaded rod, and some various random hardware.

I came home, and promptly put the project on the backburner...

And there it sat until a couple weeks ago. Something came up and I set it aside, and then I just... Well, never got back to it. I welded up a nice Chas Parker vise that I bought for next to nothing last fall, and I'd just been using that in the mean time...

But I already had everything, so I wrapped the whole project up in a weekend.

Long story short, I'm VERY happy with how this project came out:

 

[ChuckE2009]

I made a BIG vise, 8" jaws and probably 50-60 pounds of steel... I got to use my new MIG welder, and have something else for the shop that I'd wanted for a long time... And people on YouTube really seem to be enjoying the build videos as well...

Anyway, just thought I'd share my latest project with yall, hope you like it...

Have an awesome weekend, everyone

 

[deereman75]

I saw those the other day, real nice work. My vise is just about shot, I might give this a try.

 

[jwmorris]

Nice job.

You can weld sockets. From top down in the first photo, a special spark plug socket to maneuver around headers using a 5/8 and 7/16 socket welded together. A really big allen socket welded from a grade 5 bold and a socket. Two sockets welded back to back so you have the right size for most lug nuts without having to go back to the tool box, must use with a short extension.

The second photo is of an impact socket welded to a fixture that allows use in a special torque wrench.

The last photo is something that popped into my mind with the thought of homemade clamping devices. A 10 ton porta power C clamp.

 

[valley]

Chuck, My hat's off to you, very nice.




Richard