Spent $300 on a used post vise and it's been a total game changer

Found it at a farm auction last fall, all rusty and seized up. Took me a weekend to clean the screw and get it moving smooth. Having a solid, heavy vise anchored to my bench changed how I hold pieces for filing and chisel work. Anyone have tips on the best way to mount one to a wooden bench without it shaking loose?

3 comments

3 Comments

masonb422mo ago

That's a solid find for the price, even with the cleanup work. Grace508's through-bolt method is a good start, but for a wooden bench, you might want to skip the extra leg. A really thick mounting block under the bench top, maybe 3 inches of hardwood, spreads the force out better than washers alone. It stops the shake by giving the vise something heavy to pull against without needing a post down to the floor.

the_caleb2mo ago

My first bench vise was bolted to a sheet of plywood on sawhorses. It had so much flex I could watch the wood bend while filing. Mason's idea with the thick mounting block is smart, it turns the whole bench top into the anchor. Grace's extra leg is a good fix, but it does get in the way of your feet sometimes. I learned the hard way that a vise is only as strong as what's behind it.

grace5082mo ago

Oh man, I feel that. I spent way too long trying to use a cheap hardware store vise before I got a real one. It was like trying to do surgery with oven mitts on. For mounting, I bolted mine through the bench with big washers on the bottom. I also added a leg under it for extra support, because my first try shook so bad I thought I'd built a jackhammer.