This one was another simple yet highly needed upgrade. With the addition of the lathe, I lost my workbench spot for where my vice was located. Time to make a new spot.
I’ve always wanted to make my vice more portable, so it was time to make a hitch mounting system on my bench. There are premade kits that exist out there and look quality, but they cost a pretty penny so time to come up with another solution.
First item was getting a mount. I had a couple ideas I toyed with. First was using an bumper mounted hitch since it had convenient holes I could bolt to the legs
That would’ve worked fine, but at the end of the day I don’t like to make such permanent solutions such as big bolts as I tend to reorganize/redo my workspace frequently. Time to keep exploring. Eventually I found clamp on mounts for RV bumpers, and ordered on that that would be the right size to fit around my bench 4×4 leg. Not only is it not permanent but now I can adjust up and down if need be. And if I like where it’s at, it also has some big holes perfect to bolt to my bench. This mount I selected also had a bolt already for taking up slack with the receiver, which was an added bonus.
Next was getting a tube to modify with vice mount features. I happened to have a coupon to harbor freight so I went and picked up an extension tube. For the mounting tabs I had some 2in angle leftover from a previous project, so some quick measurements, 4 cut tabs, and booger welds with some flux core (I’m out of gas on my welder). I had a pretty lengthy and rigid mounting post.
Final product works perfectly. Just as rigid as it was when it was hard mounted on the same corner of the bench and allows me to move it out of the way when I don’t need it. I also like the slightly lower position than it originally was. My workbench was always a bit high for the type of work I used this vice for. The vice is also useable in many more rotation directions now.
This was a fun and relatively easy project with a welder and an angle grinder. If I didn’t start welding so late, I could’ve gotten done in a single evening, but alas I had to let it cool overnight. If you have any suggestions for improvements or other things I could use the bracket for, let me know!
