I finally got the vise I wanted

[JessEm]

64longstep, I want that cast iron pan sitting on the corner of your welding table!

I appreciate the feedback on the casters. I had mixed feelings about it, myself, for the reasons mentioned. My thought is that I can get away with it if I use small (1'-1.5") LOCKING casters. The base is very stable. I'm posting a picture of it so you can see exactly what I'm working with. I think it's much more stable than just having 3 independent legs coming down. But you said it about keeping it upright! That's the key. I don't want to damage the vise, or my feet! Despite the GOOD ADVISE here, I probably won't be happy until I put them on, just to see if it's gonna work. It sure would be nice to roll this thing where it's needed, or out of the way when it's not!

[64longstep/Brian]

64longstep, I want that cast iron pan sitting on the corner of your welding table!

There is no lid for it and it is a thin Taiwan made 10" cast-iron dutch oven. If you want it is yours.
Brian-   

[JessEm]

There is no lid for it and it is a thin Taiwan made 10" cast-iron dutch oven. If you want it is yours.
Brian-

Well that's a bummer. ... Ok, you talked me out of it. ... Thanks anyway though

[rusty]

I don't think you will be happy with 1 inch castors, for one thing they are rated for about 30 pounds ;, also the contact area with the floor is so small they will slide even when locked. What would be ideal, but that I havn't seen in ages, is the type they used to use on typewriter tables, they have a lever that extends them down to roll the table, then you retract them letting the table stand on it's own (stronger) feet in use.

Or you could put 2 castors on one side just above floor level, and tilt it like a 2 wheel cart to move it around...(insertable pipe handle with pin...)

2c

[BuckHenry]

JessEm, that is an awesome vise! Parker's are some of the best, and my favorites. You mentioned a "nub" on the back of the vise. Many of those old vises had an adjustable rear jaw with a bolt through the top of the back like that to lock the jaw in place. I am unfamiliar with the 386, but in your pics it appears to have the adjustable jaw. If the bolt has been damaged, I wonder if someone over-tightened it or intended to covert it into a fixed jaw vise.

[Ietech]

64longstep, I want that cast iron pan sitting on the corner of your welding table!

I appreciate the feedback on the casters. I had mixed feelings about it, myself, for the reasons mentioned. My thought is that I can get away with it if I use small (1'-1.5") LOCKING casters. The base is very stable. I'm posting a picture of it so you can see exactly what I'm working with. I think it's much more stable than just having 3 independent legs coming down. But you said it about keeping it upright! That's the key. I don't want to damage the vise, or my feet! Despite the GOOD ADVISE here, I probably won't be happy until I put them on, just to see if it's gonna work. It sure would be nice to roll this thing where it's needed, or out of the way when it's not!

There are casters that actually retract and place the item they support directly back on the floor when you need the stability. I don't remember exactly what they are called but we used them to move large stage props when I built sets for my daughters theater group. They worked very well even for the heaviest set items.

Here is a link to something similar to what I have used in the past -- there are many variations of these to fit different types of bases -- try googling Retractable Casters maybe there is something that will work for your purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjr_OANa-M

[Branson]

There are casters that actually retract and place the item they support directly back on the floor when you need the stability. I don't remember exactly what they are called but we used them to move large stage props when I built sets for my daughters theater group. They worked very well even for the heaviest set items.

When I was building sets (Opera and theater) we made something like a furniture dolly, hinged it to the set piece on one side so that it would swing up and out of the way.  You could step on a lever attached to the dolly to swing them down.  Pretty common theatrical practice.   You could probably cobble something like this for that stand.

There are a number of retractable casters around.  ShopSmiths had them -- they get good prices for them on eBay.  And from back in the Jurassic period of manual typewriters, typewriter stands often had them as well.   

[kxxr]

Another thought; for the price of good casters of any sort, you could get a pretty well made hand cart. The cart would fit under one side of the base and the whole works could be easily moved. It would require careful balancing, but once you have the cart tipped in the right position, you can roll it where you need it and move the cart out of the way.
If you want to sacrifice a good hand cart you could cut it in half, weld the bottom plate to the base of your vise stand and save the upper 'handle' half. When you want to move it, clamp the handle into the vise jaws and away you go.
Hand carts are handy for all kinds of things you might not think of until you have one.

[JessEm]

Thanks for all the advise on making this thing mobile. I'll post a picture when I settle on something, and show ya'll what I figured out...

JessEm, that is an awesome vise! Parker's are some of the best, and my favorites. You mentioned a "nub" on the back of the vise. Many of those old vises had an adjustable rear jaw with a bolt through the top of the back like that to lock the jaw in place. I am unfamiliar with the 386, but in your pics it appears to have the adjustable jaw. If the bolt has been damaged, I wonder if someone over-tightened it or intended to covert it into a fixed jaw vise.

BuckHenry, maybe you are correct. This is what it looks like...

[BuckHenry]

Sure looks like a self-adjusting rear jaw to me. Its a shame someone screwed it up. Its still a great vise though.

[JessEm]

Thanks, BuckHenry. Can you tell me, what exactly is the purpose of a self-adjusting jaw? Was there a hex nut there at one time?

Thanks.

[BuckHenry]

This feature allowed the rear jaw to pivot to the right or left in order to accommodate odd shaped workpieces.

I don't think it would have had a hex nut, but I could be wrong. I believe it was a popular feature around the turn of the century. I know both Prentiss and Parker offered a lot of models with a self adjusting jaw. Today they seem to be rather rare. I have never seen one myself. I have only seen pictures of them, and based on those I do not believe Parker used a hex head. You can take a look at the pic in the link below, or just search Ebay for "Prentiss vise", "parker vise", or "vintage vise". Those searches will pull up a number of old vise advertisements and catalogue pages, and some will include pis of vises with self adjusting jaws. You might get lucky and find an actual vise for sale with good pics.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEAT-1908-CHARLES-PARKER-VISE-AD-TOOL-MERIDEN-CONN-/250438540385?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a4f4cdc61#ht_500wt_1054

[JessEm]

This feature allowed the rear jaw to pivot to the right or left in order to accommodate odd shaped workpieces.

I don't think it would have had a hex nut, but I could be wrong. I believe it was a popular feature around the turn of the century. I know both Prentiss and Parker offered a lot of models with a self adjusting jaw. Today they seem to be rather rare. I have never seen one myself. I have only seen pictures of them, and based on those I do not believe Parker used a hex head. You can take a look at the pic in the link below, or just search Ebay for "Prentiss vise", "parker vise", or "vintage vise". Those searches will pull up a number of old vise advertisements and catalogue pages, and some will include pis of vises with self adjusting jaws. You might get lucky and find an actual vise for sale with good pics.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEAT-1908-CHARLES-PARKER-VISE-AD-TOOL-MERIDEN-CONN-/250438540385?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a4f4cdc61#ht_500wt_1054

Interesting... That vise you posted has a different system for loosening the swivel base than mine does. Mine came with a parker wrench for loosening a nut. ... But that ad DOES boast "36 Different styles"...

I wish that picture had a better angle of the jaw adjuster. I'll have to look around...

If vises with that self-adjuster are rare, vises with the knob still intact gotta be SUPER rare. As high as it sticks up, it looks like it's just begging to get broke off.

[scottg]

 
I love this vise!! I would definitely get the broken bolt out and reclaim the adjustable feature.
Very very cool feature! I'm drooling!
 
I have no doubt you are going to try a mobile stand.
Try some 5-6" locking rubber casters from Horror Freight. They are cheap enough and you can reuse them on something else later.
 
  But you are going to hate that gorgeous vise on a mobile stand.
You are going to want a stand like a wheel less floor safe, bolted to the floor with 5/8" bolts!!!

  I took a large bus wheel and buried it in the ground for the vise out in my driveway.
  Clay pounded down with a compacting tool!  Plus a heavy duty support stand.
And its still not stable enough!! 

  In my basement shop I use a stand bolted to the floor and the wall both!
   
    Shee-za no move, noway, nohow,
is what you want in any vise.

The first time you got out even a 12" pipe wrench or Crescent, you'll see.
  A  24" wrench?? yeah sure.
    yours Scott 

[rusty]

>A  24" wrench??

Teehee, my 3 foot Trimo hasn't lost a fight with a pipe fitting yet. The last one was a challenge for the vise tho, with an 8 foot cheater on the wrench, I had more leverage than the bench, a fact the bench quickly made clear to me ....