Moving the Mill Vice

When I bought the 6" vice for my mill, 40 years ago, it weighed 75 lbs. Over the years it has inexplicably gained weight, it must weigh at least half as much again now! I has become harder and harder to move it from the mill table to the bench and back when I need to work directly on the table. Not to mention the safety aspect. A couple of weeks ago I developed a case of gout in the middle finger of my left hand, the vice was on the bench and I needed it on the mill. There was no way I was going to be able to move it with my disabled finger so something had to be done. My solution was a piece of 1" board 5"wide of sufficient length to reach from the mill to the bench with a tongue screwed and glued on to the end to fit in the slot in the mill table. I glued a piece of scrap "arborite" to the top to give a smooth sliding surface. The "arborite" came from somewhere, one of those things that are too good to refuse " has to come in useful one day"!
In use the knee is lowered to the bottom, and the board is put in position from the mill to the bench, the tongue in the slot keeping it in position.

The vice is then slipped up onto the board.

Slide down and turned around.

Then tipped up onto the bench.

Putting it back on the mill is just the reverse, tip it up onto the board slide it up, turn it around and slide it over onto the mill table. No more heavy lifting or risk of dropping it on my foot!

John

Edited By John Purdy on 10/10/2022 20:07:07

A practical solution to your problem. It has occurred to me that the workshop could be made a safer place with a hoist to lift those items that get increasingly heavy as our strength desserts us. I have one of the cheap electric hoists but as it is under the bench on the stuff to do list so not earning its keep yet.

Mike

Neat idea!

I've pondered a slightly similar thing with my mill; making a wooden stand at a convenient height, to the side of the machine; but my workshop is now so cramped it's hard to see how I can do it without impinging on other things!

I constructed a travelling hoist that covers most of the workshop area, although a bit limited for height. The hoist itself is a 'Draper' or 'Clarke' manual chain unit - an electric one is not justified. I shortened the driving-chain considerably, as the crab is barely six feet above the floor.

Strange how large items gain weight as we age, not just us!

I have the same problem withe 8" 4 jaw chuck on the lathe.

Modified (Slightly shortened) a TV bracket, and mounted it on a pillar close to the lathe, so that it can be swung to and fro,(For storage or close up to the Headstock, or minimum distance to carry to rest on the wooden blocks during fitting )

The only problem is that being a horizontal surface, the plate  gets covered with clutter!

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 11/10/2022 08:08:52

My mill and its vice are quite small so no issues yet there, but I have noticed now I have retired that clothes bought a few years ago appear to shrink alarmingly - most noticeable is that trouser waistbands no longer fasten easily and shirts bulge - the answer seems to be to buy a couple of sizes larger and hope this will allow for the apparent shrinkage - there doesn't seem much room though!