...and started collecting parts...
440mmx50mm steel disks:
Record number 6 150mm big engineer's vice:
MAN truck hub and matching brake drum:
So the idea is to put a piece of pipe/tube on top of the hub and into the bottom of one of the disks, extend the disk back with some 10, 12, or 16mm plate to bold the vice to, and have a very stout table for beating/welding things on. I can put the railway iron vice on it if/when I get that done.
On the bottom will be a plate of some sort and a pair of castor wheels facing sideways on one side - the side with the vice. A separate piece will be made that clamps into the vice holding two more castor wheels so it can be safely moved around on its side, rather than upright. The plate will have some locating tabs welded to it that fit snugly inside the bottom of the drum. The plate and drum will be drawn together through 2+ of the drum-hub bolt holes and threaded rod screwed into tapped holes in the plate, with nuts/washers on top on the outside tying it together.
My vice setup downstairs at the moment is at a comfortable height - jaws are at 1150mm and bench under it at 960mm. I think I'd like to keep this dimension, or maybe a little lower.
The record number 6 is 217mm from base to jaw top. The mounting area should be exactly 220mm long/deep, and at least 206mm wide (just base), or more (some bench space on each side). Holes are 14mm in diameter. Jaws open around 200-210 (currently has no limits, so not sure), and 135mm opening clears the rear of the base giving full table space, not too much of a pain to unwind if required.
The hub adds 170mm to the drum, but the pipe will start 10-20mm below that depending on if inside (~20mm) or outside (~10mm). The drum is 240 high face to lip, and 410 overall diameter.
The railway iron is 140mm high, and will be about 135mm high once machined to my liking.
Referring to my forever faithful and trusty precision bench thread...
- Standing work surfaces 920-970
- Min usable eye-level work height 1100
- Max usable eye-level work height 1200
220 vice height
1150 jaw height
880 bottom of table plate
10 + 240 + 150 = 400 to start of pipe/tube
Thus the tube must be at least 480mm long to meet bottom of table plate, or less with fittings. Will probably weld a plate to the top of the tube and drill/tap the table plate for some cap screws to mount it.
Tube diameter should be either ID >= 124 or OD <= 110 - will probably weld it onto the hub, but if I can find a nice way not to, then that'll be preferred.
Tube will be filled with dry non-salty sand to deaden any impact blows and prevent ringing.
More next week, or sooner if I start drawing ideas for vice/table layout at the top end or feet/wheel layouts at the bottom.