Need Advise of Travel Vise Pedestal Base

[Gandolf]

Hi All,



What I want is a pedestal base to mount my old Thompson "A" in when I am on the road with a travel kit.

I have a pedestal vase for my old "A" now, but it is a Thompson, and quite heavy. I like the stand portion a lot.

What I plan to do is to make a travel vise/tying set up, so it is packed and ready all of the time. I will likely make a wooden base for it that will be the right size to put my catch tray on, and that will be lighter to carry around than the heavy steel one for my "A". What would be ideal is to find one with a removable upright that holds the shaft of the vise, and I would remove that upright and fix a wooden base that I could attach the upright to.

I see bases on Ebay that might be OK, but have no idea which are good and which are jund.

Price is definately an object, and I don't want to spend a lot.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

Gandolf

[rainbowchaser]

a wooden base may be too light to be stable. There is a reason that vice bases are heavy.

[oldfrat]

I've seen some wooden homemade fly tying boxes that carry materials and have the vise attach directly to the box, which is heavy and big enough to hold the vise steady. They won't solve a weight issue,though. And here's a Cabela's offering that might interest you as the price is right.
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/produ...9-001b2166c2c0

[Uncle Jesse]

I moved into a restricted, spacewise, area this winter as my basement is not heated. I left a large desk and built a pedestal to hold my bench. To save a few inches I removed the clamp on my vise and built a base screwed to bench. You could do this with a wood box that could be built to hold your supplies and equipment. You could use wingnuts or something similar to make it easily removable. It's not pretty but it works.

Vise stand 1.jpgVise stand 2.jpg

[melk]

Man, Uncle Jesse, that is some setup!!
Mike

[Allan]

I made a wooden base out of a piece of pine that was about 6 x 8 x 2. It balanced well enough for the trout flies I tyed. May not have balanced as well for 'large' flies. Maybe one made out of oak would be better because of more weight. Hope this helps or at least gives you an idea.

Allan

[Uncle Jesse]

Man, Uncle Jesse, that is some setup!! Mike

That's what happens when you go with the lowest bidder. Everything but the vise, which is inexpensive but functional, was recycled from a previous use. I did use new screws in assemblying it.

[Gandolf]

Hi All,

Yes, I thought about the weight issue also. As mentioned above, I think the wood would be OK for most of the trout flies I tie, but for bigger flies it might be on the light side. That isn't necessarily a problem for me, because in the past I have held the top of the vise with my left hand, when tying needs required it.

Uncle Jesse, I have also thought about a wooden holder for the vise stem, and had an idea, but have not reached a decision yet. How did you set up the clamp so it would hold, did you use a Tee nut or something similar to hold the treads of the clamping screw?

The oak would definately be heavier, as mentioned above, and I will probably go that route. I have a supply of oak, and am thinking about putting cork on the underside of the base.

I appreciate all of the comments, good advise all.

I have even looked at the Cabelas offering, although prefer to set it up with my old Thompson "A", because it works well for me.

Have any of you used the Cabelas offering above, and how did it do. I was assuming that it was probably like all of the cheap import vises I have seen, and none too good. However, if any of you have one of the Cabelas travel set ups, please advise the rest of us as to how well it holds the hook, and otherwise how well it works.

Thanks and regards,

Gandolf

[dave potts]

Bass Pro and Hook and Hackle also sell pedestal bases. The one at Bass Pro is not all that heavy. One thing to watch for is the diameter of the shaft on your Thompson and the hole size on the base. My guess is that your Thompson is a 3/8 in. shaft. Some of the imported stuff is metric and generally runs a tad larger than 3/8 in. You can shim it though. Years ago I bought an EZ Rotary from Hook and Hackle and even the threads on the knobs were metric. By the way, that EZ Rotary is a pretty nifty little vise for the money. H&H puts it on sale pretty often.

[Allan]

If the cam on the Thompson A you have still works smoothly and the jaws are even, not pitted or damaged, then don't even think of the Cabela's stuff. Near as I recall and maybe things have changed over the years but they were all imported and terrible. IMHO.