Gotta have a Vise!

I already had two vises, but felt both were too small for any really big or tough projects. I started poking around Craigslist to see what would turn up and to my surprise an old Reed vise was for sale.

I contacted the seller and went out to look at it. I knew nothing about old vises, but this one was big and heavy. It was also one big lump of rust.

I took a chance, paid the man 40 bucks and dragged my boat anchor home.

Lots of rubbing, cussing, filing, honing, electrolyzing, wire wheeling, sand blasting, plus a decent coat of paint later and I finally have a vise that I'm pretty sure will handle most problems I come up with.

 Here's the technical info on it. It's a Reed 105 R. It weighs about 73 pounds and has almost no play side to side or up and down. It also has no play in or out. I painted the fixed portion with a undercoat of Rustolium Cold Galvanizing Compound followed by a good black epoxy paint I bought at Advance Auto.

I neglected to get before pictures, but suffice to say, it took me three days just to get the movable jaw out of the thing. The vise has two problems that I see. The first is the movable jaw looks like someone took a hatchet to the top of the back side. There's lots of deep cuts in it. I have no idea why, but it was the reason why it took three days to get the jaw out. I had to file the upper corners followed up with sessions with a honing stone to remove the mushroom on the top side. The other problem is there is a minor flaw in the hardened jaw tooth that looks like a crack between the tooth and the cast jaw. Reed vises have imbedded jaw teeth unlike other makes that are bolted on and I suspect there was a forging defect in this one. The imperfection hasn't failed in 70+ years so I'll live with it.

I mounted it on a Gladiator roll around cabinet I bought back when I had more money than sense. I like Gladiator stuff, but it has a tendency to come out of the box with dents in it. It is also light duty so I decided to beef up the top to take a bit of punishment. The plywood top is 3/4 inch and there's another sheet of 3/4 inch inside the cabinet to sandwich and reenforce the top. I used 5/8 x 3 inch carriage bolts around the perimeter to hold it all together.

I cut two more pieces of 3/4 plywood using the base of the vise as a template, routed the top using a 1/4 round-over bit, and finished up with a nice Varithane stain and sealer.

Now I'm ready to crush some stuff!

Seriously though. A vise is an important investment. A good heavy machinist vise made of ductile iron bought new will run hundreds of Dollars. I recommend keeping an eye out for a neglected antique one for cheap that you can restore yourself. Just don't stoop to buying a cracked, broken, or worn out one.

This whole project; vise, rattle cans of paint, plywood, nuts and bolts, stayed under a Ben Franklin. I also had plywood and paint left over for other projects to boot. A new bought 5 inch vise from Harbor Freight may cost the same or less, but will weigh more like 36 pounds and be made of cast iron which is far more likely to break if you over tighten it.

So, yes Virginia there is a huge difference between cheap and cheapo.

Do this and chances are your vise will still be in your shop ready to give great service when your kids begin fighting over your stuff after your funeral.

Why an Easy Cheesy Garage?

Years ago I built a garage in my back yard. The purpose, I told myself, was to have a place to store my motorcycles and work on all the things I wanted to work on. This was 2006. The garage finished, I put my motorcycles inside, closed the door and proceeded to turn my man cave into the man dump.

Fast forward to October of 2013. I am good and sick of looking at a disorganized, dust filled, impossible to get around in garage. The main door when open reveals clutter and dust stacked chest high. The side door has to be leaned on to get it to open. There are just two narrow paths to get to the back of the garage. Sure, there's bikes to be seen poking out of the stacks of clutter here and there. None have been worked on in years, mostly because of my inability to get to them. Is this what I really had in mind?

NOPE!

So I begin cleaning. The first day involves scooping up sawdust off the floor. I work all afternoon and barely get to the table saw just ten feet into the garage. It's a start though and I'll be damned if I'll give up. Thirteen weeks, countless trashcans of sawdust and debris later; plus pushing shoving and rolling equipment around until I like the result, and I finally have a garage I can use and be happy with. Along the way, I re-discover my interest in motorcycles, a love of tinkering with things, and generally making my life a little easier and happier by keeping my hands busy. The only downer is my lack of cash to just do as I please.

So the Easy Cheesy Garage was born.

Why easy cheesy? Necessity is the mother of invention. When I need something and have little to go on but my wits, ability to scrounge, and time to do what I want done, it's time to go with easy or cheesy or both. I have no problem with quick, simple, cobbled together, or free just as long as it gets the job done. If it works and keeps the dough in my pocket and a smile on my face, then I am all over it like dust on knickknacks.

Then I got to thinking about it. Some of this stuff is on the internet, sure. There's also plenty of forums doing garage and shop stuff. I looked at them and even used a number of the ideas I've seen. Great! However, I pretty much decided the el cheapo means of doing stuff in the garage is grossly underrepresented.

You want the fancy, bought it all at Home Depot or Lowes solution to a problem? Not likely to find it here! Looking for the perfect 7 figure garage to store the collection of 6 and 7 figure cars in? Keep looking! Need the perfect design to impress the neighbors at your next party? Not too likely. It might be perfect, but going to impress the Joneses? Doubtful at best.

Want ideas on how to organize your garage cheap or free? Bingo! Looking for a way to store nuts and bolts using items your wife just threw in the trash? Look no more! Need a quick method to solve a head scratcher? It just might be here. Got more interests and hobbies than the average garage hermit? There just might be an idea or two to chew on floating around.

Granted this IS the first post and there is nothing to go on today but an intro. I do however intend to rectify the situation as I post tips, projects, and solutions I've completed, tried or seen and like. Like all blogs, there's plenty of room to comment and share your own ideas. For that matter, feel free to email stuff to me. If I decide to do it, I'll certainly create a post on it.

I see the Easy Cheesy Garage as a journey of discovery. Sometimes it's a cool trick I noodle out, other times it might be a neat design I've come up with, or a tool I've made. I don't plan to overlook the things I find out about myself and just maybe I'll make a few friends along the way.

Charlie Ehler