My shop has a dirt floor, and it's pretty soft. I'm guessing once it gets a bunch of rust and scale worked into it, it will toughen up some but for now I'm thinking that I'm not going to get a lot of support for the leg of my post vise unless I add a plate of some kind under the foot. I have a bunch of lumber scraps about, 4x4, 2x8, etc. about a foot long. I also have a 5# weightlifting plate which might also serve if bored out a bit. Which would you think would work better? I'm thinking the chunk of 4x4 would be less likely to split, and dug in a little deeper might be less likely to move? Or is this just a case of doesn't matter much, just grab something...
I got the vise mounted this week, I was a little concerned initially because once bolted up it was rocking quite a bit, and the spring was also a lot less effective than I thought it should be. Further investigation revealed I only had one wedge, guess the dog ears kept it from getting lost. So I ran a chunk from the scrap pile through the bandsaw and tapped it home, now everything feels solid (no wobble) and the spring actually has enough tension to open the jaw. Excellent.
I've got a beat up flea market anvil on a stump (seriously dished with lots of cut marks, I'm debating running a few passes of 7014 on the horn to at least round it out...while not really the correct filler for the top, it might well hold up for the amount of use it's likely to get). I've got Dad's old anvil in much better condition, but it's also smaller. I'm debating making a few fullers and such from some rail I have around. I'm sure there will be spring fullers and such made once I get going. I need some racks for hammers and tongs and to see if I can find where I put them all. Somehwere...in the garage...a decade ago (has it been that long?). I remember where I thought I put them, but...
Thanks, --Glenn Lyford