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Hide-Away Vice

After building my workbench and shelving in my garage I wanted to mount an old vice I inherited from my father. A vice is extremely handy to have around. However, my space is limited and I also wanted to have an open bench too as it allows me to set other tools on that spot on my bench.

To split the difference I designed what I call my "Hide-Away Vice". I started by sketching ideas on what I wanted it to do. Unfortunately, no hinge could do what I needed so I had to look around to see what could be modified to solve this problem. I figured out I could bolt two hinges together to accomplish my design - ideally I would have liked to have welded them but I don't have a welder and the metal is galvanized and that lets off toxic gas when heated!

After constructing the hinges I was able to find a 2" x 12" scrap-board at my local Home Depot and I drilled the holes with a spade bit (I don't have a drill press) to give adequate room for the bolt heads to be recessed. I later added the handles to make it quick and safe to flip it up and back down again without smashing fingers.

I am quite pleased with how this turned out! This is it in the "storage" position:



This is a detailed shot of the hinges while it's in the "storage" position:



1/2 way up, you can see where the hinge junction is now folded flat against the backside of the vice board:



Fully on my bench! You can see a little nub I added after to allow use of a wood clamp to further boost stability:



This is a detailed shot of the hinges while it's in the "deployed" position:



In use - the vice has been quite stable, more than enough to use it for cutting things and making "adjustments" with hammers. Sometimes it can shift front and back, but clamping the "nub" stabilizes it enough where it hasn't been an issue. Overall I consider the idea a success!