I think I've spent more time this year creating ways to hold a powerhead than I did working on saws. I made a saw vice from a bowling ball and posted some pics in the thread below.
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/posts/5723652/
Since then I've stumbled upon a couple of used Wilton Pow-R-Arm junior #343 work positioners. They go for around $200 new. I thought that was a lot but it turns out that these things are small, light, smooth and VERY strong. It took a while to comprehend how much they will hold and how simply they function. I pulled both apart to clean and lube. Only a few moving parts in each assembly.
I bolted one to a couple of pieces of angle iron so I could store out of the way when not in use.
On the first ball vice I cobbled together a bracket from a piece of 1/4" angle iron. Worked great and fairly simple to do. One small weld at the 90 degree bend. No problem holding my 3120 in position. It's nice and stiff.
For the 2nd one I tried a bending a piece of 3/16 flat bar in my vice. Radius was kind of large but I got it to 90 degrees. I saved the hole pattern from the bowling ball vice. A little time with a drill press, hand file and angle grinder and it was done. It's strong enough but kind of springy. A tighter radius would have helped. I may weld a small gusset into the corner. Does the job though.
I modified the mounting base on the one with the 1/4" angle so the vice clamps onto a piece of 1.5" square tubing. It's hanging on a nail in the wall of my shop waiting for a project. Two feet from my bowling ball powerhead holder. Either Wilton #2 needs to find a new home or I need to get a bunch of project saws lined up.
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/posts/5723652/
Since then I've stumbled upon a couple of used Wilton Pow-R-Arm junior #343 work positioners. They go for around $200 new. I thought that was a lot but it turns out that these things are small, light, smooth and VERY strong. It took a while to comprehend how much they will hold and how simply they function. I pulled both apart to clean and lube. Only a few moving parts in each assembly.
I bolted one to a couple of pieces of angle iron so I could store out of the way when not in use.
On the first ball vice I cobbled together a bracket from a piece of 1/4" angle iron. Worked great and fairly simple to do. One small weld at the 90 degree bend. No problem holding my 3120 in position. It's nice and stiff.
For the 2nd one I tried a bending a piece of 3/16 flat bar in my vice. Radius was kind of large but I got it to 90 degrees. I saved the hole pattern from the bowling ball vice. A little time with a drill press, hand file and angle grinder and it was done. It's strong enough but kind of springy. A tighter radius would have helped. I may weld a small gusset into the corner. Does the job though.
I modified the mounting base on the one with the 1/4" angle so the vice clamps onto a piece of 1.5" square tubing. It's hanging on a nail in the wall of my shop waiting for a project. Two feet from my bowling ball powerhead holder. Either Wilton #2 needs to find a new home or I need to get a bunch of project saws lined up.
