I’ve purchased a DIY 30 x 54 table wanting to mount the side kick vise on the 30” side and I must be blind I can’t seam to get the mounting block to be clear of the table holes and the closest I can get it would interfere with the plate hold down brackets any thoughts please Nick in Alaska
I have the same DIY table and while I am not sure yet if I am going to go for the Sidekick vise, I did identify the same issue with trying to mount it on the 30" end near the front corner. I think what happened is at some point they changed the design of the 54x30 plate, so instead of having one center crossmember running the length of the table down the middle, they added another one such that they are each 1/3 of the way in from the frame end (approximately, as determined by the hole pattern anyway). When they did this, additional straps were added and I think they shifted the locations of others.
This does make for a stronger table, but it also limits the ability to place the sidekick vise in one of the most obvious/desirable locations. One thought I had for working around this, is maybe milling (or grinding) a relief cut on the back of the mounting block, such that the plate bracket could still be slid into place behind it. You’d have to forego the weld between the block at the frame at that end. Perhaps the area where the top of the block is milled out for pin placement could be ground or milled out further, so a weld could be laid in to regain some of the strength lost by losing the end (vertical) weld. I’m not sure if this is a good answer since I don’t have the sidekick vise or mounting block on hand to mess with test fitting.
I’d probably skip the whole issue by mounting on the front of the table at that corner, although I too would rather put it on the side. Whether or not I could do this would depend on how far under the table the vise mechanism extends, since I have drawers mounted on either end towards the back to hold my fixtures.
Where in Alaska are you? I am in Anchorage and would definitely like to see whatever solution you end up coming up with.
The offending bracket, so people can see what we are talking about. It’s right in the way of what would be a great place to mount the vise.
Thanks so much for your response I’ve like you checked several options just making sure I didn’t miss something
I live close to the hospital next to the parks highway