"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Jim, My dad has a chain style pipe vise on a tripod (sorta) and its
actually quite light. I can pick it up and set it in pickup bed
quite easily. The third leg is on the end of a 6 foot back with a V
on top and the third leg on the bottom. I think its made out of 2"
conduit. Its probably close to 40 years old.

==============

I did my industrial pipe fitting by brazing so I haven't personally
used a tripod-mounted pipe vise. It looks like you can stand on the
bent-out foot of the near side leg and apply all your strength to turn
a threading die handle.

I temporarily clamped a chain vise to my 400 Lb utility trailer to
thread 2" pipe and nearly flipped the trailer.

A hitch-mounted vise on my pickup was less handy than I expected
because the tail lights are too vulnerable to accidents. When I need
to clamp something large outdoors I attach a blacksmith leg vise to a
corner of a rollaround or welding table.

I've never built anything that needed a completely free-standing vise;
usually I'd rather have it next to a flat surface that supports the
work while I'm tightening the jaw.

-jsw