Need help, have two Vises sans handle

[Dale In Corona]

I bought two of those Peachtree woodworking vises that were on sale.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=32391

They arrived yesterday and I only had a moment to examine one of them before I had to run off to some event for my nephew. At any rate, I didn’t see any handles in the box, (is that common?) which got me thinking (worrying actually) about what I should do about a handle. I don't even know what length or diameter an appropriate handle should be. And then while I was looking at the vise I realized another thing, I don’t know how to mount the wooden blocks to the inside of the front and back jaws. I imagine that the vise has to come apart to do it right but I didn’t want to disassemble my new vise until I knew that for sure, So, this forum being the place I tend to always get the best advice I thought I would ask here...

Can anyone tell me what to do about the handles? I do not have a lathe, so turning my own will not be an option. Will a piece of pipe work? I know that seems crude but... and what about the length and diameter?

Also, I know it seems lame, but I need to know how to mount the wood blocks, can anyone provide some instruction there for me?

Thanks,

Dale

[meika123]

You could do what I did. I bought two vises on Ebay, and replaced the handles with a dowel rod to fit the hole. I attached a knob to either end of the dowels, and have lived happily ever after. WWFM

Dave in NC

[scorrpio]

If you may have noticed, the item is "bench vise HARDWARE".

That said, these look rather similar to Grizzly H7788

Here is a picture showing how the vise is mounted:

and

As you can see, workbench apron serves as the fixed jaw, and moving jaw is attached with lag screws. You provide a handle. Most common solution is a length of dowel capped on either end.

[LinuxRandal]

A dowel works fine, and for the end caps (since no lathe) use a block of wood and a hole saw. Then predrill and screw it to the dowel.

Yes a pipe works fine to, although it might need a little sanding to slide smoothly in the opening. Long ago, one of my schools used pipes, with just a little bit of sand in them, so the handle would slide down out of the way.