Timothy Miller

Timothy you can braze on a new thread I can't remember where on the vast internet or magazine knowledge I have seen it being done. The 2 bars were rapped around a mandrel together and then separated and brazed onto the respective parts.

 

not the same I was refering to but this has plenty of info .

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Yes I am aware of this option.

How do you propose to cut a new thread?  The threads for larger vices are often 3 per inch or less.  Most lathes will only go to 4 threads per inch. 

Pictures?

I have used the balls from King they are great but most are ductile iron

The hot stamped balls are something like 4140 or 1045.

A lot of jack hammer bits are 1045

S2 is not a hot working steel that could be part of the problem.  

I once saw an old tinsmiths dishing stump it had the depressions covered with sheet metal that conformed to the depression, I presume to deal with this problem.  They were held in place with small tacks Just out side the bowl shaped locations.

King Metals sells solid forged steel balls Up to 4" http://www.kingmetals.com/Catalog/CatalogListing.aspx?CatalogId=C39&CatalogDetailId=226

Sure you have that option.  http://www.mcmaster.com/#99795a123/=oy9ukq

these are removeable and the hole can be filled with cement patch when you are done.  I do this all the time.  Drill a hole wrench them in and when you are done patch the hole.  The whole point of a vise is to not have things move.

My method takes about 12" of half inch square about $.30 worth of steel last time I checked and its one of the most common sizes.  I'm trying to give a beginner a method that builds forging skills, takes minimal tooling and can be done at one session at the forge.  Too many would be smiths are thwarted be poorly set up tooling. 

Your going to want to bolt that thing down to the floor if you ever want to do more than the lightest of work with it. Blacksmith's leg vices are meant to be immobile so you can hold a piece solidly and apply force to them.   You will be chasing that thing around the room.

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This approach was shown in the old book, "20th Century Toolsmith and Steelworker."

I have done something simailr to that it worked well but it takes more steel and a set of threading tools to accomplish. A beginner may be thwarted by this.  

I once used a fly wheel off of a punch press.   I wrapped a ring of steel around the edge to hold the coal.  It worked but it was not ideal. 

I retrospect I would use something with more spring than wrought iron the wrought iron works but it needs to be reset from time to time. I may case harden the wrought iron spring next time I make one I'm sure that would do the trick. Water quenched hot rolled mild steel AKA A36 is a very good option.  5160 the steel commonly used to make leaf springs is a bit much for this job it tends to make the vise too stiff.

I stayed up late and ran into Brian we had a few drinks and I drank all his delicious mead I owe him a bottle of something nice.  That man has some stories to tell I had a blast.

Well darn, I wonder how many others I missed. I did get to talk a bit with Tim Miller, and saw Clifton Ralph, Aaron Cergol, Dave Custer (who's team won the nail forging contest) and Bad Rodger 781 (not like you can miss him in that tie-dye). 

 

And if I had 10X the cash I brought, it still would not have been enough for all the toys I wanted. 3!!! monster 200+ pound post vises, and a couple of the chain drive Fishers. Collections of 50+ tongs, whole sets of sheet metal tools, row upon row of anvils, cones, swage blocks..... I've got to stop, the drool mixed with the tears is hard on the keyboard.

 

As someone noted on a hand written sign: Welcome to blacksmith Christmas.

It was great to meet you too John.

I have a 400 lb HB I like the wide, long face and I really like the proportions of the horn.  Sometimes we work long pieces or wide stock it comes in handy in those situations.  Some times it is a bit awkward to maneuver around and forging hardie tools is a chore.   larger anvils are some times softer than smaller anvils because it is harder to quench such a large volume of steel quickly this will give you less rebound.  But it stays put when you wail on it. 

Looks great Mr Miller. 

 

I have thought about heating and dressing the jaws on a large 6.5 vice from 1842-9 I have. It is marked "Goldie - 133 Attorney Street. When the vise is standing straight up the jaws both slant down maybe 5% to the left. I do not think it is something I could do alone though. The vise must be over 100lbs and I do not think I could hold a 50lb part and forge on it.

 

I would guess you heat treated the jaws after forging? Is there much fear of a steel jaw wanting to delaminate during the quenching? 

 

Yes the jaws on mine are 1/16 off and the beams look very straight. 

The vise in question is quite small having 3.5" jaws.  I don't think there was much carbon in the steel jaws they did not harden up very much, I did not have a problem with delamination.  The older blister steel seems to weld quite tenaciously to wrought iron not like modern steel.   This vise is strictly a wall hanger.  I think some of the distortion in the jaws was original to the vise.  It seemed to be roughly made and sort of made to work and passed off.   I actually had to draw out the front leg to get the jaws to line up.     

I like the wooden poles they use as vice helpers to stop the blade from slipping wile they file.

I recently restored a similar vise.  I reset and dressed the jaws.  I also straightened the leg, made a new handle, mounting bracket, spring and pivot bolt with a wedge.  My photo shows the most common style of mount for this type of vise.  Believe it or not the hardest part was getting the jaws to align it made me wonder if they ever did. 

John, in the days long passed, the blacksmith had to have decent tools as they were used for production, either as a business in the village, or to fix things on the farm. Either way the forge HAD TO WORK.  

 

Today it is a hobby. Few people depend on the forge to make what is needed as there is at least one hardware store on each end of town or a wal-mart within driving distance. Everything is down sized and prepackaged in single servings.  You can buy a single bolt if that is what you need. When was the last time you bought a 50 pound box of (all the same size) nails? And if you remember buying a keg of nails (all the same size) you deserve to be called sir, out of respect to an elderly gentleman. (grin)

 

Question: How much did a keg of nails weigh?

I beg to differ I need good tools to do my forge work. I make my living at the forge I can't make a living with cobbled together junk.  When people transition from A hobby to a career in blacksmithing they end up with heads full of poor ideas that will hold them back also I don't know why we show people less then the best methods to do a job. Even a hobbyist wants to be able to do good work and wants good tools.  We should start by showing them the standard approaches then explain there are other ways that will work then explain that these are workarounds  and should be viewed as such.  In time they will need good solid tooling paired with the skills to use it.

There is no dealing with clinkers they are heartless. 

You are missing the wedge that locks in the gib key on the mounting bracket.  With out this part the mounting bracket will have slop in it.  A sloppy vice will make sawing, chiseling and filing a joy to undertake. 

Wow nice work

Oh boy not going to get rich on this! LOL. Thank you folks I appreciate the input!

You really should be able to get $150 for it though.  Some people need them and will pay, 25 bucks is below market value.  If I needed one I would pay that.  Not many people have the time or ability to root around the scrap yard looking for anything of value.  I did my share of that in years past and actually made a few bucks doing it.