G-ManBart

This happens on swivel jaw vises all the time. People often want to use them like a fixed jaw vise so they take a big hammer and beat the pin in place. They really aren't as durable as a fixed jaw vise, but are incredibly handy when you have irregularly shaped object. This post on Garage Journal has a lot of ideas for removing stuck pins from swivel jaw vises like this Yost. It's usually some combination of heat and leverage: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6187164&postcount=3834

Used vise prices and availability seem to vary a lot with location. In some places there are quite a few available and others nearly nonexistent. Around here $100 will buy you a solid US made vise pretty easily if you know what to look for. Wilton, Columbian, Reed, Erie, Yost, American Scale, Rock Island, Hollands, Athol, Athol/Starrett, Prentiss, Chas. Parker, Morgan, Ridge/Rigid, and various Craftsman vises are all names to look for. Just know that even the "good" brands have had junk vises made overseas, so it's best to do a little research. This site has most of the brands with pictures for most of the models....really handy reference: http://scuttle.dayid.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Hey all, I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I have almost zero experience with blacksmithing, but I've been reading about it, and researching associated topics for a while now, and I think I'm close to getting some hands-on time. Much of that research led me here, so I figured I should finally register. I have the same user name on a few other forums...Garage Journal, Tractor By Net, etc. I've been teaching myself to weld and fabricate for couple of years now, and got into restoring old bench vises as part of that. That led to post vises, anvils...you get the idea. I have a blog/forum dedicated to vise restorations with pictures and I'm adding articles to help folks do their own restorations. It's www.mivise if you want to take a look...nothing fancy, but some decent pics and stories. I'm actually heading out this weekend to go look at a couple of anvils, and an 8" Fisher & Norris chain drive vise which I can't wait to see in person! Thanks for all the great info I've found here previously, and what I know I'll pick up in the future.