Stevegannonhandmade

Thank you! I will take everything mentioned here back to him and see what he wants to do.

I hear you. And... I would love to have that vise, and I don't have any extra cash right now. I've already traded him future welding work for a vintage B & D 10" 3 phase grinder I"m restoring. I will be honest with him (already have been) about my self taught welding skills... I can weld, and I"m no pro. If he still wants me to do it I'll give it a go. Before and after Grinder for those interested...

What about just brazing to fill in all of the damaged areas, and then screwing in (or brazing on) a set of jaws?

I don't think he'll mind the cost of the rods, as he will likely recoup the cost in selling the repaired vise. And... I don't need to be the one who does the repair... I"m just the one he asked. I'll go back to him with all of the info and opinions and let him decide how to proceed. Thank you for your opinion! I do appreciate it!

Did you look at the pictures? The jaws are already ruined... And... having said that, I don't want to do any more damage.

Hey guys, I've been working my way into metal working, learning as I go with the help of a lot of youtuber's. I've been making and selling things online (mostly Etsy, however I also have my own website), and I have been trading some welding work for vises and other tools. An older friend is losing some storage space, and I've been helping him sell off some of the 'stuff' many of us end up collecting over the years. Today he asked me to help him repair this Fisher chain vise to prepare it for resale. As you can see the jaws are in rough shape. The rest of the vise looks and works fine, but those jaws! It looks to me like someone has already had a go at welding them. I don't have the vise in my possession yet, so for the moment I can't provide any more info than we have in the pictures. So... I want to do it right. I bet the odds are good that this will end up in a collection, and never do another hard days work, however... it just might end up back as a working vise, and I don't want to do anything that will get in the way of that. I can weld and braze (I am not a certified or trained welder)... I just want to get opinions of how to proceed before starting. If I end up adding weld metal I want to know exactly which rod to use. My first idea was to close the 'jaws' on a thin parallel, then mark lines, perhaps .5"/.75" back from each side. Grind/machine away back to those lines, and then install premade jaws with screws (like most vises). And I'm sure a lot of you, with a lot more experience, will have great ideas to add. I'll include a couple of pictures of the big anvil and a couple of vises he has out front of the little barn he needs to move out of. He made his living as a Farrier for most of his life. Thank you in advance! Steve