Pegasus Forge

I agree, the amount of wear on a relatively new vise does seem excessive. I guess I don't know who used it or what is was used for or whether the original metal used was any good. Could it be that the threaded section was not from this vise and someone had swopped it out for another vise in order to get the other vise usable? I will never know. I see I have a long way to go before I get any where near your level of tool preservation :)

When I picked it up, he said he had worked on it for about 2 weeks in between other work. Prices for vises, 4 to 5 inch, here in SA have become ridiculous as people have become fans of FIF. I originally bought the 2 vises for less than the current price of a 4 inch vise. So the 6 inch was effectively free. The chap at the second hand shop classified them as old farm vises with no mention of blacksmithing. The money spent repairing the 6 inch is slightly more than the current price for a 4 inch. As I mentioned it is a delicate dance deciding whether to pursue a repair or wait in the hopes that you find another threaded section which may or may not be usable.

It is a fairly new vise from the information I can find on the internet. Manufactured around late 70s or early 80s somewhere in Europe so that would account for the new look pivot. Yes the screw and handle bulb were from one piece as far as I could gather from the guy. Yup there was a fair amount of lathe work and he mentioned that this was the first time he had done anything like this so it was a learning curve for him. His main work is manufacturing gears for the automotive sector. I just thought it would be of interest for people to see it can be done but I think cost wise it is only worth pursuing if the vise is large. I did get it with a smaller 4 inch Stourbridge vise and together they cost less than the current going rate for a 4 inch vise.

I found this 6 in / 15.2 cm jaw John Brooks post vise in storage at a second hand shop two years ago. Weight 75lbs / 34kg, height 40 in / 102cm. The original threads were worn in the middle of the travel. I waited to find a replacement but all the vises available have been around the 4 inch mark. I decided to get the threads repaired but the guy at the engineering shop suggested a complete rebuild from fresh EN9 round stock. This is the result. I doubt I would have pursued this route if the vise was smaller.