Jealdi

Ah. If someone has already shaped it to have a horn, then it might not be something you could mount vertically. From my limited understanding with reading through posts here, the idea behind the vertical mount is efficiency when hammering. Having more mass under your hammer blows compared to a horizontal orientation. I'm sure some of the others could explain it better. But, if that is not an option, that is understandable.

Tracemaster, Something like this... vertical, not horizontal. This link has a lot of improvised anvils. It will give you lots of ideas on how to mount them.

I would also advise trying to find a way to mount your railroad track vertically, as from looking at this design I believe you intend for it to sit horizontally on that bridge/leg coming off of the table? Many of the posts on here recommend a vertical mount when using rail road track.

Anyone still using one of these and can update on how the do over time? Considering one for my foray into propane forges since they seem to be decently priced, but would love to hear some feedback from someone currently using them.

Jealdi - first two letters of my first, middle, last name.

I had originally planned to make myself some hammer holders like I saw on someone else's post, hence why the offset. Could def move them over instead.

Still have to figure out how I'm going to attach the track to the wood... but I started this project this weekend.

Got the vise apart today. I'll post photos once I figure out best way to get it cleaned up.

No worries. I'm still waiting to hear back from the guy on the one with the screw I want to see if it is the same size as mine. I measured last night and my jaws are 4.5." Worst case scenario... I keep looking for a new screw/box while I keep working on getting this cleaned up. Planning to work on it some today as well as trying to figure out the best way to make a stand for my RR track.

Can you make a stand out of wood for one of these? Or is it not heavy enough?

Because currently I'm sitting at my desk at work for 6 more hours. There is an auto zone on the way home though.

Only thing I can find on a quick internet search locally appears to be Liquid Wrench penetrating oil and something labeled as B'Laster, which I think is PB-Blaster of some form.

Yeah. I had a can of WD40 at home. Since I'm just getting started on all of this, I do not have much by way of stuff yet. Might have to see if I can find something else at Menards or Lowes in the morning if I can't get it going with WD40. Though heating it up might just be an option too if I think I can make that other screw/box fit without too much trouble. Need to do some measuring and such first.

I currently have a decent body... just need a good screw/screwbox. Hence why I'm looking at that screw/box in the second two photos. I've been giving the one I have a home a liberal spray of WD40 and letting it do some soaking. Going to spray it again tonight after work and hopefully get some progress in the morning.

The crack is on the one I want to steal the screw from Thought that screw looked pretty nice compared to the one on the other. First two photos are the one in my garage, second two are the one I'm looking at maybe snagging this weekend.

So I picked this up the other night and plan to try to clean it up and fix it up to make it workable. The screw is pretty buggered up right now. The nut or whatever is on the end is pretty solidly stuck right now. I did start some work on taking it apart last night. I was able to get the mounting plate and spring off. but no luck yet getting the screw out. But that got me to thinking. How interchangeable are these parts? I found another one on marketplace that has a broken post and looks like it might have a crack in the eye on one of the jaws. But if I could use the screw, then I'd have a nice working vise for less than $100. Any thoughts on how interchangeable things are? Would this be doable?

Llama, There is a guy that pops up on my FB market feed all the time in Ohio selling a ton of stuff. I do not know his prices because he's an almost 8 hour drive from me. Somewhere North East Ohio if I remember right. Might be worth checking out if you are close enough.

Yeah. Railroad rail anvils. Sorry. I've been looking at vise restoration stuff this morning at work and yeah, I think I'm going to have to find a new screwbox for my find last night for sure. I figure I'll at least get it cleaned up for now and see what I can make out of it and hopefully a screw box comes along soon.

Hoping to start work on this one this weekend or next. Have to hit the store for some degreaser and such and see how stuck it is. Figured for $50 I couldn't pass it up. Snagged that, two RR anvils ($10 each) and a belt grinder set up ($200). So made for a good night!

Looks amazing. I picked this up tonight. Hopefully I can make it look as nice as yours!

Thanks for the info folks. I'll have to make some calls during the workday. Seems these places near me close about 20-30 minutes after I get off work. Might be a good excuse to use some PTO time! Found 100 3/8 steel ball on Amazon. Will be here Friday.

Yeah, we have junk yards with car stuff. I'll have to see if they let folks wander. There is a scrap metal recycle place, but not sure if they let folks wander/buy.

TP, You reference scrap yards a lot. Is that a junk yard or something different?

Frosty, where might one acquire these 3/8" steel ball?

The seller thought it was 136#. When she first reached out to me, she admitted not knowing anything about it. But it was her father's and she was not super sure she wanted to sell. So quoting about the chipping on the face, I said depending on how it looks in person I'd start with the $275 offer. She had to ask her older sister who was POA of the estate about the price. Took her about a week to get back to me and said they thought it was a bit low because they had "done some reading" and found out they were "not common to find anymore." They are only about an hour from me, so I may give it a few days (she mentioned trying to sell it in a sale they plan to have over Labor Day, so I think I might have some time) and then seeing if I can maybe make the drive and take a peek at it and see if we can do some haggling in person if it tests out decent.