SMP

My local place is 60 cents, but they tend to only have mild steels, CR and HR.

Alright thanks all.  I'll probably just get a decent regular vise and keep working on my chunk of train track that I am grinding the rust off etc.

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

 It appears to be solid from face to base so if you have it bolted to something solid it should be reasonably effective as a light duty anvil. 

Hey Frosty, they don't carry it in store.  So I would have to order it and it would arrive in a few days.  I have no idea what it weighs etc.  I am sure Home Depot would let me return it within return time etc but I just don't want  there to be any hassle since its a "special order".

1 hour ago, Frazer said:

 I probably wouldn't use it as such (heavy hammering). However for relatively light duty stuff it's an interesting feature.

Yeah I guess being new to all this I am not really sure what constitutes "heavy hammering" vs "light duty". A company on line has a anvil vise that looks very similar and in the video the lady says its good for light duty like copper work or leatherwork.  However I am hoping to do what I consider light duty blacksmithing, maybe my terminology is completely wrong.  I am a long time woodworker wanting to be able to forge my own smaller tools and accessories.  Like perhaps small marking knives, forged nails, planing spike(think railroad spike bent into an L shape with the short part flattened and slightly sharp), and other small accessories to add to my woodworking.  Here is the other one that looks similar and the video is there where she explains its uses:

Link removed

Has anybody had any experience with a Palmgren anvil vise?  I am looking for a new bench vise and stumbled across this one.  I am looking to do light duty smithing, and metalwork, but I also ama  home mechanic and woodworker, so looking for a decent vise that I can stick suspension parts in and beat on with a hammer, or bend some flat mild steel bar up to 1/4" etc.  Home Depot carries them and Summit racing, but I have only seen 1 review, so curious to see how useful it would be for a jack of all trades kind of guy?

Link removed as it is an advertisement, no information.

12 hours ago, Branding Iron said:

For what the HD Yost vise cost you could have a really nice used Athol, Columbian, Prentis or similar vintage vise that will likely hold its value better.  Asking one vise to do it all is a tall order that will never be 100% for everything you want.  Perhaps a post vise and a good swivel bench vise?

Yeah where I live it seems there are "vise hunters" who scour all the ads, then refurb them and sell them for $300-400, so its tough to find old ones that aren't "restored" to look like they are in decent condition.  A lot look to have spray paint over welds etc.  Plust it seems easier to find specs for newer vises, like for example one project I am working on bending the flat bar, it would help to have a 4" throat which a lot of bench vises don't seem to have.

13 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

Welcome to IFI... An ASO is cast iron that looks like a London pattern anvil. Exactly what the HF anvils are. Your RR track which is steel is an anvil (only improvised) and it sounds like you are on the way to improving it. I suggest looking through the Improvised anvil threads for the best way to use it.

If I were in the market for a vise, I would go with the ductile iron over cast iron. There are some good anvils being made out of it. As far as structural cast steel, I've never heard of it being used in the craft and don't know how well it would be for a vise.

Thanks for the welcome and info.  I will look up the info on the train track.  I am leaning towards the ductile iron or the austempered ductile iron.  Reading the reviews of the cast iron ones where people working on suspension parts have cracked the jaw in pieces worries me.  I do suspension work and seem to always need to get the sledge hammer out for tie rod ends etc.

Hello all,

I am a home mechanic/woodworker/ jack of all trades kind of guy starting to do some basic blacksmithing as a hobby.  Looking at some machinists/mechanics/general vises at Home Depot that can fill my need for a general purpose vise that can handle mechanic work, home repair, steel pipe, and some basic blacksmithing and metal work.  I see a few that look decent for a decent price.  I know cast iron is not great, a lot of reviews show them cracking etc.  So I was trying to narrow it down between some that are "structural cast steel" or or ductile iron.  Yost also has one that is Austempered ductile iron.  Not sure what that is.  Some have 5 year warranties while some have lifetime casting warranties.  So thought I would ask here which material would be good for some light duty blacksmithing.  Note, I do have a xxxxxx Harbor Freight anvil as well as piece of train track that I am slowly turning into an anvil shaped object.  So the vise would be mainly for when I need something clamped, more like heating up steel bar to bend(for example current project requires making some 90 degree bends in 1/4" x 3" steel bar).  Was hoping someone could answer this for me as I am not finding a clear answer searching.

Thanks in advance!

Steve