JMSZ

Hey all, I picked up a 4 1/2" post vice in Northern California (Oroville area), missing the bracket and spring, the leg is broken and the screw is frozen. I picked it up for $120. I haven't had a chance to clean it up much, so the only identifying mark that I've found is a B stamped where the top of the spring would sit. It has chamfered legs, the screw cap looks like a Columbian or Indian Chief but it isn't drilled through the end. The edges of the plates where the pivot screw goes through are square, not chamfered, it has a square nut and a carriage-type bolt head that was shaped by hand, it's not machined or cast, it has hammer marks. The leg was broken off at some point, the leg is straight (as in not bent) at the break point and the break face is straight across but rough, so it wasn't cut, it looks like a brittle failure. From the research I've been able to do, it's starting to look like it might have parts from several vises, in which case it would be even more valuable to me as that means somebody used it a lot and put the time and effort in to keep it in service. The screw box has small (1/8"ish) holes drilled at regular intervals around and along it. The vise is frozen closed but the screw is loose, the handle won't turn but it has side to side movement, so the screw is stuck at the cap end and the legs are stuck at the pivot screw. Any help on identifying it, even as a probable frankenvise, would be appreciated, I'll try and post some videos in a couple weeks. John

Sorry for the extra posts, it won't let me edit my original one... After some digging, I've figured out the small one is an Illinois Iron and Bolt Company anvil, Badger or Vulcan, if somebody can tell, it would be much appreciated. I should have been in bed an hour ago, but then I would get one more clue... Sleepy time.

Correction, the "8" is right above the foot, directly under the horn, not on the waist... I went back and looked again and did some more scrubbing with the wire brush. If it had any shallow stamping on it, it's long gone. One other thing I did notice earlier and confirmed is that the face is very thin, may 1/8" . Thanks everybody.

Thanks everybody for the welcome. Updated my location (as precise as I prefer to go) and adding some pictures (resized), please let me know if I didn't do it right. Three of those have the Trenton, the rest are what might be the Fisher. I'll get a few more of the Trenton up tomorrow. Frosty, thanks for the pointer on the Fisher, it does kind of look like one. Only thing is that all of the markings are cast and raised (nothing inset) and it's pretty cryptic compared to the pictures of Fishers that I could find. That bigger "8" looking marking (pic _145308) is right above the waist.

JMSZ, out in California, east of the Sierras, not the crazy parts. I have been interested in blacksmithing for a long time, but more for around the house and yard type of thing. I just like doing and making my own things, partly because I get what I can get what I want and partly just because of the satisfaction of having done it myself. I'm mainly self-taught in pretty much everything but I don't pass up an opportunity to learn from somebody who knows what they're doing, so I'll be doing a lot of reading here over the coming weeks. I was finally able to pick up a pair of anvils, a 152lb Trenton and I don't know what the other one is, but I'll post pictures. The Trenton seems to be in good shape and based on some of the posts on here, dates from somewhere around 1900. It has a good ring to it and when I was cleaning the face with a wire brush, it was even ringing then. The other (smaller) one doesn't ring at all, it almost sounds like hitting concrete. It has an obvious weld around the waist and there are multiple small voids in the metal, so I'm guessing it's probably not the highest quality, but if it works, it works. I still need tools, including the tools that mount on the anvils, and a forge. I'm leaning towards a charcoal forge as my primary heat source, I keep hardwood charcoal around for cooking already, so I can just stock more, and I'd like something that I can get a hold of if propane is in short supply (or gone). I'll post back again soon and look forward to learning from here and maybe running into somebody from my area. I'll get my profile info updated shortly.

JMSZ, just joining the forum today. Active duty Air Force 93 - 00, Barksdale, Osan, Beale, Osan, Beale. 00 - 20 California Air National Guard, AF Reserves and back to the Guard. I was deployed in Kuwait on 9/11 (we got sent home, which still burns me to this day). In Turkey in December of 02, our stay got extended and we redeployed to Iraq in April of 03 during the war. Thanks to politics, we spent the first three weeks of the war sitting in Turkey. Afghanistan in '07, Hurricane Irma/Maria support in St. Thomas and Puerto Rico in '17. Retired as an E-6 because I liked what I did, so I didn't want to transfer to something I didn't like just promote and I made the mistake of trusting my chain of command... Been interested in blacksmithing for a long while, mainly from a practical point of view, being able to make tools and stuff for around the house and yard. I retired from the Guard last fall and now I'm taking advantage of the extra time now.