Anvil vise

[DUNSTAN]

Hello everyone, If I could pick some brains on this subject,it would be appreciated.
The other day My son and I stopped into a antique/junk shop and we spotted a combination anvil vise. I see pictures of one but could not resist it for only $35.00. Does any of you have more knowledge on it, and can it be used as a small anvil, or will it crack. Also, there was a crank handle on the end of the screw.What was that for? It turned but did nothing.The picture is all I could find.
Thanks

[JGRAFF]

Dont beat on it too hard, it just cast iron and it will crack. But i think these are very neat. I have one that is different but is still a combination vise. I have a tread and pictures of my restoration on here. $35 bucks is a great buy, I think it's probubly worth about $100 bucks (correct me if im wrong).

The crank arm is for the drill function of the vise. So, you acually have a combination anvil/vise/drill.

[Toreus]

I've seen several other threads with really similar anvil/vises, and I've heard more cries of "Anvil-Shaped Object!" than "Buy it!". It seems to me that the vise part would get in the way a lot, and that there just wouldn't be enough anvil mass.

I guess it depends on what you're going to do- do you need a multifunction drill/vise that you can do some light hammering on, or do you need a big slab of metal to whale on?

[ThomasPowers]

They are cast iron *any* hammering on it is at your own peril! In the day they were probably good for straightening bent nails and setting harness rivets.

However $35 is a good price for a decent vise, use it as a vise abd be happy!