leg vice help

[Ferris McCallandale]

I just bought a leg vice, and it needs a new spring. I want to buy one from Poor Boy Blacksmith Tools on Ebay but there are three different sizes and I don't know how to tell which one I need. Can someone tell me how to find out? Also this vice has a washer that looks like it was welded but the welds broke, and another washer-like piece between the handle and clamp part that has broken welds. Do these even need to be re-welded or is it o.k. for them to be free moving. I'm sorry about the hard to understand descriptions, but I don't know what all the parts are called. I might try getting pictures up soon. Keep in mind I don't currently have a forge so I can't make my own spring or other parts. Any help is greatly appreciated. By-the-way, this is my first post.

[jimbob]

you didn't tell us how big of a vise you have. you can use a large coil spring...it just pushes the front jaw open

[Ferris McCallandale]

Forgive my ignorance. I'm really knew to blacksmithing. What sort of measurements do I need to tell what size the vice is? Or is it supposed to say the size somewhere on the vice?

[maddog]

I just bought a leg vice, and it needs a new spring. I want to buy one from Poor Boy Blacksmith Tools on Ebay but there are three different sizes and I don't know how to tell which one I need. Can someone tell me how to find out? Also this vice has a washer that looks like it was welded but the welds broke, and another washer-like piece between the handle and clamp part that has broken welds. Do these even need to be re-welded or is it o.k. for them to be free moving. I'm sorry about the hard to understand descriptions, but I don't know what all the parts are called. I might try getting pictures up soon. Keep in mind I don't currently have a forge so I can't make my own spring or other parts. Any help is greatly appreciated. By-the-way, this is my first post.

Why don't you contact Ken Scharabo, the owner of Poor Boy Tools and ask him? He makes them. He's bound to know how to match them to a vise. He's a very decent guy.

[Pat Roy]

You can easily make your own spring. Do a search here.

[Dick L.]

Forgive my ignorance. I'm really knew to blacksmithing. What sort of measurements do I need to tell what size the vice is? Or is it supposed to say the size somewhere on the vice?

Ferris,
To answer your question vises are measured by jaw width. I do agree that you can make your own from information you can get here.
Hope this helps,
Dick

[Ferris McCallandale]

Thank you all for the help so far. Here are pictures of the parts on the vice that appear to have been welded on but have broken loose. Do I need to fix these, and if so how do I go about it?


I'm pointing at what seems to be a washer that has broke loose.



This is the other piece that has come loose.



I can turn the piece freely, which doesn't seem right.

[Frank Turley]

The nut on the back of the screw should not turn. If it spins around the jaws won't tighten. It should have a spline or some sort of welded piece that fits in the keyway in the fixed jaw, screw opening.

It looks like you have the mount parts except for the wedge. The mount strap (the U-shackle) goes at the top of the fixed leg, sliding it up until it about butts on the punched, outer, circular swelling of the screw opening. The mounting plate will go on top of a timber or the bench. You can see photos on this forum, where the spring is placed. The flat spring has a small right angle bend at the top. It is clamped by the U-shackle, jib-keyed and wedged on the plate (other) side. The curve of the spring at the bottom, near the pivot beam, is the only thing that opens the movable jaw. It is at the bottom, because there is less movement (throw) than if it were at the top.

The measurements that would help are the THICKNESS of the fixed leg. We assume it's the same just under the opening swell and at the bottom near the pivot beam. The width of the spring needs to match the thickness of the leg, and in addition, the spring width nees to fit inside the two bends of the U-shackle. The other measurement is the length from the bottom of the swell to the top of the pivot beam. The bottom of the spring is fishtailed and the two ears of the fishtail are bent at right angles to keep the spring from sliding sideways. If you pm me with proper measurements, I can probably make you one for a reasonable price.

I see the jib key in the slot for the mount, but the wedge looks to be missing. This is something you might be able to make cold by grinding and filing. It will have a slight taper and tighten everything together when mounting.

I don't understand the little washer[?] in between the jaws; it should probably come out. On the handle side, there should be a nice, thick thrust washer. Yours looks like a torched piece of junk. I can make a decent washer if I know the DIAMETER of the screw. There is nothing wrong with it turning; it should be greased, oiled or graphited.

http://turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

[ThomasPowers]

Your vise looks like the screw and screwbox were a retrofitted repair. As such it may have several strange items to make it work.

For original parts vises the washers generally are free floating: one between the handle end and the front jaw and one between the screwbox and the back of the back jaw.