First vice, may need some repairs

[Chinobi]

Hey all,

 

came across a guy that was selling a variety of tools in my city, one of which was a Quikwerk 5" post vise.  I ended up paying $140 for it.  The thing i am kicking myself for now is that i didnt pay close enough attention to the body when i was checking it out, and it wasnt until i got home that i noticed that it is cracked!

 

it will likely never be used for anything very large, and will not be subjected to a lot of heavy hitting.  is something like this repairable if i grind the crack out and weld it back up?  or more specifically *have* it welded back up, as i have zero experience with electric welding.  can it be used safely without repair if i keep an eye on it? did i just buy an industrial sized paperweight?

 

the threads are also worn and i will likely have to fix or replace the spring too  :unsure:

 

the only marking i saw on it was the manufacturers stamp.

 

specs:

Quikwerk 5" jaw mfg by warren tool & forge

40" jaw to end of post

60 lb

 

Thank you for your input!

 

 

 

 

[Pat Roy]

I'd use it as is. If it ever breaks, then repair it.

Just for reference, I recently bought a 5 1/2 inch vice (no markings) in good condition for $85. I guess I'm in a different market.

[Timothy Miller]

That's a very nice vise.  I wouldn't worry about the crack just keep an eye on it if it starts getting larger then grind it out and weld it.  Make an mark a the end of the crack to see is it getting larger.  It probably never will get bigger unless you really abuse it. It is probably an original manufacturing flaw.

[Chinobi]

Thanks :) i had a couple of smiths at the forge take a look at it and they agreed it was serviceable and an easy fix if it came down to it.  looking forward to getting it mounted and in service!  :D

 

actually relative to similar 5" vices that they had purchased or seen $140 is doing pretty good for our region too :)

[ThomasPowers]

The crack is not a deal killer the heavily worn screw is much more of a problem.  Easy to get a weld repair to the cracked area.  MUCH harder to replace a screw/screwbox!  (I would have used the crack to get the price down a bit to help cover the cost of repair---probably a 2-4 sixpack repair (I had a small welding shop near my house that would do amazing amounts of welding for me for a brown pop donation around 5pm on a hot Friday...)

[Chinobi]

Thanks Thomas,

 

i have some friends that operate on the same economy, so that shouldnt be too difficult to source if it comes down to it. :)

 

ill see how it handles with the screw as is, if it becomes problematic then ill need to figure something out =/

[Frank Turley]

You have what is essentially an IRON CITY vise. QUIKWERK took over the Pittsburgh based Iron City Company in the 1940"s (?), and used their methods to make their vises. The mounting plate is a little different that the Iron City plate; otherwise, the appearance is the same.

[Chinobi]

the beavertail is a custom job by the guy i bought it from, he replaced the original wishbone.  i am curious as to the actual age of the vise though, if the history that was provided to me can be trusted, the vise was originally outfitted in the Gould Ranch, a Greene and Greene architects landmark in Ventura built in the early 1920's.  still trying to chase down some kind of tangible proof of this claim.  if that is indeed accurate it would be pretty exciting because i live (literally, no exaggeration) two blocks from that site :) and no, the seller had no prior knowledge of who i was or where i live, so it wasnt a tailored pile of BS, regular BS is still on the menu though.

 

but also if it was installed in a 1920's residence its manufacture date would pre-date the Iron City merger.  i cant find anything with a cursory googling for the merger of the two or warren tools itself, do you know if warren tools made vises prior to the acquisition of Iron City?

[Frank Turley]

Chinobi, I don't have that specific information, but I got out my Directory of American Toolmakers and noted that the Iron City Tool Works was acquired by the Warren Tool Corpotation in Ohio in 1958. QUIKWERK was a stamped trade name that Warren used.

 

I did see a QUIKWERK vise advertisement on ebay a couple of years ago. The ad was for sale, not the vise. The seller dated the ad to 1923. The ad wording is as follows:

"Quikwerk Tools. Blacksmith Vises. We think enough of QUIKWERK Tools to guarantee them to meet your idea of satisfactory service. And yet they cost no more than the ordinary kind. We are well equipped to take care of export requirements. Catalog on request. THE WARREN TOOL AND FORGE CO. 120 Griswold Street Warren, Ohio, U.S.A."

[Chinobi]

cool, thank you Frank, now to see if i can drum up some tangible evidence of its previous owners... :ph34r:

[Chinobi]

spoke to one of my co-workers today who is an accomplished welder/fabricator, going to get him to help me build a stand for that beauty that will be portable and collapsible :) all my april weekends are spoken for though, so best case we start work in may, unless we can meet up after work on some weekdays.

[Chinobi]

broke ground on the vice stand a week or two ago and worked several evenings on it so far.  got it to the point of being free standing this friday!  still needs a table on top, foot pads, and a few other little refinements, but its functional and im really excited to finish it up! :) plus my friend gave me a crash course in mig welding, so i did all the welding on friday, which was a lot of fun!

 

heres a couple of WIP shots showing it standing and collapsed:

 

[mitch4ging]

Nice, I like that! I need to do something simular. good job.

[Chinobi]

thanks :) ill put up more details of how it works when its done, had to get creative with the rear leg to allow for the wheels to actually work :P

[Chinobi]

Man, end of May feels like it was so long ago!  then again, it was :) very stop and go construction working late into the night on week nights but we finally finished the stand a few weeks ago! (been busy so I forgot to update this)

 

after I was taught the basics of MIG welding I did the rest of the welds, which are functional, if not always pretty.  so im pretty proud of that :)

 

the basic design requirement was that it be very portable with a minimum of grunt lifting, which I think we did a fine job of meeting.  all of my tools are stored in my garage on one side of the house, and my working area is in the side yard on the opposite side, between which there is a 4" step with bullnosed brick on the edge which can be avoided by rolling across the lawn.  So the vice was designed to be wheeled (as the total weight is probably 90-100lbs), with flatless (solidish rubber) 10" tires which can mount most obstructions with relative ease.  there is a little better than an inch of clearance between the tires and the ground when its set up to allow fumbled hot items to roll around underneath without immediately setting things on fire.

 

because it is a collapsible tripod and the legs can be fully dismounted it will fit in my car trunk (sedan) as well :)

 

ok, writing up how it collapses without interfering with the wheels was getting WAY too long winded, so if anyone cares ill go back and take some pics of breakdown and setup, otherwise suffice it to say that you chock the center up on a block, unpin the top of the rear leg, the leg slides down a bit in that collar at the mid span, you flip the whole leg upside down (leg travels through that channel in the table), repin the leg and then you can tip the whole assembly and roll it away like a dolly or some kind of autobot vacuum cleaner :)

 

comments/criticism welcome, I plan to give it a good once over with some flap wheels to take the sharp corners off the tabs and feet and maybe add a couple of hardpoints where I can mount a couple of wrenches for the bolts and a few stakes so it can be secured in dirt.

 

[yahoo2]

I'm a big fan of brute force. I cant stand stuff moving around in the vice jaws while I am working. I have a portable vice with  weight over the back legs (buckets of sand) and footplates on the front legs so I can stand on them to get some nice leverage to tighten the jaws.

[Chinobi]

I have considered adding extended pads to the forward legs to stand on, im going to wait and see if it seems like the vice is moving around too much in use before I start tweaking though.

[VaughnT]

Very neat contraption you built there, Chinobi.  And to think it might have come from a Greene Bros project!  Aside from Wright, they are probably my most favorite architect/designers.  Very nice work.

 

Does the vise move a lot when you're working at it?  I'd almost be inclined to install a permanent post at it's outside location and then fabricate a more traditional mounting plate with the wedge and gib key.  Easy to carry the vise to position and then secure, but a lot more solid when in place.

 

Had a friend do the same and he put a bird feeder on the post when he wasn't using it.  Kept the wife happy....

[Chinobi]

Thanks Vaughn :)

 

haha, combination bird feeder and post vice!  that ones going on the project list for sure :)  im in a rental house at present so I dunno if my landlord would have the same appreciation for a large hunk of tube steel or 4x4 stuck in the side yard.

 

I haven't used it for any proper hot work yet, but I have done plenty of filing, hacksawing, and banging on it to re-handle an old hammer and a variety of other odds and ends projects.  it has a tendency to dance a little bit if the nuts work loose, but after tightening them down its pretty solid.  I think I can talk my landlord into not killing me if I install some concrete anchors in the patio if it gets dancy under actual usage.

 

I wanted the option of being able to take it with me to places afar if I get invited to demo again or otherwise work from somewhere else.  plus its just bolted to the tripod, so I can just as easily dismount it from there and set up on a permanent mount when one becomes plausible in the future :)