Days Greetings all!

 

I bought this post vice a couple of weeks ago at a trading post shop. When I bought it the nut was frozen onto the shaft, but I was able to loosen it up with some penetrating oil and an acetylene torch. I'm fairly certain its missing some pieces, because the handle just spins and spins around without ever catching. I was wondering if someone on here could help me with it? Thanks!!

You have a very old English vise. The tenon of the mounting plate seems to be intact holding the spring, but the plate is gone (broken off?).

 

The nut is a replacement. The old vises had a screw box with one or two lengthwise stops, raised lugs which fit top and bottom in the hole slots. The stops prevented the box from turning. If your nut is operable on the threads, you'll need a way to keep the nut from moving when turning the handle. You can perhaps do a weld buildup to the height of the projecting "ear", that little horizontal lip that is protruding, or a lengthwise buildup to fit into the hole slot.

 

Sayings and Cornpone

"I don't need  the money, but the people I owe would like to have it."

Ok thanks! Could you post a picture or a hyperlink of what my vice is supposed to look like?

As Frank says the nut is a repair and not how it was made. You can forge a pair of lugs that can be clinched or riveted into the slots where the screw passes through. think of this stage in the repair like it's a backup wrench and make it to fit the vise body. I don't know if that's clear but it's the basic concept.

 

A couple ideas would be to punch and drift a wrench head to match the nut from a piece of bar stock a bit long then forge the ends down into tangs, bend them to 9* press or hammer them HOT into the vise's slots being CAREFUL not to damage the vise.  Lastly just clinch the exposed tangs over or pein them into heads. THIS is as complex/fancy as I'd get.

 

The simplest fix if a couple bolts will fit through the slits in the vise would be to just use bolts long enough to go all the way through and washer them so they can be tightened. Put large washers on the head ends and bend them up so they stop the repair nut. Heck, just the bolt heads might do the job.

 

Frosty The Lucky!

set the nut in lead in the back section---wheel weights would work

Ok thanks! Could you post a picture or a hyperlink of what my vice is supposed to look like?

Ok, thanks for the pictures WhiteHot and Frank!

 

I've noticed on these pics and others I've looked up that the handle mount is ball-shaped, whereas mine is more of a cylinder. Is there some kind of significance in the different designs?

 

@ Frank: how do you know that its English? is it because of certain characteristics on it?

English, because of the conformation of the vise, the nicely chamfered legs and the chamfered pivot beams. The tenoned and wedged mount is typical on early vises until the U-shackle replaced it, because the U is stronger. I had one similar vise stamped, "Sheffield." The screw with attached handle may not be original. I would guess that the jaw width is less that five inches.

Alright, thanks for the information!