Fatfudd Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 There is an relatively easy replacement for lost or broken screw/box for old leg vises. I Have done this on several vises that I found without the screw/box. When leg vises were being made and sold there were probably only a few manufacturers of the screws. They also supplied similar screws for other purposes. During that same period a lot of screw type railroad and house jacks were made and sold. These types of jacks used high quality steel for the screw and cast iron for the female receiver. They were very heavily constructed and the screw pitch is similar to a leg vise pitch. If you cut the screw portion of the female receiver off you will have approximately the same amount of screw threads that are in a typical leg vise box. Being cast iron it can easily be shaped to fit the back of a leg vise, but you will need to leave an ample amount of lip on the new ground receiver. House jacks are for sale on ebay usually fairly cheap. Make sure that when you purchase a house jack the thread is fairly close to what was probably the original size of your screw. That is for a small vise a 1 to 1.5in thread is good. On the one you see in the pictures that is a 200lb vise that I used a 2in X 18in thread on. The jaws on that one will open wide enough to use almost the whole screw length. For a replacement washer I use an annealed piece of coil spring and a large washer. Let me know if you have any questions. Don't be concerned with the strength of the new screw, railroad jacks are rated in terms of tons and It's doubtful you will ever exceed its rated strength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulKrzysz Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Thank you for the tip. I have a question about another possible alternative. What about using scaffolding levelers? Also what lead is needed for leg vises? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 Thank you for the tip. I have a question about another possible alternative. What about using scaffolding levelers? Also what lead is needed for leg vises? Good questions_ I'm not familiar enough about scaffolding levelers, I suppose they would work if the receiver/ box could be fashioned out of a scaffolding leg. They should be strong enough since they support a lot of weight. By lead I'm assuming you mean the threads per inch? On my 100lb vise the threads are 2/in. on the 200lb vise with the replacement house jack screw the threads are 2.25/in. Almost the same. The threads are flat sided on both and about equal in thickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylon63 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I have repaired my first post vice using Scaffolding levelers. I cut the origional screw off from the handle and re welded the leveler screw to the old handle. I laid a bead of nickle rod over the cast iron on the handlethen welded the screw with 7018. it has held for about 10 years now. I cut the female threads offwith a bandsaw ground the "nut" down to fit inside the cast iron "box" and re welded in the same manner. since my "box" was enclosed it limited the length of "male" screw I could use and had to cut the length a couple of times. Some of the levelers or scaffold jacks are aluminum so make sure you get the steel ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampjet Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 WELL... that explains a bunch. I just bought my first post vise on Friday (8/29) and it was covered in grease. After cleaning it, it looks like it may have experienced catistrofic failure at some time a long time ago. possible break/ reforgeweld on one main leg andmajor welding up under and around the screwbox area. BUT it has this long square threaded screw and a "box" of cast iron that sits on the back side. The top mount goes through the back leg and it was BADLY reforgewelded long ago. And yes I paid toooo much for it. The house jack screw setup is probably what it is. Oh well... I can make it work. And BETTER! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Good repair Fatfud. Missed this the first time around. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 arftist this is why we archive the forum. Use the search engine to sort through all that is there. You may be surprised at what you find. (grin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 arftist - You are quite welcome. Since putting in this thread I have repaired a few more vises without screws/screwboxes. One thing that is very evident is the strength of the "new" house jack screw. I have actually stood on the arm of my 200 lb vise to tighten it on a piece that I'm working on. I think the original jack I cut up to make this screw/screw box was rated as being able to lift 18 tons. The metal piece being held in the vise doesn't move at all no matter what I hit it with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Bringing this thread back up to ask if you still have the photos from your original post.....Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ystervuis Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 I would also like to see the photos of the original post if possible please. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 After 20 years or so, I completely wore out the screw in my most used vise , a 5 1/2'' Indian Chief. I bought a short length of 1 1/4'' B7 Acme threaded rod and a nut to fit it from Enco [ now MSC ] I fabricated a new screw box from an appropriately sized piece of heavy wall pipe with the nut pressed and welded in the front end. I welded a cap on the back of the crew box and bored and tapped it for a grease fitting. The screw box had a tab welded on so it doesn't turn in the back half of the vise. The screw box should be a somewhat loose fit in back jaw of the vise so it can pivot a bit to stay aligned as the vise opens and closes. The threaded rod was welded to the cut off stub of the worn out screw part of the handle. I ground everything smooth and gave it a black / rust patina with gun blueing to match the rest of the vise Lubing the vise through the grease fitting pushes the dirt and scale from the inside out. I use a grease gun modified to pump heavy way oil instead of grease which tends to hold dirt on the screw. This repaired vise has held up well in hard daily use and should give me at least another 20 years of service. As a side note, I use the same modified grease /oil gun to lubricate the clutch and main drive pulley on my No. 7 Beaudry / Champion motor driven hammer which has led to a dramatic improvement in the speed and control of that hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 18 minutes ago, beaudry said: This repaired vise has held up well in hard daily use and should give me at least another 20 years of service. beaudry, do you have (or can you take) pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 I've been searching all over the forum on how to post photos , but haven't had any luck on how to do it. Can I just click and drag a photo from my Mac desktop and added it to a post ? Can someone help me out here ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Not sure if it's the same for you but when you open the reply box there is a paper clip with "click to choose files" beside it. You click that and can add files from your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Thanks , I'll take some pictures and try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaudry Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Vise and mount to bench. Back end of vise and screw box Replacement fabricated screw box and original spherical washers Acme nut welded to end of pipe section and turned / ground down to fit. Grease gun modified to pump heavy oil. Spring and push rod removed and hole plugged and bottom cap welded to body . Fill at the top at pipe plug with squeeze bottle with narrow spout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDNII Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 I just bought my first vise not too long ago, it was missing the entire screw and box and replaced with what looked like a wood vise screw and nut. Problem is, the nut shattered and now I need to get it working again, preferably as cheap as possible. Scince I could buy a house Jack for less than $35 I found this post very interesting, but I don't quite understand how attaching the house Jack to the vise would work exactly. This is why I'd like to see the pictures from the original post. Please and thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Moose Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I undrestand that this thread is old, but, I just used this basic method to repair my post vice. My question is is there a purpous in the screw box being closed on the end. It looks like it would be easier to clean and lube if it were left open on the back side. Any thoughts on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Easier for grit and scale to get in as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Moose Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I have thought of that, but, it looks like scale and grit would be more likely to be brought into the screw box from the front where the lead screw goes into the screw box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 The neatest method I have seen, the owner brazed a plate across the open back and then installed a zerk and so lubed his vise from the back pushing any old lube/crud out the front. There is a lot of floating grit in my smithy so the fewer ways for it to get into the works the better in my opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Moose Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Thank you both for the input. I did not think about the floating grit issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Desert + Wind, (last week we had a day with winds over 52 mph---visibility was down to less than a mile instead of 60 to 90 miles), means we are very aware of grit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Moose Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I bet that is like living in a sand blast cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Last week I had to take a shower and change clothes before sitting on my bed after walking across the border in the sand blast---free dermabrasion! Unfortunately the Guards get upset if you wear a bandanna or face mask while crossing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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