August 16, 201312 yr So I got this post vise at a antique barn/store it was tool heaven by the way, I have never seen so many tools it was insane. Anyway when i found this vise it looked good from a glance well i must have been drunk or still in aww of the insanity that was the barn. Because this thing was in rough shape being that its metal i can fix it... Well there was alot of surgery to be done it was bent and cracked so when it was completely closed it was off by an 1" so I split it where it was cracked and sent to our press at work had them get it straight, welded it all up grinded and sanded it, powder coated it. All I paid was 40 bucks! Oh and when i was cleaning it came across some numbers theres an 8 on the mount and a 2 on one of the bushing and also 65. does anyone have a clue what these mean?
August 16, 201312 yr The reason it cracked was because you straightened it cold. It was most likely fatigued at the bend and bending it back was just too much for it. If you had annealed the vice first it may have bent back cold without too much trouble. Also it could have been done hot with hammer and anvil. I have done the same job to 3 or 4 leg vices so far experience and reading shows that cold bending is risky especially on older things where the exact metallic composition of the vice your are working on is uncertain. Some are steel of varying carbon contents some are wrought iron and some grades of wrought iron don't weld well at all unless its a forge weld. In the long run you find the powder coat to be problematic because when you clamp hot iron the sparks and scale will ruin your finish. Not to mention you will be breathing plastic fumes.
August 16, 201312 yr Author It was cracked before I bought it. So I split the cracks with a cutting wheel to reduce more spliting then we preheated in our oven at 400deg then we bent it
August 16, 201312 yr Several of my post vises are weight stamped as they tended to be sold by the pound back in the day IIRC. 400 degF or C? either way it's below the dislocation climb temperature for ferrous metals; so while it would help with welding it would not anneal anything. $40 for a seriously damaged vise seems rather high to me unless it was a 100# or up one.
August 16, 201312 yr Great job, Tig! She's working and looking mighty fine doing it! I would never have tried that project, but I'm glad you did. She deserves to be in a loving home.
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