Gergely Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Dear All! I'm considering to buy a post vise which is pictured below. Its price is reasonable (even in Hungarian circumstances) and takes place not too far (again in Hungarian sense). I just don't know too much about recognizing flaws of vises. Unfortunately the pictures are not too good. But if you can tell anything about it I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for your effort. Greetings: Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 It's missing the post....but that can be welded on. The main thing to look at is the screw and screwbox. If the screw threads still look nice and square and NOT worn to a point and there is no chipping or cracks in them in both the screw and screwbox then everything else can be fixed! Now checking that the jaws align vertically and horizontally when the vise is closed is nice but misalignements can be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thank you, Thomas! To understand your words completely I needed this: (persimmonforge.blogspot.hu/2013/12/post-vise-diagram.html) I hope it can help others, too. Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And of all those pieces the two ones that will break a deal are the screw and screwbox. There is no good, cheap, easy method of replacing them. I don't worry about the mounting plate and spring as they are easy to make in the shop---in fact I look for vises that are missing them as that lowers the price. We recently took a postvise with a cracked leg and forge welded it back together with a wrought iron wrapped sleeve over the cracked zone; however you can arc weld on a new leg---even on an old wrought iron vise. I have used my screwpress to adjust lateral slop in the jaws of that same vise and for one large abused vise I have even taken the moving leg and heat shrunk and riveted a plug in the original hole for the pivot bolt and drilled out a new one to adjust the jaws to fit together vertically. Note that the jaws may not fit against each other flat when totally closed as they are often engineered to be parallel only at a certain point the jaws are open to. So when closed they may look from the side (extremely exaggerated!!!!) / and not ||; it's from the top that you want them to look || and not |---but that can be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thanks again, Thomas! This is really valuable help. If the jaws don't fit "looking from the top" is it possible to grind them to fit? And I was thinking: have seen 30 or so post vises in Hungary, and only one had the leg. It was cut off from all the others. I can't imagine why. Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Unless you work a lot with sheet metal it's not usually worth being overly concerned with getting a perfect line up---especially side to side. Grinding to match may change the distance where the face of the jaws are parallel. Also some vises have steeled jaws and grinding may thin the steel face out. Usually if they don't align well it's a sign that someone put a piece way out at one edge and then torqued down on the handle twisting the shaft of the jaw. One thing to do to prevent this is to make a set of spacers to match standard stock sizes that you can put on the far side of the vise when needing to work a piece at the very edge of the jaws. That way they can't twist the shaft of the jaw as there is a "stop" on both sides of the screw's pressure point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 It might need the thrust washer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loneronin Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 what do you think about these scaffolding foot to fix a damaged/worn screw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I've seen it done with those before; but for me it's always been cheaper just to buy vises that have a good screw/screwbox; *or* pick up piece parts vises---local antiques place had such for US$24 that had a good screw/screwbox. (of course they originally priced it at $90 and after pointing out I was buying *good* vises for less than that we came down to $24---but my buy point was $20; so it's still there or was sold on in the meantime.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 The scaffold foot pictured is a. hollow and b. galvanized. Perhaps strong enough, but difficult and toxic to weld. Also the female part is cast and will be a very loose fit on the male part. Could be made to work but more trouble than it's worth in my opinion. YMMV. If you really want to go down this road, find a solid shaft type that is NOT coated in any way, has a square thread versus the rolled round thread that some of the solid shaft types have, and match a forged/machined nut to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 All right. Talked to the seller, so I'm going to look at the vise tomorrow morning. Thank you guys for the help. Hopefully I can post some pics if everything goes the right way. We'll see. Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 This was a very nice day. I have my first post vise - even if it's postless. It's a beautiful piece! It weighs 45 kg (~100#), jaws measure 140 mm (~5,5"). To start and enhance the owning process I wirebrushed the rust off. When it was done I realized the lack of any suitable oil so in final desperation I put some linseed oil on it. Hopefully it won't hurt too much. Some pictures: Greetings: Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Nice lookin vise ! Thomas and the folks have given you plenty of information. This vise could be adapted to more than one use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 Thank you, TH. Yes, and I can't thank them enough for doing so. It was so good to feel, that I know what I suppose to look at when watching the vise. Big-big thanks again for everybody who helped to achieve that! Bests: Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Very nice piece of kit, Gergely. The linseed oil won't hurt a thing. It's what I use for almost all of my bare iron stuff when I want to keep it rust-free for awhile. I even thin it down a bit so it's not as gloopy. Your vise looks like she's in excellent shape. I wouldn't do anything to her other than getting the rust off and letting her know she's now in a loving home and everything will be alright. I would recommend holding off on any plans to weld a new leg on her. Try her out at a few different heights to see what you like best. The higher the mount, the better for filing and doing finer movements. The lower the mount, the better she'll be for striking on. Somewhere in the middle might work out best. All depends on the work you need to get done, and it's one of the reason most shops will have two or three different vises mounted at different heights. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 Hi VaughnT! Thanks, I like it, too. :) This vise belonged to an old blacksmith who has been very sick for a long time. His daughter has sold most of his tools except the vise and the forge. I'm sure he kept good care of this vise. I want to continue that habit. (The forge was not for sale this time, but I asked her to call me if it is. The old man made his own forge and it was very neat and professional work. It is used for heating dog food nowadays...) I'm relieved to hear you using linseed oil. I may buy more then, because my tools are getting really thirsty for some. I intend to use this vise to do heavier work on it. Filing goes on my two engineer's vises, the bigger (~60#, 5" jaws) has even resisted some hammering work. But it is wiser to try and see how it work the best - thanks for the suggestion. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. Me too! ;) Next few days I dig up IFI for vise mounting stuff. I really liked one with the little bench and tool holder things on it. Gotta find it again. Greetings Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.