Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Can threads be repaired?


Rainbows

Recommended Posts

Found a vice on ebay relatively near and it appears to be good condition but the seller said the screw is stripped. There is still some visible thread but it does look somewhat small.

Can a new screw be made? What sort of cost could I expect for such a job? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

generally the cost of repairing a screw/screwbox on a vise is several times greater than getting a vice with a good screw/screwbox.  If you are good and well equipped for welding or machining and do not count your time as having a cost and can get the vise at scrap rate then it might make sense to get one for repair.

 

It's rather like buying a car where they say "it's in great condition; only the engine and transmission are blown!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are looking for a leg vice they seem to come up fairly regularly on ebay UK so unless you want a project I would wait for a usable one.

If you are down in Gloucestershire sometime I could let you have one at a very favourable rate!

Seriously though, try going to one of the BABA forge-ins in your area and ask around. Most older 'smiths have a stash in readiness for "one day" 

Alan

Edited by Alan Evans
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is another nearer to me, it is unremarkable but still has one £120 price tag because its an antique dealers (#vintage, #steampunk). I will keep that in mind next time in in Gloucestire, that said I don't think I planned to ever go there so don't put any little gift bows on anything in a hurry. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't forget the trick of when they have stuff that looks promising ask if they have any of the big heavy stuff they want to sell at home.  I've bought several anvils and postvises that way as they didn't want to mess with loading and unloading them.  Got them cheap too as they didn't have other people asking about them at a sale!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, I have to ask....what is an autojumble? 

Short answer...​A jumble sale for bits and pieces of old motor vehicles and the associated detritus that the sort of people who tinker with old cars are likely to value!

Longer answer...

I for instance have had some notable grand purchases in years gone by.

My first was an Oertling laboratory balance / scale, Air damped and on agate knives and planes with a scale which had divisions = 0.2mg and would resolve to 0.1mg…currently on the table beside me for reloading purposes but previously used for measuring silver and gold. £12 in 1978 ish.

A working Milwaukee vacuum based diamond drill rig complete with part worn Ø125mm (5") drill bit. £15 in 2000 ish

Both times I saw only a part of the item appearing out of a heap; The glazed cabinet of the scales, and just the drill bit of the rig. When I asked the price I was told £20 for drill and £15 for the balance, I then realised that the cabinet contained the scales and the drill bit had a complete rig attached! I was so gobsmacked I did not say anything and the seller on both occasions took my silence to mean I thought the price too high and dropped it to £15 and £12 respectively…didn't drop it again even though I caught on and stayed quiet :) ...still a very happy purchaser.

Clear now?

Alan

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, sounds like our swapmeets over here. I used to do the automotive swapmeets when I lived in California.

I do make a distinction between swapmeets which have a common theme -be it cars, steam engines, radios, etc and fleamarkets where it is essentially a place where people bring anything, and everything to sell.

 

Reloading?  Not to hijack the thread, but how is gun ownership over there since the last bans went into effect? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

You can get a gun if you need to shoot foxes and birds and other pests which is why you are more likely to be shot in the countryside than in glasgow.

​Mind you I feel a lot safer meeting someone with a gun in the countryside than I would in town!

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As long as you look white enough :v Then again I suppose the person with the gun is statisticly speaking the one who probably just murdered someone.

 

This really went off on a tangent didn't it?

Edited by Rainbows
Link to comment
Share on other sites

External threads lead to guns. I wonder what talking about the internal threads in a screw box would turn into?​

Now did you mean "lead" as in "bullets" or "got side-tracked too"?

hmmm…internal threadsturn into… yep! two in a row there, well done, decidedly spiralling out of control now! 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, back on track now.

To turn these threads on a lathe you would want a fairly beefy one to do it on. Square threads remove a lot more material than Vee threads do, and the fast pitch is more than some small lathes can handle. Time+ material = more than a better vise. or a fun weekend project depending on what pair of glasses you are wearing at the moment. The least expensive way is to find a scrap screw, and nut that will work. A big square thread can be found on lathes, they are used on the lead screw. If a scrap yard has a junk lathe one screw can make several vise screws. The nut would have to be made in that case. 

Post vises are still plentiful enough to find easily at good prices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What in my life led me to be reading puns at 1:28 AM on an internet forum? They warned me blacksmithing was corrupting.

 

To steer the thread back: would a I beam make a good post to mount the vice on? I'm thinking a bit of plate on the top to bolt on the vice and a bake drum to make a foot. If I get a long girder maybe make a slighlty buried foot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_20131223_154504.thumb.jpg.e30972db42

OK, restart since the post I did got lost....grrrrr

Dad made this one out of scrap the community college we went to had for 10¢ a pound. 24" dia x 2" thick plate base, 10" pipe, and some plate on top. The hole in the top is to fill the pipe with sand if more weight is needed - it doesn't need any more. Tip and roll to move, and very stable. If I remember right, the whole thing is around 180#.

 

Look for a heavy truck rim instead if a brake drum. A semi truck rim over here is well north of 100# They don't look that heavy until you are trying to get one you found on the side of the freeway into the bed of a 4x4 dually during the summer in Nevada........especially when it has remnants of the shredded tire still on it.......and you have your good clothes on.

Edited by BIGGUNDOCTOR
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...