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I Forge Iron

First post vise


nixsnippy

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I picked this up at a local antique dealer while out looking for my first anvil (unfortunately came up dry on that front.)

Certainly over paid(~$95), but it felt like a rescue. Was literally chained to a fence in front of the shop, rusting away. Pretty heavy/deep corrosion on the movable arm. 

Seems mostly intact.  Level of rust/aging seems pretty consistent, so it seems all original, but I'm no expert. Screw box eyes are awfully corroded, the box itself is short and might have been broken off at some point.

The pivot bolt seems like mild steel, head was obviously intentionally rounded (like a robot) and got pretty chewed up in removal. The threads on it aren't great. I may try rethreading it, or may just seek out an appropriate replacement.

There wasn't a washer on the screw box, wasn't sure if it had been lost, or if it's just the way it was built.  Screw box and eye for pretty tighly, but with all the rust who knows if it's just me being hopeful. The screw threads look really good, by comparison, lucky if happened to be fully closed and sort of protected. 

Leg has a pretty nice crook in it, not sure if that's something I'll need to(or can) fix, but I'll investigate. 

The jaws are nearly pristine; if this guy ever saw work it was probably lite and infrequent. Flat, square and nicely aligned. 

Pretty clear iron city stamp with the 6 pointed star on the swing arm. In going to grease it up, reassemble and test it out this week. Fingers crossed. 

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Welcome aboard Mr. Snippy, glad to have you.

What is the jaw width? I don't see anything about that old girl a little oil won't fix right up. It sure looks complete, the mounting plate and spring is usually missing or long replaced. You even have the wedges. The hinge bolt might be easier to just replace though don't throw that one away.

Nice score. Check out the TPAAAT, simple search by that term here. It's a good solid technique for finding anvils and heck most any kind of tools.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Thanks Frosty, (and everyone else).  Glad to be here.

In my exuberance to get her cleaned up, i didn't actually take any physical measurements.  There's a clear '50' stamped on the moveable arm, so i'm GUESSING it's a 4~4.5".   It's out at my parents, where my 'shop' is for the foreseeable future.  I'll take measurements to confirm when i get back out there for reassembly.

As for TPAAAT, i'm definitely easing into it, but my search is really just starting.  Spent ~22 hours last weekend crawling around yard sales, scrap dealers, and antique stores.  The common theme in my area is a man named 'Fred Moore'. His name came up a half dozen times in my search last weekend. He's runs(?) a summer bible camp up here and apparently quite the collector of all things anvil.  I'm still trying to get his contact info to see if he has anything in his collection he'd be willing to part with for less than absurd prices.  But all avenues are possibilities until they aren't in TPAAAT, so i'm not giving up in the slightest.

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Good Morning Nix,

An easy update for any Post-Vice is to add an old Throw-out bearing to the large thrust washer on the threaded shaft. The throw-out bearing is actually a thrust bearing, it does not have to be the correct inner diameter (it can be larger). When you are tightening and loosening the Vice, the roller makes it go tighter with the benefit of loosening easier. Talk to your local Auto/Truck Mechanic and ask him to save you one (next time he does a Clutch job). You can talk to your local Auto Parts store, but most of them need an Application or "What kind of car?". I keep all of the T/O Bearings from the jobs we do, most of them are larger than 1 1/2" inner diameter.

Post Vices are measured by the width of the Jaw, 4",4 1/2", 5", 6" etc.

Don't be afraid to straighten the leg by applying heat to it. When you heat something up to RED, it is easy to straighten and there will be no more stress created. The added bonus is, the rust will fall off with a wire brush (by hand).

Enjoy your Journey. Don't loose sleep trying to find an Anvil, start with a scrap of steel (you can find an off-cut from your local steel supplier or Fabrication Shop. Ask them to keep an eye/ear open for you. They are in touch with people everyday who may have one they are tripping over.

Neil

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Is that the Fred Moore of Mountainair NM?  (I remember the first time he attended Quad-State and bought 30 anvils and had to buy a trailer to get them all home).  I see a reference to Hungry Horse MT  associated with his name would that be the location of the camp?

He has a lot of very good anvils and prices them fairly steep; NM is an anvil poor region and they are expensive out here! I've never met anyone who felt he did a dirty deal with them and I myself would not hesitate to hand him cash for an anvil to be delivered later.

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swedefiddle, that's an interesting idea.  I'll keep my eye out for the part.  (running to a mechanic now for TPAAAT and i'll ask him about this too.)  Once i get a workbench setup I'll plan to fire up the forge and give straightening that leg a try as well.  Thanks for the tips!

Thomas, As i'm led to believe, that's the very same Fred Moore, yup.  The camp is in Hungry Horse, I swung by on Saturday to see if I could find him, but the place was dead.  Good to know he's a trustworthy fellow and may have anvils to spare(if at a relative premium.)  I'll keep on tracking down his contact info while I continue my search.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally had a chance to get this gal put back together.  (Needed to get that table built first.)

She's close to 50#'s, ~4.75".  Reassembly went ok, no real issues.  I still need to make the mount for the foot? of the leg and tighten her up, but 

I'm pretty new to all this and so I did have a few questions:

The screw box shaft is obviously broken and seems very short.  Someone (not me) had tossed a length of pipe free floating over the excess screw.  This seemed dumb and so i left it off, but looking at the box length now, I am worried a bit about the screw getting hit and/or excessively dirty.   Any thoughts?

Likewise, the screwbox sits pretty loosely in the standing leg, you can see in one of the pictures it slides out the back without much force on the swing arm. Additionally, there's a bit of rotational travel in the box itself due to severe rust loss.  Certainly not more than say 30 degrees of rotation.  Is that something i could/should shim up somehow?  Or does it not matter?

Finally (and maybe most importantly), the swing arm has a bit of rotation that causes the jaws not to line up squarely every time.  Could be simply because i don't have the bolt tightened down in the pivot, but it was a weird observation nonetheless.

 

In other news, still no proper anvil, but i've redirected my efforts to getting a shop up using a piece of RR track, i'd rather be working than looking.  I'll restart the anvil search in good time.

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Screwbox doesn't look excessively short in the front.  Just remember to not abuse it.

Screwboxes are often quite loose in the vise, the spring should keep it snugged up in use.

Rotation of the screwbox is a bit more of an issue, if it's excessive it may be  that's it's a marriage of parts rather than the original.  There should be a key on the screwbox to engage a slot in the eye of the rear leg to keep it from turning.  You may need to build up and file the eye to engage the key a bit better.  (welding on the screwbox is a last resort!)

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If it's the Fred Moore I'm thinking of, he is an acquaintance of my father. Used to be a water well driller like dad. I'm sure I've got his number around here somewhere, or dad does. Our region does seem pretty "anvil poor." It was a chore to get my little anvil, and it had chipped edges all around. And I paid too much. But I was 15 and dumb way back when. I may have to give ol' Fred a call...

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  • 3 months later...
On 7/14/2015, 8:21:49, nixsnippy said:

Thanks Frosty, (and everyone else).  Glad to be here.

In my exuberance to get her cleaned up, i didn't actually take any physical measurements.  There's a clear '50' stamped on the moveable arm, so i'm GUESSING it's a 4~4.5".   It's out at my parents, where my 'shop' is for the foreseeable future.  I'll take measurements to confirm when i get back out there for reassembly.

As for TPAAAT, i'm definitely easing into it, but my search is really just starting.  Spent ~22 hours last weekend crawling around yard sales, scrap dealers, and antique stores.  The common theme in my area is a man named 'Fred Moore'. His name came up a half dozen times in my search last weekend. He's runs(?) a summer bible camp up here and apparently quite the collector of all things anvil.  I'm still trying to get his contact info to see if he has anything in his collection he'd be willing to part with for less than absurd prices.  But all avenues are possibilities until they aren't in TPAAAT, so i'm not giving up in the slightest.

Hello nixsnippy,

You're welcome to call Fred Moore anytime at 505-847-2962.

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