HEAP of JEEP Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Was wandering my local scrap yard this morning on the way to work, when I came across an old welding table with this bolted to the top. I quickly removed it and took it to the owner of the scrap yard to see what he would take for it. $25 later, I own my first post vice. Its an Indian Chief, which I don't know much about. I'll need to forge up a new spring, but everything else looks to be in good working order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 How wide are the jaws? The screw and nut look to be replacements. I have a 6" Indian Chief and it has Acme type threads. Regardless for $25 it's a heck of a score. Forging a spring is more of an exercise in arching with one bend. I made one for my 4" "portable" and didn't bother to heat treat it at all and it works fine even if the screw is a little sticky. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEAP of JEEP Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Haven't measured, but I'd guess they are 4". I don't know enough about them to know what is original or not, but for that price, I didn't care. It could be the ultimate Franken-vice and I still would have brought it home. Scrap yards and me are dangerous... I always justify it by taking a load of scrap with me, but for some reason, I seem to always leave with as much as I take... sometimes more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7A749 Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 25 minutes ago, HEAP of JEEP said: Haven't measured, but I'd guess they are 4". I don't know enough about them to know what is original or not, but for that price, I didn't care. It could be the ultimate Franken-vice and I still would have brought it home. Scrap yards and me are dangerous... I always justify it by taking a load of scrap with me, but for some reason, I seem to always leave with as much as I take... sometimes more. Hahaha. You and I have the same problem with scrap yards Thats a great little vise for the money. I got a real nice one at an auction once for $2. Ended up selling it for almost $200. Probably should have kept it tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Nice find. Looks like it has good jaws on it. Should work fine after some clean up and a spring. Is that an old adjustable wrench in there taking up the slack from the missing spring? Haha. I've made a couple springs from trailer leaf spring. It's close to the right curve and width from the start and just need little grinding bending and a little forging on the bottom that goes to the outside jaw if you want it to look like the old ones. Not necessary tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEAP of JEEP Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 Yeah, it is an old wrench. Its wedged in there pretty good, so just left it in there, and I'll mess with it when I get home from work later. I've got plenty of old leaf springs from my two Cherokees around, and have a few coil springs that were donated by some Wrangler friends, so between them, I should be able to muddle something out. I've got so much on my plate right now, I won't be able to mess with it for a few more days, but hopefully I should have it ready for business by this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 The adjustable wrench is holding the nut for the replacement screw to keep it from turning. If you remove it the vise will not work correctly. You could replace it by welding a bar to the nut that will fit down the mounting gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEAP of JEEP Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: The adjustable wrench is holding the nut for the replacement screw to keep it from turning. If you remove it the vise will not work correctly. You could replace it by welding a bar to the nut that will fit down the mounting gap. Ok, I see what you're saying. guess that will take some monkeying around too. Shouldn't be to difficult to rig something up to keep that from spinning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winebaby Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Nice find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterbear Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I'd incorporate the wrench in a final solution gives it character. chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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