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Leg Vise? Post Vise?


Frostfly

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first question. Are leg vise and post Vise Interchangable? I hear both terms and I'm not sure if i'm using them correctly.

second part. I've found a leg vise in my area and i'm gonna go take a look at it tomorrow. From the pictures it looks pretty good and all the parts seem to be there. Weighs in at around 35 pounds. What do I need to look for to tell if this item is in good shape?

Thanks for the help

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1) Look under the jaws for cracks.
2) Close all the way and check alignment. Idealy it should touch a the top edge and be slightly open at the bottom.
3) Remove the screw and check the threads. Make sure they are clean and complete all the way, and if possible, look inside the nut and do the same.

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I would use the two interchangably.

Yours sounds to be a fairly lightweight one which makes me suspect that it is probably fairly modern. The older ones tend to be fairly hefty.

Open and close it and see if it works. Put a bit of something soft in the jaws and see if they impress a fairly even pattern onto it. The jaws will nip most at the top. If it has had a lot of use this is where the jaws will wear most.

If it works OK and the price is right then get it. They do not grow on trees! Even with minor repair or maintenance needed it will still be worth having and if you can't fix it yourself plenty of the guys here or over the road will be happy to help.

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Condition of the screw and screwbox! Everything else can be fixed fairly easily and inexpensively but the screw and screwbox. Screw threads should be square and not worn to a rounded or sharp profile. If the screw is ok the screwbox will usually be in a similiar state; but check to see if the last thread in the screwbox has been damaged---pulled off or broken---signs of abuse.

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Frostfly,
I will try to give you my spin on your first question.
First question. "Are leg vise and post Vise Interchangable? I hear both terms and I'm not sure if i'm using them correctly".

In over 50 years of blacksmithing, I also always wondered about the difference between a leg vise vs. a post vise just like you. :confused:
I never found the answer. So, I came to believe that they were interchangeable.
I hope this attached article helps point you in a positive direction to find an answer!
Legvise
Be safe!
Old Rusty Ted

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

A few short years ago, I wrote into anvilfire about this 'post vise' business, because to me, 'post vise' was erroneous. I got poo pooed. I can only say that I began in 1963 as a horseshoer and transitioned to blacksmithing in the late 60's and early 70's. All of the fossilized farriers and smiths that I talked to called it a leg vise. A couple of books called it a solid box vise, the latter term having been coined by the Peter Wright firm. I will continue to call the vise a 'leg vise' even though I'm outnumbered on the Net by the "post vise posters". Pun intended.

The hand cranked drill presses were usually called 'post drills' because they were mounted on a thick board, and thence to a post. A central line was scribed vertically down the board flat, and the lower support/receptacle was aligned with the drill proper. This board was often attached to a upright post in the shop.

I checked out what the leg vise is termed in Spanish: 'el tornillo de pie,' literally vise of foot. In French, it is "étau sur pied," which literally is 'vise above leg.' "Pied" in French can mean foot, but it refers to a leg on furniture and tools.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

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Hmmm, I think that I made the transitions from 'leg' vise to 'post' vise without even noticing it. Should I switch back?

Another weird renaming accomplished by the internet is the "camel-back" drill press. No one knows where the name came from and they bear no resemblance to camels, but the name has stuck to old drill presses with horizontally mounted pulleys.
CanedyOtto_RedDrill_d_Top_small.jpg

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Coincidentaly I just picked up a leg vice at the Mississippi Forge Council Conference this week end. Paid $75 for it but it doesn't have the spring. Replacing the spring is not a big deal with 100 ft of 1084 in my stock.



I have found that mild steel works better for the spring, I made one using a leaf spring no heat treating and it was difficult to close the vise in the last 3 inches. I made one out of mild steel for my 6 inch vise and it works great
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clinton, couldn't that be a matter of spring shape as much as material?

Presumably you can just straighten out the too tight spring a little. Most of the original springs I've gotten my hands on are tapered as well, this would let them move more at the bottom.

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Yep, all steels, regardless of heat treat have almost exactly the same spring force. The difference is that at a certain point the mild one will take a set sooner and not return to it's original shape. So they both have the same "stiffness".

I think "post vise" is a fairly recent corruption.

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This weekend I built a mounting bracket and spring for the 6" post vise I picked up at Q-S for $50 a couple of months ago.

Since it looked like a Columbian I was going to go with the u bolt method but didn't have any U bolts that stout.

So I decided to forge a bracket to hold the spring out of some 0.5" x 1.5" stock, I had an off set tool for thin strap stock that I used to make a shallow offset in the heavy stock with my screwpress to hold the spring in place and then punched 0.5" holes on the end tabs---easier than drilling what with the stock hot and only a small drill available.

Then I found out my bolts were too short, so I found some 0.5" stock with threaded ends and cut them to length and headed them in the large vise.

The back of the bracket was angle iron with different length legs and I drilled the holes in it as it would not fit in the gas forge conveniently and was thinner to boot.

The spring was forged from light leafspring and just normalized---I c-clamped the hot spring in place with the jaws of the vise spaced apart with a chunk of 2x6 and then adjusted the throw of the spring for that distance, then reheated and normalized

Put it all together and used a c clamp to hold it in place while tightening the bolts.

Looks to be working good and as I forged most of it and used old hardware when possible---sq nuts, old washers, it looks a lot like an old job of it.

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