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I Forge Iron

Building my own vice for fun


Horacekincannon

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If I was making a post vise I would either go with the forklift forks, or just weld one up. You can have one completely welded up and assembled by the time you had one side forged out by hand. 

As to turning the threads. 2 TPI is not readily done by many lathes. My Dad's Monarch will get down to 1.5 TPI and it is kind of a rarity. 4 may be more practical. For square threads you rough out with a vee tool then come back in with the square tip. Buttress threads would also be good for a vise.  Or look around for some scrap items to use for the threads, house jacks, lathe lead screws, etc..

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The forklift plans or weilding one takes the fun out of it as far as the threading goes I have a lathe just need to get it set up but I don't remember how low it goes on the threads the idea behind this is the fun and experience not so much the time. I want to use this project to break in my new propane forge I just built before I start on a small anvil. I have a great 100 pound anvil but I like building my own tools. It's how I have been developing my skills.

Had fun with the hammer I made getting it just right. Lol.

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You could forge in the threads but it would have to be done on a closed die setup with a hydraulic press.. I imagine if you were really into it, you could forge them with a swage on the anvil but accuracy would be a thing.   and if accuracy was key the time to do it would be rather slow.. 

Forging a 4" vise is certainly doable and pretty straight forwards.. If you aren't in a rush then all the better..   All of this stuff can be done with only a hand hammer but having a sledger and a fuller and a few other things would make it easier.. 

Depending on how accurate you really want it to be becomes the key question..      I don't know what your capable of forging as I have never seen your work or your setup..      

For simplicity you could start with a 1" or 3/4" X 4" flat for both sets of jaws  and get some major hammer work out on the leg jaw. (upset where you want to pierce it for the screw and box). then forge weld the pivot and boss onto the botton of the front jaw.  pin and weld the sides or cheeks to the rear leg.

Or on the front forge the leg round  round after it's been punched leaving the boss on the bottom now in line with the shaft after it's twisted hot.. This would give you 3/4 or 1" pivot boss which is plenty.. 

Despite the error/mis understand with Frosty,  of what I had mentioned before about forging one and looking at how they were done has nothing to do with forging wrought iron..  They made the vises the way they did for a reason. and they eventually started to use mild steel to make them.  From the little lip that goes over both the screw box and the screw..   to the pivots, to the cheeks to the location of the placement of the screw box.. etc, etc.. 

If you'd like come on over.. We could have one forged out in an after noon.. :)  I too have the forging of a vise on the agenda.. a 10" monster German style.. :)  

A lot of the older lathes will do 2 threads per inch..  My 13" southbend will do 4 tpi.. the previous gen model with do 2tpi    The 8.5" leg vise I have IIRC 6tpi..  on a 2+" screw..   The 2tpi is just the easiest as you can just use 1/4" sq for the box  but you can up the tread count and just use 1/8" for the screw box.. 

I prefer the larger size sq as it just makes it easier when it comes to brazing in the box..   I redid a box on a vise years ago and it worked perfectly.. Drilled out the remains of the old, in with the new. The orginals pulled out and the threads on the screw were mint.. 



 

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Hi All, I made this small vice several years ago. My reason was also for the experience and I wanted one that would fit in my hardy hole to take with me when I did demos. I started with a piece of 1” square bar and I slowly upset the end until I had a good 4” face that part took some time and patience. I knew it wouldn’t get done quick so I just went with the experience. After the jaws were formed Ibent them at the 90 degrees you could do them at less than that and adjust the jas face to match. I then decided how far down to make the hole for the screw box. I made a slot punch and knocked out the picked then drifted the hole to size. I used a screw from a welding clamp that was bend but the screw was still good and cut off  the threaded part to use on the other end. I did not really take any measurements at the time I built it I just did it as I went. Here are some pictures.

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I from Durant Oklahoma I am hoping to go to the meeting on the 19th near sulfur I went to one last month in elk City but I decided to do this project afterwards or I would have taken pictures then. I plan to start on it this evening. I get the one made for the Hardy hole I will start on a regular post vice.

This project will be a challenge for me. But I also think that it will be a great learning experience as well.

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48 minutes ago, gaylan veater said:

Hi All, I made this small vice several years ago

Wow what a nice little vise! Very cool. Might have to give one a try one day. That Is a lot of careful upsetting to get that much. 

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