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Leg vice help


JSavon

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Hello all, i am new to this site and i have a question. So i picked up an anvil and the guy threw in a leg vise that he said needed some TLC.  The problem that i see is that the jaws do not touch, they are about 1/2" apart and i cant screw them in any more. I took it apart and cleaned everything but i couldnt remove the screw box for some reason. I greased and reassembled everything hoping to fix the problem but it is still not touching. The only thing that i think maybe stopping the jaws from touching is the screw box. I was wondering if i removed about a 1/2" of the screw box would that fix the problem or cause bigger problems? Or should i just weld some jaw pads on?  Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you, John

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PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does the screwbox impact the moving leg?

If it was a marriage the screwbox can be the wrong one for that size vise.  Check carefully that the screw box is not brazed or welded in place and that I doesn't have the "keel"/key tab jammed in the wrong place.  It should come out easily.

Is the moving leg bent into a curve?

Trimming the screwbox would be my LAST choice!  Without picture(s) it's very hard to make suggestions!

If only you were in the USA I could suggest taking it to an ABANA affiliate meeting and get hands on help from people with experience.

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Sorry i forgot to take pictures yesterday when i was working on it. So i took it back apart and with a little persuasion i was able to remove the screw box. So i cleaned that up and put it back together, with the same issue with the jaws not closing. Now that i can get the screw box off maybe i can make some shims? I hope that the pictures help.  

Again, thank you for your help!

John

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Hi JSavon, I think Marc1 is right, it looks from the pictures like the movable jaw has been overworked and the result is that it has bent back. Normally the jaws should close tight and the top of the jaws should match in height, it looks like the movable jaw is bent back and the top of the jaw is higher than the stationary jaw. I repaired one with identical damage 7 or 8 years ago for a fellow. I used my OA torch and a rosebud to heat the damaged jaw and hammered it back to proper shape/alignment, it also had cracks in the eye area which I v'd out then welded up with 7018 result good for another 100 years or so. One other problem I have seen with post vices is a lot of crud in the box preventing full closure, yours looks to be bent from the pics. Good luck hope this helps

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You are right, it seems the moving jaw is slightly bent, but not as much as the gap. One thing that is obvious is that the jaws don't match. 

The stationary jaw is way thinner and has a thinner pad. (?) may be it is a Frankenstein vice? 

I got nothing. personally I wouldn't try to heat it and bend it back for fear of making it softer, but maybe my fears are founded in ignorance ... don't know. :)

If I was stuck on a island and this was my only vice and I had zero chance of buying another one ... I would start with building up the stationary jaw to match the other one to start with. May be that is all it needs. 

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heating and bending the leg is no problem as it's low carbon.  However I am of Marc's opinion that this is a frankenvise due to the different jaw shapes. Can we see a picture of how well the pivot area matches?

Now what causes the won't close issue?  Screw bottoms out in the screwbox?   Moving jaw hits the mounting band? Moving jaw hits the screw cover?  Other? Please describe...

All of these can be fixed but the fixes are all different; Shoot I even once changed the vertical distance by heat shrinking and riveting a plug in the moving jaw pivot hole and redrilling it to get the top of the jaws to match.  I've done a couple of vises where the bearing hole was wallered out and I redrilled to the next size up and put in a new bolt.

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I took it back apart to give some more pictures.

What seems to be the problem is that the screw box is too long, i guess it could be caused by it being bent and twisted every which way to Sunday. When i removed the screw box it seems to match up pretty well, but as soon as i put back into position it pushes it back out 1/2" or so. Any way here are the pics. Thanks again everyone!

John

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So the front of the screwbox is running into the section of the moving jaw eye where it narrows down to about the diameter of the screw?

Definitely a marriage.  There are a couple of ways to deal with it: one is to truncate the excess length of the screwbox with perhaps a bit of filework to round the cut edges and make it easier to get the screw threaded in. (As the screw only comes out for cleaning/greasing/oiling not too much an issue with it taking a little finessing to get it started.)

Another would be to make a thicker washer for the backside of the stationary leg eye. However too thick and you would lose the keying in of the screwbox "keel". (Partial keying can result in keel failure...)

Straightening the top of the moving leg would reduce the amount of distance you have to close but be a much larger task. I would heat the top section and use my large screwpress and some careful blocking to get the section I wanted to bend to bent *CAREFULLY*!

So what are the stampings?  The one right over the ski jump should be the weight: 30 something?  the one over that may be a model number and the letters may be the maker or vendor of the vise.

 

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looks like a couple things to me, first is it looks like the fixed jaw either had a steel jaw on it and the weld failed or it had a date with a grinder. second, it appears the moving jaw is bent outward, or more accurately, someone seriously over tightened the vise and sucked the part of the jaw the screw goes through in. i would straighten everything out as best you can and go from there but i may also be completely off base so take my rambling with a grain of salt. how are the threads on the screw? they look more pointed than square in the picture but it could also just be the lighting 

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J ... yes the moving jaw is a bit bent, and it seems others have done it and it is possible to heat and straighten it. You will need a large forge, a big anvil a big hammer and a big arm :) ... or may be it is easy ... don't really know. 

Or you can live with the bent side for now ... you can always revisit this ... and make a new jaw/face/pad/whatever ...  for the fixed side. Bevel the edge all around, stick weld, grind flat and Bob is your uncle. :)

Uncle Bob

 

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Simple temporary fix:  forge a thick washer for the screw to be placed in between the "crank" and the moving jaw.  Won't help with alignment, but will help it close.  Will also reduce jaw opening the thickness of the washer, but at least it will work for a while.

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As I understand it the "nose" of the screw cover of the screwbox is contacting first so a washer in front of the moving leg  will not work.  I've alread mentioned the possibility of a washer to shift the screwbox back and that it might cause trouble with the key that keeps the screwbox from rotating.

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JHCC,  I'm never about simple.. :)  LOL..   Long road is calling, and I'm on my way Hommmmmmmeeeeeeee..  


Marc1   that tiny vise in a normal fire with a 3 or 4lbs hammer would have it straight in 1 heat..    Even done on a tiny 100lbs anvil would be plenty.. 

I'd probably over correct it just a little so the metal has a little more tension next time it gets abused.. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all, thanks for all the info. I have been pretty busy these last few weeks so i havent been able to do much of the fun stuff. Between work and the everyday rain/downpour here in Ohio i havent been able to do much forging. Although i did forge a knife and i have been working on that. I will send some pics when i am finished. Again thank you for all the replies! 

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