Evening all, found this post vice out at an Early America shop, it measures out at 5 1/2 inch jaws. The shop deals in black powder and all things a blacksmith could want. Just never anvils or vices that I’ve never seen until today. There was a real beat up 85 pound Mousehole for sale at a steep price, the face plate was non existent in certain spots. That being said I decided to bring the vice home with me. Never owned one before so any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Your best bet would be to clean the surface off with a wire wheel and see if you can find any markings. If you find nothing, that is generally the rule rather than the exception. Lots of mfgs made them- in the day they were a commodity, and most went unmarked. That said, it looks pretty good- as long as the screw is in good shape. The spring and mounting bracket are all there, you just might need to make up the wedges to hold it all together. That is a good size to take whatever you can throw at it- plenty of beef there. Show us the screw, and we can give our final answer.

Steve

Was this shop in Lodi?

It sure was! I enjoy getting out there every so often to check things out.

I love that place. It was a long drive when I lived in NW Ohio and even longer now I am in the SE part of the state. I have not been there in over 5 years now! I'm glad to hear they are still up and running.

On 1/17/2019 at 11:07 AM, marcusb said:

I love that place. It was a long drive when I lived in NW Ohio and even longer now I am in the SE part of the state. I have not been there in over 5 years now! I'm glad to hear they are still up and running.

Yeah they’ve really expanded the shop, lots of new selections as far as old tools and wood. Always a pleasure going in!

I’ve gotten 4 post vises from Lodi to Fresno recently I swear for two months they where popping up every couple days