Teddybo Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 So I traded up I sold a five and three-quarter inch Treton and I’m picking up a 6 inch 110 pound unknown post vise and was wondering if anyone could help me identify it. The mounting brackets similar iron city but is it’s not one and I’m not sure I can’t find too much online also I picked up a 5 inch cast Colombian post vise and a 4 1/2 inch Arthur Leary‘s I’ll be selling a 5 inch Colombian if anyone near San Francisco or Sacramento is interested Maybe I’ll find some more information once I get it all cleaned up then it goes through electrolysis but I’ll get back with better pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Well the mounting bracket for that first one is probably a replacement and so may NOT be indicative of make, or may be a marriage; or.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 yeah that’s what I thought but I’ve seen identical mounts on similar looking post vises online and eBay just never manufacturer info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Good Morning Ted, Forget about trying to figure out who made them, You can't buy any new parts. What you need, you make. As for names, call them whatever the children would like to call them. Moe, Curly, Hey-you,????? Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 So true. My post vise is only 4.5” but weighs 70 pounds. This is supposedly not normal. It has signs of age based on construction but has no identifiable markings. Deep down I would like to know it’s origin...but none of this ever occurs to me when I’m using it. The only time provenance matters with these things is during transactions for purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 I enjoy collecting post vises and cleaning them up and trying to piece together the information and doing the research and figuring out the manufacturer was . I love the history and am always impressed by the fact that a group of men molded metal into a great too. And how their where so many companies making them .I have only not been able to Identify one before this ont and have only seen one online ever .. perhaps you guys might know something about this one interesting because of the writing /lettering. And font and placement of numbers on the jaw . always end up reselling the smaller ones anyways for what I paid plus gas and since I to drive 100 miles and I live in the Bay Area so it benefits people who therefore couldn’t get a post vise because they didn’t have time to drive that far and I’m still way below everyone else price range cause I don’t want to make money off people just be able to keep hunting for post vises and cleaning them up . I understand if I’m using it all that matters is it’s ability to do what it was made for and that’s why I use my 6” iron city cause they seem to be more abundant Yeah Luke smell reason why I don’t like the newer generation post places that are cast instead of hand forged because I have just got a 5 inch Colombian it’s 35 pounds and then I got a foreign a half inch Arthur best 35 pounds they just smeared look ugly I’m sure there’s more than usual and he’ll actually on some of the shape up some of the ones I have but I just appreciate the history more not the ones are hand forged in respect to two more yeah loop another reason why I don’t like the newer generation post vises the other cast instead of hand forged because I have just got a 5 inch Columbian it’s 35 pounds and then I got a 4 1/2 inch Arthur weighs 35 pounds . The new cast ones to me look ugly I’m sure they’re more than useful and he’ll actually they are some of the best shape of someone want to have but I just appreciate the history more not ones are him forged and respect the tool more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I don't know about cast post vises but I have seen drop forged post vises that have the flash ridge on them from the dies. (Columbians, 20th century) I've mentioned before that post vises come in a range of heights and weights as well as widths of jaws, often the only mark you may find on them is a weight stamp as they were often sold by the pound. I generally refer to them as "gracile" and "robustus" My travel vise is gracile and easy to lift and haul. My "bolted to the telephone pole that holds up the shop roof" vices are robustus. The leg on one of my robustus vises is 1.25" diameter at the small end; on a gracile vise it's 1/2 that diameter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 I’m sure drop forged is correct I didn’t know exact term . Ivehad3 drip forged columbians all great shape just not cool to me . Yeah I know what ya mean I got two150lb 7” post vises I try not to move if I don’t have to , the 80 and less are far more manageable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Do you find it odd that so many folks say they can't find one yet you seem to trip over them all over the place? I certainly do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Most likely depending on location and method of search. Having said that even the most unlikely search methods like ebay and marketplace have some for sale. Just saw one on market place. "For sale is this one of a kind Gorgeous Antique, hand pinched, cast iron, fully operating, 1800s blacksmith post leg Vice/Vise.: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 They should say they don’t find any within short driving distance that they want to do and they want it to fall with it in their lap within 20 miles or 30 miles and the hundred dollars I don’t buy full price post vises. What I considered full prices when people quote eBay no I never selling at that price either and for every two I buy I sell one because the wife would kill me otherwise and I get them all crusty and beat up Whree in sell him the cleaned oil’s and have a coating of Johnson’s wax . It’s cool too because I meet a lot of people through going and buying post vises and it’s nice to build a network. As well as people who got the check three or four times a day on Facebook marketplace or set alarms on it and the same thing as craigslist I have alerts every time .up I checked that email and that’s how you get something for everyone else . Everyone says I can’t find a handle I just drove all day a month ago to get a columbian anvil from sf to Reno and back the day before my shoulder surgery. I’m lucky that I got medically retired so I have a lot of free time and I don’t have to kids so my priorities are the little flexible where a lot other people are more important priorities that make it to the can’t hop on the deal immediately or the Like leave to go to check out the post vise at any moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Why do you think there is such a healthy supply of post vice and such a shortage of anvils? Did they made more vices than anvils? May be post vices are not cool? May be "Forged in fire" does not show a post vice? Yep .... that must be it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 That’s exactly it plus a blade Smith does not need a post vise . plus being in California with all the gold mine out here I think lead to a lot more tools being fixed and made so each mine needed a blacksmith. And even though normally small post vises are damaged they can be repaired where small anvils that are damaged usually unrepairable both were the most common bought because their lease expensive and out by the Fresno area I find a lot of post vises And a lot of anvils out there because of all the farms as was the Sacramento area but it’s been pretty well picked through. and everyone iconic knows an anvil not everyone knows what a post vise is so everyone watching forged in fire and hearing about the TV show know that anvils are blacksmith related but not so much post vises. so every would be blade Smith is buying a Anvils but not post vises. as well as there are hundreds of companies that made post vises a lot easier to make than that in Annville and with World War II in the Annville massacre adding to it on top of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 CA had a very large population by the 1800's, and a big industrial complex started in the Bay Area, Sacoftomatoes, Los Angeles, etc.. . Where you have industry , you have tools. I doubt it was mainly due to farmers. I grew up in Fairfield, and a lot of the farmers I know didn't have an anvil, or a post vise. My last Columbian post vise came out of a wood shop. Auto shops also used them, so blacksmiths were not the only purchasers. I also don't believe that many anvils were scrapped during the war, as they were tools that could be used during the war. It was all about saving, and repairing worn items and an anvil could be used to repair other items. The scrap drive pictures I see have pots, pans, and items other than anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Actually I tell folks that bladesmiths need postvises a lot more than they need london pattern anvils! I bought a 6" postvise from a automotive repair company that had been in the same location since 1918. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 I don’t know whya blade Smith needs a vise built for take a beating and not being phased by it . But then again I’m not a Blake Smith Or wouldn’t even call myself a blacksmith . I’ve only been interested in post places for six months now as well as anvils and blacksmithing .and you’re right there’s probably more anvil and post vises remaining in fabrication shops wood shops then on farms . But with San Francisco and surrounding areas huge numbers and such a small area it makes it so the few that are available either are spoken for or go for top dollar I’m not willing to pay that much.but 3/4 of the 20+ post vises I’ve bought came from farms either I bought it directly from the farmer or from someone else who did . And yes back in a days people were more into repairing things than throwing away , they also were very patriotic in though I don’t have any evidence to show that huge numbers of anvils were scrapped only going off what I was told but you gotta figure Americans are very patriotic back then enough to handover hard earned money to the government right after a depression with an IOU in exchange from the government in form of a war bond and if moma is donating her pots and pans you think she’s going to not donate an anvil not being used much if at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Bladesmithing is very tied up with flat and straight and untwisted and a good postvise makes it easier to adjust blades while hot. You can also set guards with them too---pounding a hot guard onto the normalized tang. I seldom use a machinist vise anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 I Learn something new every day. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Been smithing since 1981 and I still learn stuff all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welding Rod Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 I have 3 post vises one says eastliverpool on it there are some other letters but can’t make out a name it is a 44 pound vise bought it for 20 bucks several years ago in central Indiana antique shop I also picked up a 100 pound iron city 6 inch post vise for 60 bucks at another antique shop both vises are in excellent condition I recently bought another in good shape but it doesn’t have the right screw so I’m making my own trying to make it look as original as I can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Welcome Welding Rod. I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welding Rod Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Retiring in a couple of years have been doing a little blacksmithing for the last couple of years am trying to start up an Indiana blacksmith association chapter here in Valparaiso Indiana I’m a union Pipefitter have been welding since I was 15 years old worked in several fab shops building a smithy at this time just wanting to learn more located in northwest Indiana in porter county about one hour from Chicago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 16 hours ago, Welding Rod said: northwest Indiana We won't remember that once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddybo Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 I may be getting a couple screws and screw boxes soon the post voices are badly damaged but I could repair them but it would not be as good as it should be so I figure part and out I’ll let you know if you want to sizes of the diameter of the thread and dimensions of the screw box in case you want to get on instead of making one .one of the Post vise is that will be dismantled id a 6 inche and the other was a 5 inch ones iron city and one I believe is an Arthur I’ve had to do quite a few repairs a different post versus the worst was one had been previously attempted be repaired poorly and because the job had been knocked off all the way down almost to the base where the screw box is actually actually went in a little bit into screw boxes so there’s a lot of chamfering and a lot of rods and passes when I did was clamp the two jars together and put about a 3/32 shim the bottom so that way they were correctly angled and just kept welding it was a think a 4 1/2 Iron city after all things said and done you couldn’t even tell and it was perfectly lined up I just took a lot of work inside the hole the screw box goes in a lot of time spent with the carbide bur cleaning out the area I. They go so that one for 125 bucks but I let the guy know what happened and what repairs have been done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welding Rod Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 On 2/16/2019 at 1:14 PM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: Welcome Welding Rod. I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST My newest post vise is about 80# with a 5 inch jaw I’ll measure the hole diameter and get a length on the screw and get back to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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