Original finish?

[LiquidMetal]

Hi, I'm new here and  I have a question.  I am slowly getting into hobby blacksmithing and plan on making some knives etc.  I have picked up a coal forge and coal, made a wood stand for my homemade railroad track anvil. Had a buddy machine it flat on top. I just finally found a nice leg vise. Took it home and luckily it turns out to be a Peter Wright 5". I found the stamping on it and the crest as well is very clear to read.  Its in very good condition, appears factory as far as I can tell. This is the Canadian/ Australian version. ( I am in Canada ) I spent a few days making an iron stand for it, almost have it done, just need to get the coal forge going and make some hammer holder rings, then paint the stand. I wire wheeled the black spray paint off of it the best I could, and am wondering what color these came in when new? Raw steel?  The only flaw my vise has, is that I can't unscrew the vise all the way to completely take it apart. It gets too tight for my liking and I don't want to strip anything as it works so well,  jaws line up great etc. I was just going to give it a fresh black coat but wondered about using BLO maybe, I also have a BLO/beeswax mix I could use. Sorry for the long post, but if someone could steer me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome aboard. I suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. It is full of tips and links like editing your profile and some to help staying under the moderators radar.   READ THIS FIRST

Blo will work just fine for a finish. To get the screw out soak it in a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid, then work it back & forth (gently) there is probably rust or gunk at the end of the screw. I also suggest reading this for an effective anvil, RR track horizontally is not your best option.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/52308-a-collection-of-improvised-anvils/

 

[LiquidMetal]

Thanks for the reply. 
I will read all of that for sure. 
I do have a small anvil at my dads place. He is older and was going to be moving to the city this summer but with Covid I have been staying away. So I figured the RR track flat would be useful in that manner. The one thing I like with blo is no need to remove old paint down the road. Do you think it would be fine to warm up the vise slightly with a torch then apply the blo/wax?

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning, LM

Any Anvil is better than NO Anvil. For tinkering, a hunk of rail is fine. The falicy of needing a 'Flat Anvil Face' keeps occuring. You can straighten something easier on a slightly hollow surface, than on a flat surface. The effort of hitting something down, between 2 hard things (an Anvil face and a hammer) makes the struck thing rebound a bit. If you try to straighten on a slightly hollow surface the material will bounce down to the Anvil face and rebound to kinda straight. It is called "Gical" or 'Magical', your choice.

The Canadian Prairies range from Abbotsford to beyond Hope. That is quite a large area of choice. Welcome to IforgeIron!!

Neil

[LiquidMetal]

Thanks for the reply Neil, I changed my location to be even more specific.  Before I milled flat this track, I read up lots on google about it. Lots of people like yourself mentioned it was less than ideal, some liked it. I used my flat surface to clamp my vise top plate to when I drilled out the mounting holes, worked great, also my two young boys had fun taking turns in the forge and using that surface to work on. So when I get my fathers anvil I can make another stand for it. May I ask what finish you use on your vise?
 

[ThomasPowers]

I currently have 6 mounted postvises in my shop; didn't use anything on them.  Of course my shop is located in an area where 30% humidity is considered "excessive" and I don't have condensation corrosion to worry about.  Previous owners/manufacturers seem to have used paint on some of them, grey and red as I recall.  Most are patina'd wrought iron.

[anvil]

Lol, some like a rr anvil vertical and some horizontal. I prefer horizontal. 

As far as levelling a piece of hot iron, or any iron for that matter, a flat face is superior. 

Sorry Swede but I strongly disagree. Here's why. When you straighten a piece of iron, you hit the high side. With a bit of hammer control, you do not ever hit hard enough to forge the piece, meaning when removing high spots, never hit your work if there is no air betwixt your iron and the anvil.

However, just because an anvil face is not flat doesn't make it a bad anvil. You can still level your work with hammer control.

[LiquidMetal]

Thanks Thomas, I do like the patina look the best myself. I think I will paint the stand flat black and oil up the vise.  Should look great and keep any rust at bay. I already wipe my axe handles down so its easy to do the vise as well. 

[ThomasPowers]

We had one friend who cleaned a postvise down to bare metal. Shined it up and heat coloured it and then had it clear coated. I still miss VIcopper...

[LiquidMetal]

Wow that would be nice. I’m not sure how fancy I should make a vise. I had though about apple cider vinegar first, then steel wool the high spots, then oil. But seems like tons of work for a vise. Once I’m done I will try and post a photo. 

[ThomasPowers]

My vises rapidly get oil, dust, grease, sawdust and metal filings on them as they get used.  As I don't have to worry about rusting I just get on using them.

[LiquidMetal]

     

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

One suggestion: if it won't be securely bolted down is to have the base extend far enough that you can stand on it when using the vise.  Makes it much more stable.

[LiquidMetal]

Yes thanks,  I thought about that, but the 4x4 is 3/8" wall and the plate is 3/4" on the bottom. ( read about that trick on here )  Its hard to even drag across the floor as it id though. I also already have a metal 1.5" hitch style mount bolted to the front middle of the floor of the garage, I use it to plug my winch into when I need to pull things up  into my garage from the alley. I can weld a tube on to the base to plug into that if it gets moving too much, or when I get organized, ( like that will ever happen ) bolt it down.

[ThomasPowers]

Try this: put a 3' piece of 1/2" sq stock about 2 inches down in the vise and then try pulling/pushing it in all 4 directions like you were going to put a 90 deg bend in the end.  I think you will find that in use you could profit from a more stable stand.  (Unless all you do is light work.  For heavy work I have a 6.5" vise bolted to a telephone pole that is cemented 4-5' in the subsoil and is one of the 4 supports for the smithy walls and roof.)

 

[LiquidMetal]

At this point and time. I’m just doing light stuff, but ya, I see your point there. I’m going to make a few hinges and parts for my new fence and gates. Also plan on making some knives. Since I am a rookie at it all, I appreciate all the advice. I’m sure I will change everything once I learn more. 
I wish I had the space to make a dedicated shop.