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I Forge Iron

In search of some advice


M.G.

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The neatest mod I've seen for a postvise was where the owner had brazed a cover for the end of the screwbox and drilled, tapped and added a zerk so they could grease the screw from the end pushing any cruft *out* of the screwbox.  BTAIM  my vises don't get used enough to require "heroic measures" to keep them in good shape. (Though it seems like nearly every task in the shop involves a vise at some point...)

Once thing to check is to see if the balls on the handle have raised a sharp edged ridge where they impact the center section.  If so; filing that away makes for fewer blood blisters if you accidentally catch your hand there when the handle transits from side to side.  I also have been putting rubber washers on the handle to prevent impact---as I find things that work at the scrap yard. If I was really fired up I guess I could cut them from inner tube pieces. 

The fanciest vise redo I know of was when the late  VICopper took his vise down to bare metal, temper coloured it and had it powder coated clear IIRC.

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I'm not a vise guy, I have exactly two. My rebuild experience was the spring and wedges on the 4" and I painted that one. 

I haven't done it yet but I plan on putting a cushion on the handle balls or the screw end on the vise so nobody gets pinched by handle screwball impact.

I have discovered that grease on the screw seems to attract dirt and grit. I've started using a thin wipe of white lithium  grease but picked up a couple cans of spray on graphite lube at a yard sale. It makes my Little Giant happy and doesn't sling anywhere, I'll give it a try next time I have one of the vises open far enough to wash the grease out/off. 

Now I'm jonesing to finally get a better portable mount made for the 4" vise. The collapsible tripod is one of those ideas that sounded good but stinks i use. One of the demos where I'm a regular and am grandfathered into MY spot I use the tailgate of my pickup as a bench. I've been thinking about a trailer hitch receiver leg vise stand. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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My portable but not extremely nice demo vise set up is based on a light folding sawhorse someone threw out on heavy trash day. A couple of pieces of 2x8 bolted to the top raised it high enough to bolt the mounting bracket to it with butterfly nuts.  The fellow had modified the sawhorse to have a telescoping sq tubes on either side that I can pull out and hang tongs on.  Not extremely rigid but most of the stuff I demo is pretty light.  I have a metal plate I can stake under the leg and hold the acorn from side to side or downward motion.

Pro's: light easy to set up and pack

Cons: light and not very rigid, take care when hunkering down on it or applying a lot of lateral force to it.

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Yeah, the screw on this one has to have 80 to 90% life left on it not a knick anywhere. The box looks good from what i can see through the grease.  The completeness and the condition of this vise are what allowed me to overlook the drilled out jaws. I figure it will work just fine until I find a doner 5.25" vise with clean jaws and a roaches screw, at that point ill marry them and have a super clean tool.

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Just to wrap up the story in this thread, incase any one missed the resto thread I made, or this is getting viewed in the future..... here is the vise i picked up after about 5 hours of stripping and refinishing.

 

Thanks again everyone, for the great advice!20200722_165701.thumb.jpg.559b8ecd173ae5535c42b5d775fac2c7.jpg

IMG_20200722_183939_438.thumb.jpg.2cc68a6e8ac08e2a2874157e51e77ec2.jpg

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Ah.hahahhaha.. too true Goods.

I haven't decided how to mount it yet. We have yet to build workbenches in the shop. And I'm not the lead on that project, so i try and make due on my own.  The forg is in a collective space,  so i was considering the possibilities of a free standing tripod similar to some  steel anvil stands you see, but with a wider base and taller obviously. Maybe with room for sandbags...  kinda portable around the workspace but kinda stable..??.. not really sure. Open to suggestions though.

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I discommend a tripod stand for a leg vise, I have one and it's too shaky to be much use. What I plan on replacing it with will be a steel disk about 30-36" diameter with a vertical post and small table top to bolt the leg vise bolt plat to. The acorn pin of the leg vise will socket into a divot in the plate. The vertical post will fit and pin to a square receiver welded to the disk.

If I have to administer a severe torquing to something in the vise, standing on the disk keeps everything in place. If I need to move it I can tip it up and roll it on the foot (disk). Load it in the truck? Roll it over and lean it on the tailgate, unpin the post from the foot, get in the truck and pull it in, then flip the foot in. (I HOPE:))

Frosty The Lucky.

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Yeah Frosty, that was my hesitation on the tripod idea. Maybe a single post with a round plate base would be best. But finding the material is gonna take some time and effort. But it sounds like I should start the hunt.

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Got any shipyards near you?  For some reason; ship building and repair tends to generate large stout disks....Might even call around to places advertising water jet, laser, plasma or O-A cutting services....Or you could buy it square and cut the disk yourself.  Seems like every welder used to own a setup that would clamp to a cutting torch and using a center punch in the center of the stock cut a disk.  (I showed a friend how to do it with a speaker magnet that had a hole for a bolt in the center of it's focus and so avoid the center punch hole.)

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We are here near the mouth of the Columbia river so there are a few ship yards, not nearly as many as the Bremerton area about 4.5 hrs north of me but there should be a source for what I'm looking for.

Thoughts on the base size.... 24"dia or bigger?

I would assume wood would work if it was mounted to a bench anchored to a wall. Or if the wood post was sunken into the ground. But I am in a non permanent location, so I don't have the ability to drive any posts in to the yard.

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You want the base large enough to stand on when using the vise.  Note that the vise does not need to be mounted in the center of the disk; offset it towards a side, it's *you* standing on it that makes the difference.   Note if it's a thick disk, chamfer the edges so you are less likely to trip on them.

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I used a tall 8” stump/limb for mine. Cut a slot in the bottom for a 2x4, then used 2-2x4s as diagonal braces down to the base 2x4. Lag bolted everything to a 4’x4’ sheet of 3/4 plywood. Very stable, except in the direction perpendicular to the jaws.

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Thanks for the ideas guys. Working on tracking down some material for the base plate might take some time. But I may get some workbenches put up in the shop next week then I should have place to put my vises until I can find good scrap materials to build steel work stands.

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For our portable vise I used an old automotive flywheel, scrounged from a scrap steel bin for the base. The rest of the stand is also scrounged material. For stability when using it on dirt, I forged some spikes that are driven through the holes in the flywheel for stability. On hard surfaces a plate that gets bolted to the flywheel I can stand on.

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Nice Irondragon, looks great.. also looks real similar to what I drafted for my concept. Shoot, I might follow your lead and use something similar as a base, if i can find one for next to nothing. I was considering a larger table with some rungs off the table or post to use as handles for moving and hanging tools on when in use.  

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just picked up a vise and was thinking of looking for a manhole cover for a base. I see them all over the place but most are in use covering funny holes in the ground. hehehe..  thinking about checking with the local city utility department and see if they have any ideas.

for the holes in the jaws, how about thermite? easy to get and use, have to make a dam around the jaws out of refractory material. set up is like casting liquid metal but everything is room temp until you light it off. tons of youtube vids on the stuff. made it from scratch for fun a few times.

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In most places it's not legal to own a manhole cover at all, it deters idjits from stealing them. It is in Alaska anyway. Same for drop drain grates, currently there is a rash of people either stealing drop drain (curb drain storm drains) or dropping them down the drains in Anchorage. putting a tire into a drop drain can ruin your day, certainly your: wheel, tire and probably front end.

I don't know what the current fines and penalties are but it costs  the State or municipality about $2500 time and materials to replace a drop drain grate, a whole LOT more if it's been dropped in the storm drain, you can't leave them to block flow and plug the drain. Before I retired it was charged as felony mischief or theft, say $5,00 fine and year in jail to start with.

Anyway, besides legality issues manhole covers are thick and would make a serious trip hazard in the shop. A piece of 1/2" plate is a bad enough trip hazard but you can put a shallow bevel on the top edge and ameliorate it. Not so with a manhole cover.

Frosty The Lucky.

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As much as we all like playing with homemade explosives, I think I will pass on that one. Welding seems way simpler. But really, I think i will leave the jaws as they are for now. Use it as it is until it becomes unbearable.   But if you find a cool man hole cover, just go ahead and stand it on end and roll it down the 5 ill grab it as it passes through Portland.  Haha.

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My local city maintenance shop kind of laughed at me when I asked. They said I could own one but needed to keep the bill of sale from a supplier! EXPENSIVE was something else they mentioned. Thermite is not an explosive but if confined the heated air can generated tremendous amounts of pressure. How about the split round stock idea but weld it to some angle iron for a drop in?  Thanks to Frosty for the spelling of 'idiots'. I use idjits all the time but never did learn how to spell it. Hated English when I was in school!

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