M.G. Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 About 2 weeks ago I went down a rabbit hole on a hunt for my first post vise. After a little searching and a little heartbreak I went to look at an old incomplete PW 6 inch, but unfortunately the screw was shot and he was asking way too much for it. So more heartbreak... But while on the gentleman's property I had spotted a slightly smaller vise laying in the dirt. Long story short.... i ended up taking it home. It needed some love, so I decided to give it the good old once over with a wire wheel to see what I could do for the old girl. Used some engin degreaser to break down the old muck on the screw and box. Then went after it with a scraper tool. Once the screw and box were clear of gunk, and the rust had been wired off, all parts got a good hot rub down of a mix of beeswax, carnuba wax, some drier agent, and charcoal powder. Wiped on to the surfaces, heated by propane torch. Then I stuffed some fresh grease into the screwbox and on the screw and put it back together. With the spring back in the right place everything works and fits great. Here is the story of her rebirth in pictoral form. In stripping away the last century's worth of rust. The only marking that were found on the entirety of the vise are a year, 1919, and what I would assume is a weight, 100, stamped into the back of the rear jaw. It looks a lot like some of the mid sized Columbia vises I have seen online but there is no C, or columbia stamp anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 34 minutes ago, M.G. said: I went down a rabbit hole on a hunt for my first post vise. Lots of places it's a wild goose chase rather than a rabbit hole. Beautiful job. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jealdi Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Looks amazing. I picked this up tonight. Hopefully I can make it look as nice as yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.G. Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Thanks Frosty! Means a lot. Definitely somewhat of a wild goose chase, but worth the runaround. I feel like i found a pretty good one. But sense I picked this one up ive seen a couple more locally that I almost jumped on. And hesitated. And now my wife is saying things like, you could probably make a few bucks repairing and flipping those.... ugh, always a day late hahahhah. Jealdi, thanks! That looks like a good starting point. The jaws look a lot nicer than the ones I'm stuck with. You could probably keep your eyes on the CL and score another small leg vise to use as a doner for a new screw and box. If that one is giving you a hard time. There are guys out here on the west coast letting small ones go for next to nothing missing various pieces, ie. Springs, mounting plates, exact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jealdi Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Hoping to start work on this one this weekend or next. Have to hit the store for some degreaser and such and see how stuck it is. Figured for $50 I couldn't pass it up. Snagged that, two RR anvils ($10 each) and a belt grinder set up ($200). So made for a good night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.G. Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Super sweet haul. Its a dirty and satisfying project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Ahh there is actually a type of bridge anvils know as RR anvils; usually pretty huge; perhaps you mean railroad rail anvils, "RRR anvils" for those prices? The screw on J's postvise looks rather like the ones from a fruit press or some wood vises. Unfortunately the screw/screwbox is generally what is missing or damaged when buying vises; but if cheap enough, handy to buy and sit on...I actually ran into a destroyed post vise that had a good screw and screwbox in it. I snatched it up of course as possible repair parts for future vises; but ended up trading it off on a deal for a 400# Trenton anvil with an end cost to me of about 50 UScents a pound as I had the screw and screwbox and a 125# PW to toss in the deal that I had bought cheaply so those and $100 boot and I had a fix for my anvil envy. I did recently find the body to a postvise at my local scrapyard; 20 cents a pound and it's waiting for someone who wants to try to restore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jealdi Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Yeah. Railroad rail anvils. Sorry. I've been looking at vise restoration stuff this morning at work and yeah, I think I'm going to have to find a new screwbox for my find last night for sure. I figure I'll at least get it cleaned up for now and see what I can make out of it and hopefully a screw box comes along soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 In 39 years of smithing I've had one "excess"; but have done a few swaps between vises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwms Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 we have a place here in the Seattle area called Tacoma Screw, years ago bought and acme screw (2' long, 2 in dia, and nut) to build an apple cider press. will be looking to get another for a vice i just got. trying to id it now. will cobble up a box for the nut. Jealdi, looks like the screw box is on backwards! the screw looks like it came from a vise off a woodworkers bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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