Fisher #6

[TravisVT]

Hi all. Seems this is the place online to find info on these things. I got this Fisher #6 in a lot I bought which had other things I really wanted. It is frozen and the chain is broken. It has clearly been used through its life but is still in decent condition. I had soaked the threads with penetrant for months but cannot get them to budge and am worried about marring the gears. From what I can see, it doesn't seem to be gummed up, but I haven't had time to apply heat to them to see if they free up (lord knows how much oxy/acet I would need to really warm something this big up enough.) I'm basically wondering if anyone has had success freeing these up or if its worth much if i can't? Should I bother? I will probably just end up selling it as, although it's super cool, it's too much for what I do (I'm a mechanic and metal fabricator, but not on this scale.) If I were to try and sell it is there somewhere that one goes for pieces like this? I know they are worth a lot more working, but I'm not sure thats going to happen. Is there any way to date them specifically? I was unable to find a classified section here and hope I am not posting in the wrong area or breaking any rules. Thanks for any help. 

[JHCC]

No, this is the right section. That's an exceptional vise, and well worth getting up and running, regardless of whether you use it or sell it. 

I was going to recommend the soaking, but since you're already done that, I'll leave further recommendations for more experienced others.

You might want to add your location in your profile settings, as there may be people near you who can offer advice and assistance. Are you indeed in VT?

[ThomasPowers]

What did people use for heating for the Million years or so before Acetylene was created? 

The thread is what is stuck not the gears; so can you figure a way to apply torque to the end of  the thread?  Are you using a wooden mallet on the gears currently?   You are right to want to be careful; as breaking the cast iron body damages the price even more!  What sort of penetrating oil are you using?

As for value; it would depend a lot on which of the more than 100 countries that participate on these forums on the World Wide Web.

[Rojo Pedro]

Wow! Makes my no. 2 look like a toy

[Frosty]

Soaking it in 50/50 ATF and acetone has a good success rate for breaking rust and solidified grease. Shouldn't be a problem warming it to a few hundred degrees with a bag of charcoal briquettes.

Nice vices. IFI has a buy sell section, "Tailgating."

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

If you were close to me, I would show up in a jiffy with cash in hand, if you were selling it. Not only do we suffer from anvil envy, vise envy runs a close second and that one is a monster.  The 50/50 mix of ATF & Acetone works better than most penetrating oils I have tried. Bumping the screw's back & forth also helps loosen rusted parts.

[TravisVT]

6 hours ago, JHCC said:

No, this is the right section. That's an exceptional vise, and well worth getting up and running, regardless of whether you use it or sell it. 

I was going to recommend the soaking, but since you're already done that, I'll leave further recommendations for more experienced others.

You might want to add your location in your profile settings, as there may be people near you who can offer advice and assistance. Are you indeed in VT?

I live in VT yes, but the vise is currently in CT. I'll update the profile to reflect all that. Thanks for the tips!

4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

What did people use for heating for the Million years or so before Acetylene was created? 

The thread is what is stuck not the gears; so can you figure a way to apply torque to the end of  the thread?  Are you using a wooden mallet on the gears currently?   You are right to want to be careful; as breaking the cast iron body damages the price even more!  What sort of penetrating oil are you using?

As for value; it would depend a lot on which of the more than 100 countries that participate on these forums on the World Wide Web.

Not having worked with anything this large that is cast before, I was wary to heat with anything I am not familiar with for fear of doing damage. When I mentioned marring the gears, I meant because I was wrapping them in wrags and using a large pipe wrench to attempt to turn them, I understand the threads are stuck inside the housing. I used a wood mallet, brass mallet, and then the rags and pipe wrench combo, all to no avail. As far as oil I have used a PB, Kroil, and ATF over the course of a few months. She does not want to move. 

I understand about the valuation changing country to country. This is located in Western Connecticut at the moment. That would be the value I would be interested in. Thanks for the info and recomendations.

3 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

If you were close to me, I would show up in a jiffy with cash in hand, if you were selling it. Not only do we suffer from anvil envy, vise envy runs a close second and that one is a monster.  The 50/50 mix of ATF & Acetone works better than most penetrating oils I have tried. Bumping the screw's back & forth also helps loosen rusted parts.

Haha, I understand the envy. I have been loathe to consider selling it as it is just a cool and monsterous piece but realistically someone else would get more and more appropriate usage out of it and that would make me happy. I'm not one to hoard for the sake of having cool things. I have never heard of the acetone ATF mix, I will give that a shot. Thanks for the recommendation. 

 

4 hours ago, Frosty said:

Soaking it in 50/50 ATF and acetone has a good success rate for breaking rust and solidified grease. Shouldn't be a problem warming it to a few hundred degrees with a bag of charcoal briquettes.

Nice vices. IFI has a buy sell section, "Tailgating."

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Charcoal briquettes eh? hmmm. OK. Now I just have to figure out where I can lug this monster to pull that one off. I lifted it into the bed of my truck by myself months ago and my back has never forgiven me ! 

4 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said:

Wow! Makes my no. 2 look like a toy

She's a beast for sure

[ThomasPowers]

Perhaps a propane weed burner/deicer could be found?  Heating with a lower temp/broader fire is safer than apply a high temp to a localized area when working cast iron.

Are the threaded rods stuck on both ends?  Could make it hard to turn if a rod is still stuck at the other end.  I assume you have been dosing both ends of both threaded rods.

[JHCC]

48 minutes ago, TravisVT said:

I live in VT yes

Whereabouts? We have a number of members in Vermont, and I myself used to live in Shrewsbury.

[TravisVT]

5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Perhaps a propane weed burner/deicer could be found?  Heating with a lower temp/broader fire is safer than apply a high temp to a localized area when working cast iron.

Are the threaded rods stuck on both ends?  Could make it hard to turn if a rod is still stuck at the other end.  I assume you have been dosing both ends of both threaded rods.

I have been filling the threads with penetrant and letting sit for a few days, then turning over and doing the same. I'm sure I could get a hold of one of those, yes, that would make sense. I cannot be sure which end the jam is on as there is no movement. 

 

4 hours ago, JHCC said:

Whereabouts? We have a number of members in Vermont, and I myself used to live in Shrewsbury.

I am in the woodstock area, but the vise is stored in a family members garage in western CT. I've been looking at property in the route 100 corridor between killington and warren lately to build a little something. I travel for work so am only in the area a few times a year. I used to live in Ludlow and Mt holly for a while, we were neighbors!