Enjoy:

 

Very cool to see all those tools in action.  However, you would need a shop with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machine tools to pull this off.  Also, I don't think I have ever encountered a situation where I would need a vise this large and I kind of hope that I never do.  

Also, I'm not sure I clearly understand how this vise works.  I think the hand wheel activates the hydraulic jack which, in turn, activates the moving vise jaw.  Correct?

Thanks for posting, John.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand.

Yes, I think that’s how it works. 

That’s pretty cool JHCC! 

Fireball Tools' YouTube channel has a series of longer videos documenting the entire project in a lot more detail.

The same channel also has a video about flattening the face of a Kohslwa anvil with an enormous milling machine. Unusually, it includes quite a good discussion of the pros and cons of doing this, including cautions about taking away too much of the steel face of a wrought iron/steel anvil. It's nice to see people actually giving these things some thought, rather than just blazing ahead with a "let's do this because it looks cool" attitude.

 

That was quite the 10 minutes!

Thanks John.

Frosty The Lucky.

I love this guy. And yes, he has a humongous machine / fabrication shop.  And yes that vise is over the top, but he uses it to good effect on some subsequent videos...

Robert Taylor

I didn't think folks still used shapers. I thought milling machines had replaced them.

There are still folks using them as they can be set up to run automatically and clean off pitted stock.  There are also folks who get into using old tools---besides blacksmiths!  They have the advantage that the "cutters" for them are cheaply and easily made in the shop---ever tried making a milling machine bit?

No, that isn't how it works.

The hand wheel closes the vise up to about 6 tons of force.

If one needs to crush something even more, then the air over hydraulic bottle jack can bring the crushing force

up to 15 tons or so.

I think the real point was just to build the baddest vise of all time.

And in that, they certainly succeeded.

On 12/31/2021 at 2:09 PM, ThomasPowers said:

ever tried making a milling machine bit?

Yes.  I have had to prototype a few milling cutters for titanium and superalloys on our vintage manual grinding machines.  Had to cobble together an on-the-machine microscope to nail a christmas tree cutter for a turbofan disc.  I thought they were crazy, was thinking about finding another job... and then there was the time...

1 hour ago, arftist said:

No, that isn't how it works.

You have it right, Mr. Arftist.

Robert Taylor

On closer inspection, I agree. They don't show a handle for the jack (at least not in this video), but you can see where one goes.

Breathtaking!. I would like to have seen a little more on the spokes for the wheel.

There's probably more on one of the longer videos; this one is just a summary.

I'll check it out. Two great vids. I bevel the edges on my anvil the same as on the resurfaced one, but mine are a bit longer, maybe a bit larger radius at the step.

I'm pretty diehard on refacing/welding an anvil, not stock removal. But perhaps with a solid steel anvil, stock removal is the best answer, if you have the tools. . But there is still the edges. And to have an anvil with chipped edges in a shop like that would be a crime.