Malleus Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Around 5 or so years back, I dug this vise out of the dumpster at work. No way was I going to let this thing go to the scrap yard! I wish I had taken a before pic, but I just didn't think to do it. It was covered in grease and thick black spray paint, and the main screw had a bunch of slack in it. Today, I decided to clean it up a bit. I completely disassembled it, and cleaned it with a wire wheel. I got rid of the welding slag and a few high spots with a polishing wheel. I kind of hated to mess up natural patina, but I also wanted to smooth it down. I also put a washer on the main screw in between the sliding jaw and the screw stop to take up the slack. Seems to work much better now. I might clean it up a little more and spray it with clear coat. I can't believe they threw this thing in the trash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 I'd repaint it to the original blue. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malleus Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 That's a possibility, but I'm kind of liking the old worn look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Old vises will take a licking and keep on ticking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malleus Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 They sure will. I love big old vises. It's amazing how useful they are. Probably the most useful tool in most shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Very nice. I got a similar one for a few bucks from a neighbor who had it sitting in a pile of junk outside one of his outbuildings. Very useful indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 I still regret giving away a shaper vise I was offered for free. They loaded it with a forklift...too big for my shop in town so I gave it to a friend with space in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malleus Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 Speaking of regrets... about 2 years ago, a fairly good sized machine shop, which was local to me, permanently closed up shop. One day I was working at a facility next to it, and I noticed they were throwing lots of stuff in a large dumpster out back. I had to walk over to the machine shop to have something made, and as I was walking back, I took a look in the dumpster. It was full of all kind of tool steel, as well as machine parts, and parts to anything you would find in a machine shop. I wanted to do some major dumpster diving, but my co-worker was in a hurry to get our job done. I think about that a lot, and really regret letting him get in the way of me retrieving some potentially very cool stuff. What a shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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