TommyVee Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Scored this post vise/leg vise at a huge sale of blacksmithing stuff from a recently deceased member of NMABA. It is missing its leaf spring, but I already have been given advice about how to forge one (from an old article in Anvil Magazine, here: http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/107f2.htm). I plan to try my hand at doing that. Even have a suitable piece of scrap spring steel to use. It needs some clean up and a lot of lubrication, but seems to operate reasonably well even without the spring (the coil spring helps, and if I need it open more than the coil spring can handle, I can push it open by hand for now). On to coming up with a mount for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 That's a good how to article Tommy but you don't have to do nearly that nice a job on a vise spring. The bend that goes over the clamp bale on top doesn't need to be much, when you wedge it all together it isn't going anywhere. The tabs that prevent it from shifting on the leg want to fold about 1/4"-3/8" over the sides. A lot of that seems to serve to hold it in position until you get the wedge tight. No need to harden and temper a piece of spring either, it doesn't take much to push the jaw open, normalized leaf spring is way more than enough. Below is the replacement spring I made for mine, did the wedges too. It didn't need that much lip at the top but a LITTLE too much is better than too little. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Even a piece of mild steel will work! Looks like yours has a mounting bracket, you need to find/make something to mount it to! I have 2 work benches with an about 6" and an 4" postvise on each, and then a heavy duty one fastened to a utility pole that holds my shop roof up for heavy hitting. I also plan to bury a gazinta in the driveway and have a removable one I can run a 10' piece of stock around when I need to. (Central Ohio was rife with postvises back in the 1990's, typical price for a 4" was 20 to 25 USDollars...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyVee Posted April 11, 2022 Author Share Posted April 11, 2022 Hmm. Not sure that I came away from the article thinking it that elaborate, and I was expecting mine to look like yours if I got it right (and perhaps going through a few scraps before getting it right). As I read it, it didn't say to harden the thing, and the person who pointed me at the article explicitly told me not to harden it --- just heat it up and let it air cool) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 I used a piece of trailer leaf spring for a vise spring. I didn't harden it just as forged and shaped and cooled on its own. It works fine. As Thomas mentions, it doesn't have to be spring steel. All it needs to do is push the jaw open. Too much tension isn't a good thing. Most hobby smiths are not opening a post vise over 2" or so unless they are doing a specialty task. More common is a little over an inch or less. Also, once mounted upright, gravity tends to take over after the spring is exceeded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyVee Posted April 11, 2022 Author Share Posted April 11, 2022 Yes, Dave S. told me that even a piece of mild steel would do. I just planned to use the bar of spring steel I found at Amador since I had nothing else to use it for. It does have a mounting bracket, so yeah, I just have to make something to mount it to. Don't have any scrap lumber that is suitable, so will have to buy some 6x6 or something and come up with a base for it. As with all my 'smithing stuff, at least for a while it will have to be movable, as I have no shop and just have to work in the gravel driveway and put away my toys when I'm done. I paid more than $20 for this one. It was $90. There was a whole pile of them in this guy's collection, he was quite a hoarder. There was something of a scrum over the vises, and this was the one I was able to claim. There were some 8" vises in the collection, too, but those sold for hundreds (the Columbian 8" vise with mount sold for $750, I think). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 I always war people about not hardening springs for a leg vise, it seems like the thing to do so I mention it more often than not. Mine is arced too far, that's my 6" Columbian an the pivot is kind of sticky so it's not silly too far. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 I tell folks wanting to get into smithing that an improvised anvil *IS* and *ANVIL*; but nothing is a postvise; but a postvise. When I bought the Hoard I was lucky in that I needed to sell off most of it to pay the cost of buying all of it. It did so well that what I kept was *free*! Plus 3 powerhammers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 Thomas, every time I see those pictures, I immediately zoom in on that green river foot vise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 It must be nice to deserve Karma that good. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 One reason I didn't try to get top dollar for all the stuff I sold off. TW thanks for reminding me to check if the foot vise is available for a different owner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyVee Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 Just to follow up: I still haven't forged a spring for my old vise, but I finally joined a makerspace and learned enough about MIG welding to cobble together a Mark Aspery-inspired stand for my vise. Even without a proper spring, the little coil spring that the previous owner stuck in there as a stopgap will serve for the time being. The vertical bit is a 7" diameter, 3/16" thick bit of steel pipe that was scrap lying around my yard since we had a new well drilled in 2010. They use this stuff for the bit that sticks up above the ground to house wiring and provide maintenance access to the submerged pump (my well is 380' deep). I think this scrap piece was from the old well, which had to be plugged at the time they dug the new one. Still needs to be filled with sand for added weight --- I find that even though there's a lot of steel in this stand it likes to move around a lot when in use. Only having a few hours one or two days a week when the day job lets me work on fun stuff like this slows everything down. I really, really need to retire so I can get some work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Two ways to solve the moving around is to weld plates between the three feet so you can stand on them when using the vise. Or if the vise is in a permanent location, drill through the feet and use anchors to bolt it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyVee Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 At the moment, when I need to use it I just weight one of the feet with my foot, and that works well enough. I could take the whole thing back to the makerspace and weld some plates to stand on, I suppose. As for bolting anything down, that is not an option --- I have no shop, I have a driveway and a carport. All my toys have to be put away after use. Weighting it down with sand was what was suggested in Mark Aspery's book, where I got the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 If you need to move it weight won't be as nice as having a sturdy plate to stand on while using it. Make the plate a round one and you can tilt the vise and roll it on the round plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Thomas, do you still have that cast forge in the pic above? If so, do you know the brand? I have two like that with no name. I've got a question about them. Notice the cutout where the iron goes. Notice where the flat bottom quits being flat and starts curving up to the top. Now draw a line across to that same point on the other side. Notice that when that line crosses the firepot, it cuts off nearly a third of usable area in the pot for heating multiple pieces. I'm going to get rid of mine because of the wasted space. Any thoughts on why this was done? I don't have much experience with large old cast forges. I'm wondering if these are off brands and if, perhaps, a similar Champion or Canedy Otto is setup to use the whole firepot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 No, it left pretty soon after I bought it. I'm not a big fan of cast iron body forges; I tend to make my own from steel so was happy to pass it on to someone who wanted a "traditional forge"... (I've had 3 cast iron forges crack on me over the years, 0 steel ones.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Thats where I'm at as well. mine is a small cast ranch forge. 3x5 flat bottomed. And I've used it from my beginning. I removed the original small blower and cut out the bottom to fit a Centaur forge rectangular firepot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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